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SCOTLAND'S TRANSPORT FUTURE: GUIDANCE ON LOCAL TRANSPORT STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION
The white paper, Scotland's Transport Future1, puts forward the Executive's vision and sets out its policy for transport in Scotland.
To achieve this vision, the Executive needs to work in partnership with local authorities, regional transport partnerships, Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) and others. Local transport strategies are a way in which local authorities are able to detail how they intend to deliver on national objectives at a local level, and provide an action plan for meeting local challenges and objectives.
This guidance is designed to help local authorities develop effective local transport strategies. It replaces the guidance issued in February 2000 and constitutes guidance to local transport authorities for the purposes of section 79 (1) (d) of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 2.
The guidance is in three parts. Part 1 sets out the national context, and details the role of local transport strategies in the light of the new transport agency and proposed regional transport partnerships and the development of national and regional transport strategies. It provides guidance on the strategy development process, its link with STAG, and the involvement of neighbouring authorities and regional partnerships.
Part 2 sets out the national objectives for transport, detailed in the white paper, and provides information on the cross-cutting issues that local authorities need to consider in developing their strategies. It touches on the role of road traffic reduction in local transport strategies, however we will publish detailed guidance on road traffic reduction issues at a later date.
Part 3 focuses on measures to deliver the strategy and provides guidance on how different types of transport, travel behaviour and demand management can contribute to the delivery of national and local objectives.
TIMESCALES
We would expect a local transport strategy to cover a 3-year period, however we recognise that many transport projects will extend beyond this period and that the strategy will need to reflect this. The Executive has not set a submission date for completed local transport strategies, but anticipates that the process will take around 12 months with local authorities completing their strategies during 2005-06.
PRESENTATION
Local transport strategies communicate a local authority's strategy and proposals for transport to its citizens, under the umbrella of the Community Plan. They also have a role in communicating its strategy to other departments within an authority and to stakeholders. Local transport strategies should be presented in a way that is accessible to the general public, avoiding unnecessary technical jargon. We would expect all local authorities to publish their local transport strategies on their websites and consider innovative ways to communicate the strategy to local people.
GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES
The Executive commissioned Steer Davies Gleave to do a review of the first round of local transport strategies in 2001. Their report identified good practice in a variety of different areas and the results of their research are summarised at Annex C.
STATUTORY REFERENCES
Local transport strategies have a statutory basis in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. Section 79 (1) (d) enables the Scottish Ministers to issue guidance to local transport authorities on the preparation of local transport strategies and section 82 (1) defines a "local transport strategy" as a strategy produced in accordance with guidance issued under section 79. This is relevant to Part 2 (bus services) because, under section 48, "relevant general policies" are defined in relation to the local transport strategy. It is also a precondition, under section 49, of introducing road user charging that a local transport strategy has been prepared in accordance with the 2001 Act.
While the legislation refers explicitly to local transport authorities, for ease, this guidance tends to use the term "local authority". In the context of producing a local transport strategy, this reference should be taken to include local transport authorities, local traffic authorities (including the Forth Estuary Transport Authority) and, unless mentioned separately, Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority (SPTA).
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