Meeting of the Parliament 30 April 2025
We are having a very short debate that is attempting to cover many aspects of transport policy. We have already heard from the Conservative spokesperson and the Government minister, who have given an overview of some of the key dividing lines that the Tory motion is trying to create.
Parts of the Conservative motion are worth considering: the problematic implementation of the LEZ in Glasgow, the state of Scotland’s roads and the cost to motorists of potholes. However, it is a stretch to describe the environment as a “war” on motorists and to seek to create division on an issue on which we, as a Parliament, are agreed: the need to reduce emissions to improve air quality and meet our climate change targets.
The motion refers to road users solely as motorists, but bus passengers, cyclists and pedestrians all use roads. Its car-centric focus does not recognise the need to balance the needs of all road users and reduce the reliance on the personal car.
The Government’s dropping of the target to reduce car kilometres by 20 per cent car is a disappointment. It was an empty promise, which was not backed up by the leadership or the action that would be required to achieve it, as Audit Scotland has made clear. It is not enough just to set targets without any way to reach them, a costed delivery plan, measurable milestones or the governance in place to track progress. To tackle the climate crisis and transform our transport system, we need the headline to be backed up with work that will make it a reality.
Transport remains our single largest source of emissions, but rather than a reduction in car use, we have seen record levels of vehicle ownership and an increase in kilometres driven. The key to reducing car use is ensuring that people have transport choices, and that means an awareness of the reality of the choices and the limits that people face.
According to the Scottish household survey, a quarter of our households do not have access to a car, and that figure rises significantly in our cities and among lower-income households. For those people, public transport is not an option; it is a vital service that allows them to live their lives. However, under the Scottish Government, bus routes have been axed, rail fares have been increased and users of ferry services have endured chaos.