1 January 2014
Chair's New Year's message
In his New Year message, Chair of Transform Scotland Phil Matthews says:
"Driven by the independence referendum, 2014 will see much discussion on the type of country we want Scotland to be in future.
"Efficient and sustainable transport is vital to our future success and, regardless of the outcome of the referendum, we need to see investment being targeted in the best possible way.
"In this time of austerity, we need to be smarter about how we target investment, delivering more for less. This means moving funds from new roads towards rail, and, crucially, investing more in walking and cycling. Action on active travel is low cost and delivers multiple benefits in terms of cutting congestion and pollution, improving public health, and making our towns and cities far more pleasant places to live and work.
"Copenhagen has 30% of journeys by bike compared to 2% in Scotland. Its sustainable transport vision has been pivotal to creating a city with a high quality of life, where people want to live and businesses want to invest. As we look to Scotland’s future, we need to embrace a similar vision here."