Linda Nicholson, The Research Shop
ISBN 0 7559 6278 8 (Web only publication)
This document is also available in pdf format (908k)
Contents
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Background to the Consultation
Chapter 2: The Consultation Process
Chapter 3: Respondents' Views on the Consultation Process
Chapter 4: Where We are Now
Q1 Are: facilitate economic growth; promote accessibility; promote choice and raise awareness of the need for change; promote modal shift; promote new technologies and cleaner fuels; manage demand; reduce the need for travel; and promote road safety the right goals for transport in Scotland?
Chapter 5: What We are Trying to Achieve
Q2 Do consultees consider that the aim, vision and objectives need to be amended, for example to reflect Scottish Ministers' expectation to see Health Improvement at the heart of Scottish Executive policy?
Chapter 6: The Action We Will Take: Best Practice
Q3 Are there areas of work in relation to local/regional transport that would merit the national dissemination of best practice examples? If so, what are they and who would be best placed to lead this?
Chapter 7: Measures to Facilitate Economic Growth
Q4 What issues must this NTS address, to ensure that the Strategic Projects Review ( SPR) which will follow it is as effective as possible? For example, should the NTS identify key transport corridors, or key types of investment which are most effective at growing the economy, to inform the SPR? If so, which ones?
Q5 Do we have the balance of investment right between spending on new and existing infrastructure and other non-infrastructure activities and between different modes of transport? If not, how should it change over time?
Q6 To what extent should transport spending be targeted specifically at areas with significant potential for regeneration? How should transport spending be balanced between regeneration areas and other key areas, such as rural Scotland?
Q7 What further steps need to be taken in Scotland to facilitate the development of international connectivity both by air and by sea?
Q8 Do consultees consider that there are issues relating to cross-border connectivity by rail and road, and within devolved competence, that the Strategy should consider?
Q9 What view do consultees take on whether there is a need for a faster Scotland to London rail service, to provide an alternative to flying in the long term?
Q10 How do we ensure that all local authorities spend their Grant Aided Expenditure allocation for local roads on local roads? Do consultees think anything more needs to be done to ensure appropriate management, maintenance and operation of the Trunk Road Network?
Q11 What are the issues relating to the management and maintenance of the road and rail networks over the long term that the Strategy should address?
Q12 What should the NTS say about freight, bearing in mind that a freight strategy is under development? In particular, what should the NTS say about meeting the different needs of freight and passengers on the road and rail network, and how to balance these competing demands?
Q13 What, if anything, should the NTS be saying about skills, bearing in mind the leading role that the Sector Skills Councils have in reducing skills gaps and shortages in the public and private sectors and the role Transport Scotland has in promulgating good practice across the industry? Is it right to integrate skills issues into the NTS?
Q14 Bearing in mind that investment in new transport infrastructure is not covered in the NTS, as it will be addressed in the forthcoming Strategic Projects Review, what specific steps, if any, does the NTS need to set out to support tourism?
Chapter 8: Measures to Promote Accessibility
Q15 What are the key barriers to developing effective Demand Responsive Transport and how should they be overcome? For example, legislative, regulatory or operational barriers?
Q16 Where are there examples of particularly good practice in demand responsive transport?
Q17 Is accessibility planning something that should be considered for local or regional transport strategies in Scotland? If so, should it be compulsory, or (as at present), one of a suite of possible approaches?
Q18 How can we improve the accessibility of public transport to disabled people? For example, how far should concessions be extended for disabled people?
Q19 How do we make sure that transport operators and drivers follow best practice in dealing with older people, with disabled people and other groups who may have difficulties with transport? For example, should it be a condition of funding that such best practice is demonstrated?
Q20 What more could be done through transport means to tackle social exclusion in rural areas?
Q21 What do we need to consider in reflecting on the future of the lifeline air and ferry network?
Q22 What more should be done to ensure that there are connections from outlying estates to towns and cities?
