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B: Content

17. This section gives guidance on the content of the regional transport strategies including guidance on the guiding principles, national context, meeting the requirements of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, scope, time horizon and the extent to which strategies should cover individual modes.

(i) Principles

18. A number of guiding principles, based on the national aims and objectives for transport and on the Executive's overall policy goals, should underpin the content of the regional transport strategies. These include:

• Promoting economic growth and supporting the needs of business through improvements in physical transport infrastructure and services - linking people to jobs, businesses to suppliers and markets, communities to services - and through the efficiency of transport systems and services.
• Providing and promoting sustainable transport choices for people and goods, including, where appropriate, reducing road traffic - particularly single-occupancy car journeys, increasing freight carriage by rail and water and increasing active travel and public transport patronage. RTPs should work with others to reduce the need to travel - facilitating access to jobs, markets and key services is essential, stimulating general mobility is not.
• Tackling the costs to business and individuals of the delays and unpredictability caused by congestion, through demand management, traffic management and, where necessary, investment in new infrastructure, services and changing behaviour. Demand management can influence behaviour for example through road user charging and bridge/tunnel tolling, traffic management, parking controls, pedestrianisation and the balanced allocation of road space to different modes including walking and cycling.
• Improving access to public services, health, education and training, jobs, shopping, leisure and recreation, particularly for people who are currently excluded from enjoying the benefits of such services, by extending transport services (and where necessary infrastructure) to where people need them, and regenerating particular places by connecting them to economic and other opportunities.
• Addressing transport inequalities, including provision of and access to transport for disabled people and putting into action the (proposed) statutory duty to promote equal opportunities.
• Increasing the safety and quality of transport infrastructure and services, including better information on all modes and improved service and reliability.
• Reducing and mitigating the impact of transport on the environment.
• Ensuring that new and existing initiatives represent value for money, that the value of assets is safeguarded, and that resources are spent efficiently and effectively.
• Improving health through increased opportunities for walking and cycling.

(ii) Implementing the statutory requirements of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005

19. In its discussions of the Transport Bill, the Scottish Parliament took a strong interest in regional transport strategies and the requirements that the legislation would make. Detailed provisions were agreed to: these are set out in section 5 of the Act which forms the basis for this guidance document. Section 5(2), in particular, sets out a series of requirements for the content of the strategies:

Regional transport strategies

5 Formulation and content of regional transport strategies

(1) It is the duty of each Transport Partnership to draw up a strategy for transport within its region (its "transport strategy").

(2) Its transport strategy shall include provision about each of the following matters-

(a) the respects in which transport in the region needs to be provided, developed or improved having regard to, among other things-

(i) future needs including those occasioned by demographic and land use changes; and

(ii) what can be done, taking account of cost, funding and practicability;

(b) meeting the needs of all inhabited places, in particular, those which the Partnership considers different from the remainder of the region by reason of their remoteness or the sparsity of their populations;

(c) meeting the need for efficient transport links between heavily populated places;

(d) how transport in the region will be provided, developed, improved and operated so as-

(i) to enhance social and economic well-being and public health;

(ii) to promote public safety, including road safety and the safety of users of public transport;

(iii) to be consistent with the principle of sustainable development and to conserve and enhance the environment;

(iv) to promote social inclusion;

(v) to encourage equal opportunities and, in particular, the observance of the equal opportunities requirements;

(vi) to facilitate access to hospitals, clinics, surgeries and other places where a health service is provided;

(vii) to integrate with transport elsewhere;

(e) the order of priority in which different elements of the provision, development and improvement of transport should be undertaken;

(f) how the Transport Partnership's functions will be exercised so as to fulfil its transport strategy and, if the Partnership considers that the conferring of further functions is necessary for that purpose, what those functions are;

(g) how the Transport Partnership, so as to enable it to fulfil its transport strategy, will seek to influence its constituent councils or council in the performance of their functions relating to transport;

(h) the measuring and monitoring of the achievement of the strategy.

20. Section 5(2)(a) requires that the RTS includes provision about "the respects in which transport in the region needs to be provided, developed or improved". This summarises the focus of the regional transport strategy - the remainder of section 5(2) can be read as adding a level of detail to this overall requirement. Annex D gives more detailed guidance on how the provisions of each commitment within Section 5(2)(a)-(d) might be considered by the RTPs. The following paragraphs give a brief overview.

