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Objectives

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Our overall aim is to promote economic growth, social inclusion, health and protection of our environment through a safe, integrated, effective and efficient transport system.

• promote economic growth by building, enhancing, managing and maintaining transport services, infrastructure and networks to maximise their efficiency;


• promote social inclusion by connecting remote and disadvantaged communities and increasing the accessibility of the transport network;


• protect our environment and improve health by building and investing in public transport and other types of efficient and sustainable transport which minimise emissions and consumption of resources and energy;


• improve safety of journeys by reducing accidents and enhancing the personal safety of pedestrians, drivers, passengers and staff;


• improve integration by making journey planning and ticketing easier and working to ensure smooth connection between different forms of transport.

Promoting economic growth
2.1 Transport promotes economic growth. We are committed to delivering the infrastructure and services that link people and places to enable the economy to grow and develop. This involves investing in new public transport (buses, rail, ferries, trams and park and ride), better facilities for freight, targeted improvements in the trunk road network, encouraging greater use of sea routes and canals and developing new direct air routes from and to Scotland.

2.2 We are building for the future, but our existing transport networks have to operate efficiently. We are committed to improving the efficiency of the trunk road network through intelligent traffic management and information systems to ensure that traffic flows freely as much as possible. Badly-planned roadworks hamper the economy by causing delays on Scotland’s roads. We will improve the co-ordination of roadworks to reduce their impact on the road network, and the resulting costs and inconvenience they impose on businesses and the economy. We want to see more bus priority measures to speed the flow of buses where there is traffic congestion. We are supporting more efficient use of the existing rail network through better services and increased train capacity, such as the 29 new trains for the ScotRail network and the lengthening of 26 platforms to enable 6-car trains to use these stations. For example on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line the first of these new trains will result in a 37% increase in the number of peak-time seats.

2.3 Regional and local economic development and the competitiveness of small, medium, large and global companies depends on connections to the rest of Scotland and further afield. Good transport strengthens competitiveness through providing access to markets and enhancing the attractiveness of cities as focal business locations and tourism gateways. The key arterial rail and road corridors enable cities to access labour from the surrounding travel to work areas as well as providing access to wider markets for goods and services. The development of four voluntary regional transport partnerships is evidence that regional transport issues are increasingly important. We are keen to build on the achievements of HITRANS, NESTRANS, SESTRAN and WESTRANS and strengthen the strategic planning and delivery of transport at a regional level, involving business interests as part of that process.

2.4 Our links to the wider world are a building block of Scottish tourism and provide benefits for the whole country. Tourism is a £4.5 billion industry which is set to expand by 50% over the next 10 years. The business tourism sector, including conferences, is worth around £1 billion a year to our economy and depends heavily on good international links. Scotland is better connected than ever before, but for visitors first impressions matter. Infrastructure, the reliability of services and the availability of information shape visitors’ perceptions and influence whether they want to come back or do business here. Visitors to major events, such as the Mod, T in the Park, the Open, Celtic Connections and the Edinburgh festivals, judge Scotland not only by the welcome they get but on the efficiency and quality of our transport.

2.5 Transport gateways are an excellent opportunity not only to provide high-quality facilities but also to showcase cultural activity, local businesses and regional attractions, stimulating the economy and encouraging visitors to return. We will make best possible use of our airports, railway stations, bus stations and ferry ports to promote the best of Scotland. By facilitating access to cultural venues and participation in cultural events transport can support the delivery of our cultural policy¹⁹. We will encourage local authorities and transport operators to look for opportunities to support and enhance cultural activities particularly where lack of transport provision is a barrier to access for individuals or for excluded groups.

Increasing accessibility and promoting social inclusion
2.6 Transport provides access to employment and services and enables people to live full and active lives. People living in poverty, those in remote areas, older people and disabled people may face significant difficulties accessing transport, which limit their opportunities. Removing barriers to access and improving services can help to close the opportunity gap by providing better access to work, education and training, health and other public services, shopping and leisure facilities. The availability of transport that improves accessibility for people and businesses can also encourage economic activity in a particular area or community. Ferries, air services and roads can perform a lifeline role and are crucial to the social and economic prosperity of people living in remote parts of Scotland.