Q23 Are there are any specific areas or events in Scotland where transport particularly well or particularly poorly supports access to cultural opportunities? Are there any specific societal groups disproportionately disadvantaged in accessing cultural activities because of transport issues?
Chapter 9: Measures to Promote Change and Raise Awareness of the Need for Change
Q24 Should travel plans be required of all "larger" employers? If so, how should we define "larger" and should Travel Plans be required of all public bodies such as local authorities and Health Boards to show public sector leadership on this issue?
Q25 What should the relative roles of the Executive, regional transport partnerships and local authorities be in increasing the uptake and how might it be ensured that travel plans required of developers under the planning system are systematically enforced?
Q26 Should we be investing in "smart measures" to promote modal shift? If so, what degree of investment is required; what measures are most effective; and what should be the role of the Scottish Executive (for example, promotion of the concept, sharing best practice, running a scheme or funding others to run a scheme).
Q27 Is there a need for a single national travel awareness "brand" that the Executive, RTPs and local authorities could all use? If so, what should it be?
Chapter 10: Measures to Promote Modal Shift
Q28 We want to promote walking and cycling as healthy, sustainable ways to travel - what more should be done in this regard?
Q29 How can the NTS maximise its contribution to improving the health of the nation?
Q30 How do we make buses more attractive for people to use, and therefore allow them to make the choice to take the bus rather than using their car? How do we ensure that the quality of the travelling experience is made a priority by bus operators?
Q31 Is there a need for change in how the bus industry operates, or are the current arrangements working? If so, what should this change be?
Q32 How do we make rail more attractive for people, and therefore allow them to make the choice to take the train rather than use their car?
Q33 What else should be done at a national level to support improvements in travel information? How do we capitalise on the potential opportunities created by new technologies - such as 3G mobile phones - to improve the provision of travel information?
Q34 Do you consider that we need to change the cost of public transport fares and, if so, what changes should be brought in?
Q35 If you support lower fares, would such reductions need to be funded by tax revenue, or are there schemes which consultees consider could pay for themselves through modal shift ( i.e. because more people would be travelling, albeit paying somewhat lower fares)?
Q36 How can we promote integrated ticketing between different operators?
Q37 How do we promote additional modal shift from road freight to rail and waterborne freight?
Q38 How do we ensure that people are safe, and feel safe, on public transport, at stations and bus stops, and while travelling by foot, bike or car? For example, what needs to be done to tackle anti-social behaviour on public transport and on our roads?
Chapter 11: Measures to Promote Technologies and Cleaner Fuels
Q39 Within a UK market, what, if anything, should Scotland specifically do to promote the uptake of biofuels?
Q40 Where are the commercial opportunities for biofuels in Scotland? What, if anything, is the role for the public sector in supporting commercial biofuels developments? Are there down-sides of an increased bio-fuel market in Scotland?
Q41 Within the context of a UK regulatory framework, what more, if anything, should be done to make motor vehicles in Scotland cleaner to run?
Q42 Where are the potential gains in terms of new transport technology in Scotland? How do we capture the potential economic benefits of developing them in Scotland? What, if anything, is the role for the public sector in supporting the development of such new technologies?
Chapter 12: Measures to Manage Demand
Q43 What needs to be done to ensure that parking policy - on-street parking, bus and rail park and ride and so on - is more effective in managing demand and promoting modal shift?
Q44 How might park and ride schemes best be developed to further encourage modal shift and reduce congestion? How should enhancements be funded and what should pricing policies be?
Q45 Should we pilot new approaches to improving demand management on the trunk road network? If so, which approaches should we pilot (for example, bus priority measures, multiple occupancy vehicle and heavy goods vehicle preference, metering, more park and ride) and do you have any views about where and when they should be piloted?
Q46 Given the difficulties in managing demand for road space by other means, do consultees agree that, in principle, national and/or local road pricing in Scotland could be an effective way to manage demand?
Q47 Does the Executive need to do more to build support for road pricing? Should there be funding made available to local authorities and regional transport partnerships which wish to promote local/regional road pricing schemes. If so, what model should be used to provide such funding?