21. In setting out how transport in the region needs to be provided, developed or improved, RTPs are required to have regard to, amongst others things:

• "future needs including those occasioned by demographic and land use changes";
• "what can be done, taking account of cost, funding and practicability".

22. Land-use changes are acknowledged to be a key driver in inducing transport demand and requiring transport interventions. More information on the links between the RTS and land use and development planning is given in Section C of this Guidance on 'Context'. The requirement to have regard to "what can de done" is key to the RTS. This is elaborated in the sections on option identification, appraisal and selection.

23. Section 5(2)(b) and (c) make particular requirements about the scope of the strategies. According to these sections, strategies must include provision for the whole of the region and particular parts of it:

• section 5(2)(b) requires strategies to include provision on "meeting the needs of all inhabited places" - the strategy should therefore aim to enhance well-being in the whole of the region;
• section 5(2)(b) however goes on to require strategies to include provision on meeting the needs of "in particular those which the Partnership considers different from the remainder of the region by reason of their remoteness or the sparsity of their populations;"
• section 5(2)(c) then requires that strategies include provision on "meeting the need for efficient transport links between heavily populated places".

24. The accessibility of remote and sparsely populated areas has a significant impact on their economic and social well-being. RTPs should consider the general needs of those parts of the region that they have identified as being remote and sparsely populated places, and how these differ from the rest of the region. This should be done at various points during the development of its strategy - when setting objectives and when appraising, selecting and prioritising options.

25. Heavily populated areas are the cities and towns that provide the homes, jobs, schools and services for the majority of Scotland's people. The majority of our most disadvantaged communities are also found in urban areas. Efficient transport links can connect people to work and other opportunities which enhance their economic and social well-being and can act as a stimulus to regeneration. Regional transport strategies should address the need for transport links into town and city centres from surrounding towns, estates and housing developments; transport links between towns and cities that facilitate the efficient movement of goods and services in support of business competitiveness, linking towns in a region with each other as a complement to the traditional radial routes into major cities.

26. Section 5(2)(d) requires the RTS to set out how transport in the region will be provided, developed, improved and operated in order to achieve a number of objectives.

(i) "to enhance social and economic well-being"

27. The promotion of economic growth is the Scottish Executive's top priority, and efficient transport networks support the economy in a number of ways. For example by improving access to jobs, thereby increasing employment options and extending labour markets; improving access to education and training opportunities, so improving the skills of the workforce; supporting tourism; and by closing the distances between companies and their customers and suppliers.

28. Social well-being is also a high priority of the Executive. Economic success can often lead to improvements in social well-bring for example by enabling more people to access a wider range of goods and services, by improving access to jobs, education and social destinations. However, a growing economy and increased social well-being also increases the demand for travel. This inevitably places a strain on transport infrastructure and services, which will damage economic and social well-being, including health, and the wider environment. The tensions between travel choices that improve the economic and social well-being of individuals but damage the well-being of others and of the community at large are not solely within the gift of RTPs to resolve. Land-use planning has a key role to play - but RTPs will need to address this tension within their strategies and develop objectives and interventions that take a balanced approach to the requirements of the Act and the Executive's 5 national transport objectives (see Annex C).

(ii) "to promote public safety, including road safety and the safety of users of public transport"

29. Safety is one of the Executive's 5 national transport objectives and regional transport strategies should make a contribution to the achievement of the Executive's road safety target to reduce the number of serious and fatal road accident casualties by 40% overall and by 50% for children by 2010 compared with the 1994-98 averages. Many safety issues are likely to fall to local authorities but the RTS can provide a strategic context - for example in terms of promoting improvements to certain strategic roads. RTPs should also address safety issues as part of their wider aim of increasing the use of active travel and public transport.

(iii) "to be consistent with the principle of sustainable development and to conserve and enhance the environment"

30. Social well-being including health is affected by environmental factors: noise, air pollution, visual impact of mass moving and parked traffic, and by the safety risks associated with (particularly car) transport. Protecting the urban and rural environment is also good for business - for example by ensuring that Scotland remains an attractive tourist destination. Scotland also has a part to play in reducing the threat of global climate change, on which transport is having a significant and increasing negative impact.