2.7 People living in disadvantaged areas often suffer from a poor range of transport options and limited access to shops, services and employment²⁰. Improved access to services combined with economic and other opportunities can make a vital contribution to the long-term regeneration of particular areas and communities. Therefore improving transport connections for these communities and reducing the need to travel should form part of wider regeneration strategies, while transport planning should seek to ensure that the regeneration needs of particular communities are met. Innovative solutions such as demand-responsive transport may be required to fill gaps in existing service provision and we are supporting a £3 million pilot of these services in urban and rural areas over the next 3 years. We will work with local government and bus operators to develop existing and new routes through the Bus Route Development Fund. We recognise that crime and violence act as a disincentive for people to use public transport and we will support measures to tackle them.

2.8 Accessibility for all means removing barriers and planning and designing transport to meet the particular needs of all groups of people²1. This is done through design and policy guidance and by encouraging transport operators to recognise how services impact on different groups and the barriers which may exist for some people. For instance, public transport is more important to women as only 54% of women hold driving licences compared with 74% of men²².

2.9 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) places a duty on transport providers to avoid discrimination against disabled people in respect of matters like timetables, booking facilities and waiting rooms. Regulations are also in place requiring all new land-based public transport to be accessible to disabled people. Increased numbers of low-floor buses, accessible taxis, and improved access to bus and rail stations and ferries are practical examples of what is being done by transport operators and local authorities. We established the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) in 2002 to advise Scottish Ministers on transport needs of disabled people and how to improve accessibility of transport.

2.10 The reliance of many older and disabled people on public transport encouraged us to introduce a national minimum standard of free local off-peak bus travel for older and disabled people in September 2002. Free travel enables card-holders to access services, enjoy leisure facilities and visit friends and family. The free scheme is well-used and very successful and we are committed to doing more on concessionary travel. We will do this by introducing a national scheme of free off-peak bus travel for older and disabled people; by making a start on a scheme of concessionary travel for young people; and by assessing how to make public transport more accessible for disabled people.

Protecting the environment
2.11 Transport infrastructure, from footpaths to motorways, is part of our environment: opening up opportunities and contributing to sustainable and accessible communities. However, its construction and use can have negative environmental impacts such as community severance, loss of green space, poorer air quality and increased noise, which affect people’s health and quality of life. We are endeavouring to stabilise road traffic volumes and are supporting the expansion of public transport, walking and cycling in order to reduce impacts on the environment.

2.12 The impact of new transport infrastructure on the built and natural environment must be fully considered. To do this, we use Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), which makes environmental impact one of the five key criteria on which projects will be assessed. We also intend to legislate to introduce strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to ensure that the full environmental impacts of all new strategies, programmes and plans developed by the public sector are properly considered. STAG will provide a source of advice and guidance on what is needed to ensure compatibility with SEA requirements.

2.13 The UK Government’s energy white paper²³ identified transport’s contribution to energy use and the major potential for new vehicle technologies and fuels to reduce vehicles’ fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Road transport accounts for about 11% of Scottish carbon dioxide emissions²4 and over the period 1990-2001 emissions fell by around 19%.

2.14 We are committed to tackling climate change and are working to meet both the UK targets of reducing 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% by 2008-2012 and of reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. Beyond this, there is an objective to put the UK on a path to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 60% by around 2050.

2.15 Emissions from motor vehicles are also the largest single cause of local air pollution in Scotland. Poor air quality has a negative impact on people’s health and can also affect the quality, and damage the competitiveness, of town and city centres. A number of primary or secondary pollutants linked to vehicles, such as nitrogen dioxide and particulates, can have a negative impact on respiratory health. There is strong evidence that traffic emissions are an exacerbating factor in asthma but they are unlikely to be the condition’s root cause.

2.16 Local authorities have a duty to review and assess the current, and likely future, air quality in their areas. If necessary they must draw up an action plan setting out the measures, including transport interventions, that they intend to put in place to help achieve the relevant air quality objectives.