Q48 What should be the objectives of any future national road pricing scheme?
For example:
Should it primarily be concerned with cutting congestion levels?
Or should it also reflect environmental concerns about CO2 and other emissions?
Should it be a means by which, in Scotland, we try to achieve our aspiration of stabilising road traffic volumes at 2001 levels by 2021 (see Chapter 4)?
Should it aim to reflect better the true cost of motoring (including the costs to other people, the economy and the environment), or should it cost about the same to drive overall as at the moment?
Q49 If there were no UK-wide national road pricing scheme, should a Scotland-only scheme be considered?
Q50 Do consultees support the inclusion of surface transport in any future CO2 emissions trading mechanisms? What impact could this have on transport's emissions of CO2?
Chapter 13: Measures to Reduce the Need for Travel
Q51 What more, if anything, needs to be done to ensure that transport considerations are taken into account in the location decision, for example of health services and schools?
Q52 What contribution can broadband and flexible working practices make to reducing individuals' need to travel? What else should be done to reduce the need to travel?
Chapter 14: Measures to Promote Road Safety
Q53 We are tackling road safety and are on track to meet our targets. But is there more that should be done at the national (rather than local) level?
Q54 What more can be done to make our streets safer and more pleasant places to be?
Chapter 15: Implementation
Q55 What issues should be considered in implementing the NTS following its publication later in 2006?
Chapter 16: Monitoring: Proposals for Indicators
Q56 Do consultees consider that "traffic intensity" is likely to be a useful overall indicator of our success with the forthcoming NTS? If not, what alternative(s) would be preferable?
Q57 Are the indicators outlined for each transport goal useful? If not, what alternative(s) would be preferable?
Chapter 17: Existing and Future Targets
Q58 Are consultees content that the target of quadrupling cycle use should now be reviewed? What, if anything, might replace it (for example, local authority-level targets on the DfT model)?
Q59 Are there other measures which should be considered in Scotland which would move us towards the target to stabilise road traffic volumes at 2001 levels by 2021, recognising that significant fiscal measures would have to be agreed by the UK Government?
Q60 Do consultees agree with the proposals to:
Continue to have stabilisation of road traffic as a high level aspiration;
Use indicators measuring modal shift to measure how our modal shift policies are working; and
Redirect our efforts more clearly at the environmental and congestion issues which underpin the traffic stabilisation aspiration, by:
Considering new transport-related target(s) for CO2 (see further below); and
Continuing to monitor congestion trends on our trunk roads as at present, and considering what further measures might be required.
Q61 Do consultees have any views on the idea of a move to regional traffic reduction targets in place of a national target?
Q62 Given the difficulties with the national traffic stabilisation aspirational target, do consultees agree that realistic, deliverable milestones towards its delivery cannot be put in place at present?
Q63 Do consultees agree that setting a level of contribution for reductions in Scotland's CO2 emissions which are directly linked to the impact of our policies in areas which are devolved would be the best measure of the Scottish Executive's effectiveness in tackling transport emissions?
Q64 What specific reduction level(s) for CO2 should be put in place for transport?
Chapter 18: Reviewing the National Transport Strategy
Q65 Do consultees have any views about the timing or scope of reviews of the NTS?
Tables
1: Respondents by category
2: Suggestions for areas of work which would merit dissemination of best practice examples
3: Summary of examples of particularly good practice in demand responsive transport
4: Groups identified as disproportionately disadvantaged in terms of accessing cultural activities
5: Summary of smart measures which respondents considered to be effective
6: Practical and operation issues which consultees considered made buses more attractive
7: Summary of views on how lower fares should be funded
8: Views on exemptions from road pricing
Annexes
1:Consultation Paper Original Distribution List Summary
2:List of Respondents to the Consultation
3:Volume of Responses Received for each Consultation Question
The views expressed in this report are those of the researcher and
do not necessarily represent those of the Department or Scottish Ministers.