31. RTPs should consider the policy levers at their disposal to influence road traffic volumes, increase the use of public transport and non-motorised modes, and transfer road freight to rail and water.

(iv) "to promote social inclusion"

32. The Executive is committed to promoting social inclusion and has published a series of objectives in Closing the Opportunity Gap.

The need to promote social inclusion should be read alongside the need to enhance social well-being. The latter is a more general objective that can be applied to the population as a whole; the former is focused on those individuals, groups or communities experiencing exclusion due to gaps in transport provision and barriers to accessing transport networks. This may include specific groups of people (see paragraph 34). Strategies should consider the role transport can play in regeneration initiatives. The Executive's Regeneration Policy Statement will give further guidance on direction and priorities.

(v) "to encourage equal opportunities and, in particular, the observance of the equal opportunities requirements"

33. Strategies should consider how to address particular social inclusion/equality issues, including meeting the particular travel needs of older people, disabled people and their carers, children and young people, women, and people from minority ethnic communities. This is particularly important in the case of disabled people and minority ethnic communities given that Transport Partnerships will be made subject to a statutory general duty to promote race and disability equality (and in due course gender).

34. RTPs should consider the transport needs of those groups of people who experience inequality and exclusion (an equality impact assessment can assist in this), involve specific groups in consultation on the strategy, in the option appraisal and selection stage, take into account the likely impacts on meeting these transport needs, and monitor the impacts of the strategy on those groups.

(vi) "to facilitate access to hospitals, clinics, surgeries and other places where a health service is provided"

35. In their debates on the Transport Bill, MSPs were particularly keen that RTPs and health boards work together on relevant transport issues. Improving access to where healthcare is provided was of particular concern. This was driven by concerns that some decisions on the location of health services were making access more difficult for some people, and that public transport services were not being adjusted to accommodate this.

36. It will be important for RTPs in drawing up and implementing their strategies, and through their ongoing work with health boards, to ensure that transport provision (including voluntary sector provision) is planned and developed alongside healthcare provision. Arrangements should be put in place to ensure that the objectives of the health boards and the RTPs are mutually understood and solutions worked towards which meet both the health and transport needs of people in the region. Health boards will also be under a duty to "so far as possible, perform those of its functions and activities that relate to or which affect or are affected by transport consistently with the transport strategy."

37. As well as improving access, transport strategies should prioritise policies and projects that improve health, alongside other benefits. Steps taken in the RTS to improve health can include those linked to reducing the harmful effects of vehicle pollution but also those promoting active travel.

(vii) "to integrate with transport elsewhere"

38. Integration of transport is one area where the RTPs should give a lead. The specific requirement of the Act is for the RTS to show how transport in the region will integrate with transport elsewhere. This could be through the development of effective interchanges at railway and bus stations, ports and airports to integrate incoming with onward travel. It could also be through working with neighbouring RTPs and with authorities elsewhere in the UK and beyond to develop proposals for transport improvements such as joint sponsorship of infrastructure projects or joint funding of cross-boundary services. Cross-boundary integration will need to address freight as well as passenger transport, particularly acute when traffic is passing through a region, having a negative impact on the well-being of the region.

39. Later sections set out how these requirements might be addressed by RTPs.

Section 2 (D) (viii) - see paragraphs 93-94 on prioritisation

Section 2 (E) (ii) - see paragraph 114 on functions

Section 2 (E) (v) - see paragraph 123-124 on the duties of constituent councils, health boards and other specified public bodies

Section 2 (E) (vii) - see paragraph 128 on monitoring

(iii) Scope

40. The RTS is intended to be a long-term document that will contain strategies and interventions for the short, medium and long term and provide a framework for the transport activities of local authorities and others. Strategies should cover a time horizon of 10-15 years from the date it begins, which should be assumed to be around mid-2007. The strategy should provide the framework and context for subsidiary plans that each partnership will need to draw up according to the specific challenges of implementing its strategy and exercising its functions. These are described in paragraph 95. The scope of the strategy should not therefore be confined to what the RTP can, itself, directly deliver. In the early years, it is expected that most of the partnerships (the exceptions being Strathclyde and the single-authority RTPs) will exercise few functions and then only concurrently with their constituent councils.

