Meeting of the Parliament 07 January 2015
The beginning of a new year is a good time to have this important debate. Someone wrote on Twitter, in a new year’s resolution sort of way, that this year they would like to save money, lose weight, improve their health and fitness, get to work on time and enjoy the scenery. Then they kind of scored that out and wrote, “I’m going to get cycling.” Walking clearly offers similar benefits.
A Government that is serious about spending money wisely on outcomes such as vastly improving national health and wellbeing, not to mention boosting the economy, should invest properly in walking and cycling. Since I led the Parliament’s first debate on cycling in 2012, it has become clear that there is an increasing number of positive local stories around infrastructure, more training, the lowering of speed limits and the introduction of 20mph zones in some of our towns and cities. However, the situation is still too patchy.
I am pleased to be able to work on a cross-party basis with my colleagues in the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on cycling. Co-conveners Jim Eadie and Claudia Beamish always input very positively, as do the many external organisations that attend the group and make it the success that it is.
I was really pleased to attend a meeting in Parliament at which we heard from Søren Rasmussen, an architect and member of the cycling embassy of Denmark, who told us that although investment in cycling in Copenhagen was initially driven by a need to address pollution and congestion, the number 1 reason that people in Copenhagen gave for cycling was convenience and speed—it got them quickly to where they wanted to get. His slides of cycling Copenhagen style were inspirational, with 40 per cent of folk cycling to work, school, university and college, and no Lycra or hi-vis gear in sigh—it is not needed, because a critical mass of cyclists is highly visible. Who can miss that endless flow of bikes, with people pedalling at a conversational speed and arriving to start their day only slightly more rosy-cheeked than if they had walked?
For now, such numbers remain a vision for Scotland, but it is essential that we have a really clear commitment to a target of 10 per cent of all journeys being made by bike by 2020. We should keep the language clear: if 10 per cent is a target, we should call it a target.
As we have heard already, we are in the legacy period following last summer’s very successful Commonwealth games. We know that it is really hard to find research that shows a meaningful legacy and real change following global games. Too often after the games have left town, after people have been inspired by watching the world’s greatest athletes in action and after an initial boost in participation, there has been little or no sustained increase in physical activity among the general population. Investing properly in cycling and walking now would help to ensure that Glasgow bucks that trend. As we know, physical activity can help to improve so many health problems, from dementia to diabetes, and from fatigue to the risk of hip fractures. A Canadian academic has confirmed that the best-preserved 65-year-old can outperform a sedentary 25-year-old.
However, becoming and remaining physically active is a quality-of-life issue. As we begin to fully understand the economic, health and societal impacts of our changing population demographic, that becomes important information. Our population is ageing, and people need to do so in an active and energising way that helps to prevent and delay many of the chronic conditions that blight too many lives. It is really important that the Scottish Government sustains a clear upward trend in investment in active travel. Relying on consequentials, welcome though they are, does not demonstrate the leadership that we need on the issue. The increase in investment in previous years got us close to 2 per cent of transport spending, and I urge the Government not only to maintain that but to surpass it and not to cut investment.
The City of Edinburgh Council leads the local authority commuter cycle rates race. It has done so with a clear commitment to increase spending on active travel by 1 per cent each year until it has reached 10 per cent of the transport budget.
Governing is, of course, about choices. As yet, no Scottish Government—indeed, no Government in Scotland—has made walking and cycling a priority. The level of investment says it all: it is 1 and a bit per cent of the transport budget—a budget that has increased massively in the past four years. The new transport minister could be the person to change that.