2.17 We have seen major progress in reducing vehicle emissions but more is needed if we are to meet our objectives and EU obligations on air quality and climate change targets. The Scottish Executive is on the Ministerial Low Carbon Group which monitors progress on the UK Government’s Powering Future Vehicles Strategy²⁵. The objectives of the strategy are to promote the development, introduction and take-up of low-carbon vehicles and alternative fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen, and to ensure the full involvement of the UK automotive industry in the new technologies. We fully support these objectives because of the very real opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of road transport on global climate change, local air quality and noise.

Improving safety
2.18 Public transport in Scotland has an excellent safety record but road accidents remain a blight on too many lives. As both travel and road traffic increase, it is vital that we work to improve road safety and reduce accidents. We are committed to achieving a 40% reduction by 2010 (compared with the average for 1994-98) in people killed or seriously injured, and a reduction of 50% for children. Significant progress has already been made: in 2002 the number of deaths and serious injuries had fallen by 27%, and the number of child deaths and serious injuries by 38%, compared with the level of the mid-1990s.

2.19 We are improving safety through education (Foolsspeed and drink and drug driving campaigns), enforcement (speed limits) and design and engineering measures (20mph safety zones around schools, speed-reducing measures, home zones, pedestrian crossings, dedicated cycle lanes and good signage). Encouraging more people to walk and cycle every day depends on improving the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. We are committed to introducing 20mph speed zones around schools and safer routes to school projects to encourage more children to walk or cycle to school.

2.20 Transport operators must always take seriously their duty of care to passengers. Real or perceived risks can act as a disincentive to using public transport and it is important for planners and providers to take into account the personal safety of passengers. This includes thinking about the quality of the waiting or interchange environment and car parks, information provision, staffing levels, lighting, CCTV and smoking bans. All of these can influence whether people, especially women²⁶ or older people, use public transport, particularly after dark.

2.21 Those who have direct contact with the travelling public have the right to work without fear of physical or verbal assault. There is no place for such anti-social behaviour in a civilised society and no one should have to fear violence at work. We cannot achieve the expansion and improvement in public transport that we want to see without skilled and committed people to provide high-quality service. Working in transport should be attractive, motivating and above all safe. We welcome the efforts of operators and trades unions to crack down on attacks against drivers, conductors and any other transport workers, and we are working with the STUC on measures to tackle the problem of attacks on public service workers. We have also commissioned research to investigate the causes and extent of anti-social behaviour on buses. A report, expected in July 2004, will examine options for further action.

Improving integration
2.22 People say they would use public transport if it provided a seamless passenger journey from their home or place of work to their destination²⁷. We are working to improve integration on three fronts: services, information and ticketing. Joined-up services make the journey experience simpler and more enjoyable. An efficient, integrated transport system can make a real difference to whether people choose to use public transport. We want to see better service integration between different operators and different modes, including taxis, trains, cars, buses, coaches and ferries through transport interchanges, better timetabling and new demand-responsive transport schemes. We will promote park and ride provision in the right places because it can increase bus and train use and reduce traffic in towns and cities²⁸. In Aberdeen 600 daily car journeys have been removed from the roads by park and ride²⁹, reducing the amount of traffic travelling into the city centre.

2.23 High-quality travel information allows people to plan their journeys easily and compare routes and modes. We support Traveline Scotland, an operator and local authority-led initiative which provides impartial public transport information by phone and online. We are also a partner in the UK-wide Transport Direct, which will provide the traveller with information via the internet ­ allowing them to plan their journey, buy their tickets and check timings before they set off. It will ultimately cover travel by all modes and all possible combinations. To ensure that this information is as accessible as possible, we consult with MACS on access to travel information for disabled people. The Transport Direct portal is also being developed to meet the needs of disabled users.

2.24 Integrated ticketing puts the traveller first. An integrated ticket is one that involves different modes and often different operators. It makes public transport more convenient to use. It also provides transport operators with information about travellers’ needs which in turn enables them to plan and deliver better-integrated services. We are supporting initiatives such as SPT’s Zonecard, the UK-wide PlusBus scheme and the OneTicket scheme in the east of Scotland. Integration has to be delivered at all levels, national, regional and local. Zonecard and OneTicket demonstrate what can be achieved at a regional level.

2.25 We welcome operator-led initiatives such as the combined ferry and rail tickets offered by CalMac and ScotRail; but we want to do much more. We are committed to extending the provision of integrated tickets across Scotland and across all forms of public transport.

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