41. The scope of a regional transport strategy should cover all regional transport and all modes. In addition, the RTS should look at how transport within the region connects to and is integrated with transport links and services coming into the region from other regions and could consider links to other parts of the UK and further afield. Neighbouring RTPs will need to work together when drawing up and implementing their strategies to ensure that services are integrated for the benefit of people travelling across regional boundaries. The RTS can also make proposals for improvements to services and infrastructure provided by others, including the Scottish Executive Transport Group and Transport Scotland, where these have a regional impact. It is likely, perhaps probable, that the full implementation of the RTS will require additional funding or other action to be taken by the Scottish Ministers. RTPs should use the RTS to make the case to the Scottish Ministers for the inclusion of such proposals in forward investment plans.

42. Many transport activities in the region are undertaken by agencies other than the RTP: e.g. councils, transport operators, community transport organisations, infrastructure providers, the Scottish Executive (including Transport Scotland), other public bodies and non-governmental organisations. The RTS should consider how these various players can and should contribute to the achievement of regional objectives and the fulfilment of the regional strategy. Ongoing engagement and close involvement in the drawing up of the strategy will be key to securing this kind of co-operation and commitment.

43. The vehicle for doing so will be the Strategic Projects Review to be carried out for the first time between 2006 and 2008 and repeated in the future. Whilst it is not impossible for national funding to be granted to regional projects not included in the RTS, this would be exceptional and there would need to be good cause - for example if the need for an initiative has emerged since the completion of the strategy but there is a desire to pursue it before the RTS is next refreshed. It is likely such a scheme would only be supported by the Scottish Ministers if it contributed to the overall objectives of the RTS, and to their own national objectives and to the National Transport Strategy.

44. RTPs will have a strong interest in the national priorities of the Scottish Executive and some issues that are reserved to Westminster or determined at EU-level. The policies of RTPs should be determined in the light of this wider context. RTPs will also wish to seek to influence how such policies develop and are implemented. RTPs should refer to national and UK-wide issues in their strategies where this is relevant to the development or improvement of regional transport services. Provided RTSs are based on an underlying realism they can express aspirations, flag issues and include lobbying as part of the strategy.

(iv) Transport modes

45. This guidance is based on planning for integrated transport networks that take account of the needs of all users (road, rail, waterborne and air; personal and freight transport) and of the contribution that can be made by all modes, including cycling and walking. Preparation of the RTS should follow the STAG process and be objective-led and outcome-driven. Therefore, when preparing different strategy options (this process is described in more detail later), the contribution of all modes and, importantly, their integration should be carefully considered. Options identified should include a range of possible interventions. RTPs should take into account the order of priority for personal travel set out in SPP17 ⁷:

• Walking;
• Cycling;
• Public transport (particularly with effective interchange and integrated timetables and ticketing) and including community transport and demand responsive services;
• Other motorised modes (noting that motorised two-wheel vehicles have advantages over cars in terms of roadspace used and some environmental impacts).

46. For freight, the Executive has a general policy of promoting greater use of rail and waterborne transport (including short-sea shipping and inland waterways) and reducing dependency on road haulage.

47. The issues relevant to each mode are set out in some detail in the Local Transport Strategy Guidance ⁸ published by the Scottish Executive in February 2005 and those messages remain relevant at the regional level. The application of hierarchies for personal and freight transport has to be informed by the current level of provision and the accessibility of that provision. However, RTPs should look to expand sustainable transport choices wherever possible and where interventions will be most cost-effective. Once again, aspiration has to be balanced with realism.

48. As set out in the Local Transport Strategy Guidance, buses play a central role as they are the most frequently used and the most widely available mode of public transport. As part of RTP consideration of the contribution of all modes, it should be recognised that a key use to which RTP resources should be put must be to improve and revitalise bus services in the RTP area. To maximise the benefit to be secured, RTPs, where they are given the powers, and transport authorities elsewhere will be expected to invoke the legislation on quality partnerships and contracts whenever it is appropriate to do so.

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