« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Executive Summary
Background Overview
The Scottish Executive is currently developing a National Transport Strategy ( NTS), the aim of which is to promote economic growth, social inclusion and sustainable development through a safe, integrated and efficient transport network. Consultation is a key element in the development of the Strategy and a consultation paper was launched in April 2006 in order to ascertain the views of professionals working within the transport arena, others with an interest in transport and the general public. However, there are a number of audiences - primarily transport users - who typically will not provide their views to a consultation.
In order to ensure the views of transport users feed into development of the NTS, George Street Research was commissioned to undertake independent and objective qualitative research that placed a focus on understanding the views of "hard to reach" audiences who are transport users.
Methodological Overview
Given the exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative approach was adopted. A series of 11 focus groups and individual/ double/ triad in-depth interviews among a further 40 respondents were held across Scotland. Focus groups were held among the general public, young people, old people, women and those on low income. Interviews were held among disabled, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people ( LGBT) and minority ethnic individuals.
Overview
Although respondents were provided with copies of the consultation document and a summary document, many chose only to read those parts of interest to themselves, with some not reading either document in any detail at all. The overall view was that the consultation documentation was aimed at stakeholders or professionals working within the sector, rather than the general public per se.
All respondents agreed on the need for a National Transport Strategy, although most based comments on their own particular experiences or perceptions. As such, while many commented on transport provision and the changes needed for the NTS to be implemented, most found it difficult to comment on changes from a wider strategic perspective.
While respondents were broadly in agreement with the overall aim and objectives of the NTS, many had problems linking different aspects of the strategy to other policy areas and considering the wider (often financial) implications of any suggested approaches. There was some cynicism about whether the strategy would be implemented and how different organisations could work together to ensure aims and objectives were met.
Views on Goals and Objectives of NTS
Despite broad acceptance of the objectives of the NTS, respondents found it difficult to prioritise and state which were more important than others. Some respondents perceived an inherent contradiction between some of the objectives. For example, an objective of increasing economic growth was seen to be in contradiction to the goal of protecting the environment.
Additionally, while in broad agreement with the goals of the NTS, most respondents did not consider there were many ways in which they could personally contribute to achieving these goals. Cars in particular were used regularly by most respondents and viewed as an essential everyday item rather than a luxury. However, the importance of transport was implicitly accepted by all respondents, regardless of what form(s) of transport they used. An increase in the availability of public transport (both in terms of its frequency and geographical coverage) was felt to be an essential foundation in development of the NTS.
There was a degree of cynicism as to how the strategy would be implemented and the ways in which different transport providers would work together with local authorities and the Scottish Executive in ensuring that this could meet its aim and objectives.
Facilitating Economic Growth
Although only felt to be the most important factor by a small number of respondents, most recognised that economic growth was important to some extent. Despite this, respondents found it very difficult to suggest ways in which transport may assist in increasing economic growth. There was a small amount of spontaneous recognition of the need to increase the proportion of freight travelling by rail or water, although there were also concerns that the current rail infrastructure is not capable of supporting increased levels of movement of goods. In considering economic growth in Scotland, there was a degree of spontaneous comment that an increased transport capacity could help lead to increased employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Additionally, the role of transport in increasing the potential for tourism was noted by some, again primarily those in more outlying areas.
Promoting Accessibility
Accessibility was deemed a particularly important element of the Strategy and respondents highlighted a number of key issues in relation to public transport provision. Public transport was felt to be irregular and infrequent, especially in rural areas and outwith rush hours. Some respondents felt that deregulation and privatisation had helped exacerbate the situation by encouraging transport providers to focus on the most busy and profitable routes.
Cost of travel per se was seen to be high and respondents also noted the inconsistent nature of charges levied for different forms of travel and by different transport providers. While concessionary travel was welcomed, there were some views that this needed to be extended to all forms of travel and to a broader range of audiences. Information, especially for the blind, deaf or those who were not fluent in English, was felt to be lacking, as was real-time information.
Service issues were raised with many noting a lack of cleanliness on many buses and with calls from respondents for public transport staff to have better training to enable them to provide a good service to all passengers. A negative image was also associated with buses in many areas of Scotland, although trains generally had a more positive image. These images were often based on perception, rather than experience, but nonetheless contribute to a lack of desire to use public transport at a time when it is important to encourage greater use of public transport.
Finally, many respondents noted a lack of co-ordination between different public transport providers and there was a lack of awareness of the full range of transport options available, particularly of many community based initiatives.
Promoting Choice
Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the degree of choice of different transport options needed to be promoted, and linked this primarily to increasing awareness and usage of public transport. Tram systems were requested by the majority of respondents, albeit none were aware of the cost of implementation of tram systems. Given the poorer image of buses rather than trains, it is not surprising that there were also calls for an increase in provision of train services across Scotland.
Two key methods of promoting choice were identified by respondents and these were the potential role of employers in offering transport schemes to employees, and education in encouraging more usage of public transport offerings.
Managing Demand
Across the discussions as a whole, there was a preference for incentives to bring about increased use of public transport, rather than disincentives to car usage. Many respondents felt that the costs of car tax and road tax were sufficient penalties for drivers and that further penalties were unfair. For the minority who suggested that disincentives should be introduced, it was felt that without these disincentives, it would be unrealistic to expect a change in behaviour (it also tended to be non car owners who favoured disincentives for drivers).
With this in mind, schemes such as park and ride, encouragement for car share schemes and bus priority measures were preferred to congestion charging, road tolls or banning cars from city centres. There were some suggestions for differential car tax rates allied to engine size and/ or environmentally friendliness of a vehicle, although some noted that this is in fact already in practice and has done little to persuade drivers to consider buying smaller vehicles.
While there was some support for increased use of biofuels, there was cynicism as to whether car manufacturers would support this initiative.
Reducing the Need to Travel
Respondents found it difficult to think in strategic terms when considering all the variables involved in reducing the need to travel. However, there was widespread questioning over the positioning of retail parks on the outskirts of cities rather than providing local amenities. Homeworking was favoured by respondents as a means of reducing the need to commute, although most respondents noted that many people had jobs that would not be suitable for homeworking.
There were some calls for the provision of local amenities at new housing developments and some suggestions for planning permission to only be given for developments offering more by way of transport infrastructure.
While most of our car driving respondents noted that they would be unlikely to change their driving habits, there were some suggestions that there may be potential for encouragement of multi-purpose journeys.
Road Safety
Road safety was considered to be an important element of the NTS and many suggestions were made for improving this. In general, respondents were in favour of a range of road safety initiatives including more enforcement of drink driving penalties (some requested a 'zero-tolerance' approach), increased testing of driving skills, greater use and enforcement of speed limits, traffic calming measures and speed cameras.
« Previous | Contents | Next »