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Planning for the future
7.1 One of the first tasks of the new national transport agency will be to prepare a national transport strategy for the medium to long term. That strategy will be developed through widespread consultation.
7.2 The strategy will provide the direction that regional transport partnerships, local authorities, transport operators and others have consistently called for to deliver effective transport in Scotland. The national strategy, supported by regional transport strategies across Scotland prepared locally by regional transport partnerships, will provide a powerful new approach to transport.
Finance
7.3 Underpinning this planning effort is the substantial Scottish Executive transport budget which reaches £1 billion by 2005-06. The commitment to invest £3 billion to fund the major projects contained in our plans provides for the first time the real prospect of the transformation of Scotland's transport networks over the next decade. We intend to maintain this momentum for the future with the creation of the national transport agency and regional transport partnerships.
7.4 In the meantime, our existing policy and strategy is summarised in this document and will be developed further in our long-term strategic investment plan to be published after the spending review. Last year we moved for the first time from short-term 3-year budgeting to a broader 10-year planning horizon for major transport infrastructure projects. This enables us to develop a long-term strategic investment plan to make best use of the £3 billion available for transport infrastructure investment over the 10-year period. By 2005-06 our capital investment will have risen to around £250 million out of a total transport spend of around £1 billion a year.
7.5 The key projects currently being supported are shown in the table at the end of this section; each is at a different stage of development. The table is based on the earliest possible dates for commencement and completion. Precise time-scales for the delivery of each project will depend on several factors including preparation of robust business cases, Parliamentary processes, public inquiries and the outcome of the 2004 spending review. It is in the nature of major capital projects that progress on the ground is dependent on tendering procedures, land acquisition and affordability. This table is based on a scenario where all projects are delivered through conventional procurement, but other options will be explored in relevant cases and this could have an impact on timing.
7.6 Ongoing commitments, particularly in relation to public transport, mean that high levels of revenue funding are required every year. We are providing revenue support, for example, to rail services through the rail franchise, to lifeline air and ferry services through contractual arrangements and our funding of HIAL and CalMac, to bus services through the Bus Service Operators Grant, and to road users through our maintenance and improvement programmes. We are committed to maintaining this level of support and, where necessary and affordable, increasing it. Another major funding commitment is concessionary travel for older and disabled people. We currently provide, each year, over £100 million to local authorities to support this.
7.7 Aside from the increase in capital investment, the most significant current trend in transport expenditure is away from roads and towards public transport 50. While both roads and public transport spending have been growing, the public transport share will grow to 70% of the total transport spend by 2005-06.
Strategic projects review
7.8 The national transport agency will be charged with procuring and delivering the long-term strategic investment plan. The agency will also undertake a strategic projects review covering all transport modes, commencing before 2007. This review will be on a scale that we have not tackled before and will look forward to 2020 and beyond. It will depend very heavily on input from local authorities, regional transport partnerships, transport operators, business and users. It will be a major exercise that is critical to ensuring that we get the Best Value from our infrastructure investment and that our transport network meets Scotland's long-term needs.
Appraisal and monitoring
7.9 Powerful appraisal and modelling tools will ensure that transport choices are fully informed by the other policy and development priorities of the Scottish Executive and its local partners. This approach will assist the agency in undertaking the strategic projects review and in delivering the transport programme while ensuring best value in the use of public money. Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) plays a crucial role in making certain that our resources are used wisely and effectively. Better roads, railways, buses, ferries, and air infrastructure, and improved support for walking and cycling all create significant economic and social benefits. Planned sensitively they can also bring about real environmental benefits. The opportunity for regenerating disadvantaged areas is increasingly important in appraising the benefits of transport projects. We are involved in a range of activities to regenerate communities and transport has a crucial part to play in improving accessibility and quality of life.
7.10 STAG is an objective-led process. It ensures a consistency of approach to transport appraisal across all modes of transport and enables investment decisions to be made on an objective basis and provides the mechanism for prioritising where and how to invest to achieve our transport objectives.
ScotRail CCTV Programme £2.2 million has been made available from the Integrated Transport Fund and delivering these enhancements as a programme has kept down costs and allowed for the inclusion of additional stations at Dyce, Arbroath and Leuchars.
The Scottish Executive works in partnership with ScotRail to install and upgrade help-point facilities, CCTV and Customer Information Systems at rail stations across south-east Scotland. Roll-out of this programme is expected to be completed over summer 2004. The cameras and help points are monitored from ScotRail's customer services centre at Dunfermline by trained operators with linked coverage to over 50 stations across the network. These measures improve safety and provide better information for passengers, who can speak directly to ScotRail staff. |
7.11 The appraisal process is also supported by two key modelling tools which can analyse complex and detailed information and provide an assessment of the impacts of various transport projects. The Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS) simulates travel movements across the central belt and the north-east of Scotland enabling the impact of various transport interventions to be analysed and assessed. The model includes a transport/economic/land use model of Scotland (TELMoS) which takes account of planning policies, and household and business behaviours both to provide input to the overall TMfS and to assess the likely changes in land use consequent on changes in transport patterns. These models will continue to be important in supporting the development not only of the national strategy, but also of regional and local transport strategies and plans.
Performance indicators
7.12 All of this planning effort will be carried out in the context of wider sustainable development objectives. We have already published 4 sustainable development indicators for travel in Meeting the Needs 51 and 11 transport indicators in Transport Indicators for Scotland 52. These cover the policy areas of road safety, modal shift from car use and road freight, increasing public transport patronage, emissions, condition of the road network and provision of transport information to the public. We intend to refresh and validate our transport indicators so they provide relevant and easily-understood measures of progress towards a sustainable transport system.
Conclusion
7.13 With unprecedented resources now available for transport in Scotland, much stronger focus on delivery and a powerful new national and regional structure, we see a bright future for Scotland's transport.
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