Meeting of the Parliament 08 January 2019
As we have heard, ultra-low-emission vehicles are an important part of a reimagined and progressive transport system for Scotland’s future. Many of us consider the environment when taking our daily transport decisions. Many of us would also enjoy a higher quality of life were we not surrounded by diesel and petrol cars when making journeys or trying to enjoy the outdoors.
A future in which ULEVs are an accessible and affordable form of transport, combined with far improved public transport and active travel provision, is a very positive one indeed. Yesterday, I read that Luxembourg plans to make public transport free—there’s a thought. In Scotland, work should continue to be done across Government, local authorities and energy and transport companies on the further development of such innovative technologies.
Recently, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, who is the pop music critic of the Financial Times, asked whether the car is still modernity’s icon of freedom. He reminded us of Chuck Berry singing
“Riding along in my automobile”
as the ultimate cool in 1956. He went on to write:
“Even when reality involves traffic jams and honking horns, driving has been made to seem liberating: ‘Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!’ The Beatles chorused in ‘Drive My Car’.”
As he pointed out, things are changing culturally when
“radio DJ Jeremy Vine, a prominent cyclist, wants to abolish the term ‘drive-time radio’ because, he says, it celebrates ‘a form of transport that kills 1,700 people a year’ on UK roads.”
If we are to truly move towards a transport system that is fit for the future, we need a full modal shift of our transport systems so that we can step away from the saturation of cars and vans. There is still a mass of improvements that the Scottish Government has the power to make. Low-emission zones should be an important part of the delivery of those improvements, but the opportunity has not yet been realised, with the first LEZ, which is in Glasgow, being renamed a “no ambition zone” by Friends of the Earth Scotland. Although more robust plans are being developed, funding is still a concern.
Just yesterday, I joined colleagues from Scottish Labour to demand that the ScotRail franchise be taken back into public ownership. We need to turn around the often-chaotic service that we are paying for anyway and make it work for passengers, our environment and the people who work on our railway.
The Parliament should also recognise the impact of delivery vehicles and the need for consolidation hubs with connected final-mile arrangements. I welcome the briefing from UPS, which calls on the Government to support innovative urban delivery systems, such as walking or cycling delivery logistics. I believe that the use of small-van ULEVs should also be considered as part of such systems, and I would welcome comment on that from the minister.
As Colin Smyth and other colleagues have told us, for too long air pollution has been considered a necessary evil that has allowed us to continue to enjoy the ease of diesel and petrol vehicles. The damage that air pollution causes to the health of our communities, commuters and the more vulnerable old and young is surely a strong motivating factor in moving towards greater use of ULEVs.
In 2014, pollutants in the air contributed to more than 2,000 deaths. There are schools within 150m of illegally polluted streets in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In “Reducing emissions in Scotland—2018 Progress Report to Parliament”, the UK Committee on Climate Change identified transport as the Government’s biggest sectoral challenge. That transport emissions—even excluding international aviation and shipping—increased between 2015 and 2016 is a mockery. As the climate change spokesperson for my party, I celebrate the target to phase out diesel and petrol cars by 2032 but, in our view, the Scottish Government still needs a stronger and more robust plan.
There has been much discussion about charging points infrastructure in today’s debate and elsewhere. As the Planning (Scotland) Bill moves towards stage 3, should consideration be given to having an obligation in the planning system for new-build housing, commercial and public buildings to incorporate charging points, with an appropriate lead-in time? I thank Smart Energy GB for highlighting the role that a smarter electricity grid could play in that. Whatever the fuel, congestion in our towns and cities is unpleasant and frustrating. If we are to have shorter journeys, the Government needs to make active or public transport the easiest and most attractive choice.
I want to make a brief point about rural issues.