Transport - Special Report

A special 32-page report to be published in Holyrood magazine on 14 January 2008

During the next 12 months, the Scottish Government will make crucial decisions about transport infrastructure. These will be landmark decisions that map out Scotland’s transport needs and demands for the next generation.

As the Scottish Parliament goes into summer recess, an army of high powered civil servants and consultants will be finishing a review, started by the previous administration in 2006, to plan which transport projects will go-ahead, and in what form. This report will investigate what options are being explored and speak to the people involved. If they get it right then our roads and railways will be moving people and goods at a faster and more efficient rate than ever before. If they get it wrong or misjudge the situation then the country could grind to a halt. How we use our existing transport system is crucial to any successful outcome so we speak to the people overseeing the project.

The fact that the M8 is officially the slowest motorway in Britain will come as no surprise to the thousands of commuters that use the main artery between Edinburgh and Glasgow every day. The SNP has announced an upgrade but for some, like the CBI and the TUC which has estimated that road congestion is costing the Scottish economy £1bn a year in man-hour costs, extra fuel use and missed deliveries, the improvements are not enough. For others, like SPT and First ScotRail it could be an opportunity to look at futuristic ways of speeding up journey times. The report looks at the cost to the economy of a snarled up transport infrastructure and what some of the solutions could be.

In the party’s election manifesto, the SNP aimed to “decouple ownership and usage of cars”, with the aim of persuading, but not punishing, car users to use other modes. Holyrood looks at what alternatives are being examined.

The manifesto policy aimed to encourage the increased use of flexi working in the public sector, and home working, by requiring every public sector body to, within six months of the SNP taking office, explain what its policy is and what has been preventing it from doing more, and to provide an action plan of measures to do more. With time now up, has this has happened?

A similar strategy for Park and Ride Schemes is required by each city to provide its strategy within six months of the election showing what they will do to enhance Park and Ride provision by bus or train or both, in their area. The SNP said it would work with Local Authorities to ensure every effort is made to fast-track schemes. Where does this now stand?

This special transport report will take a comprehensive look at how Scotland designs a transport policy and infrastructure to take it forward into the next century. It will look at how the stated aims of tackling Scotland’s transport problems by improving alternatives to personal car use by both flexiworking, park and ride and improved rail use fit into that. It will also look at the state of the strategy reviews for Scotland’s cities and local authorities and willl offer examples of best practice especially in public transport– are the buses of high enough quality and of regular service to tempt people out of their cars and into using the park and ride facilities that are being built? Is Edinburgh’s proposed ring of park and ride services a good way forward? Is there a transport mode that works best for park and ride – trains, buses or light rail and where does the tram system, the underground and the rail network fit with this?