5 January 2009
New Year Message from Transform Scotland
2009 looks set to be like no year we have yet known. Following the meltdown of our financial models in 2008 we can say with certainty that to continue with business as usual will be a recipe for future crises. A radical rethink is now required and no one yet knows just how deep and challenging this will be - we are in uncharted waters.
In transport terms the challenge is no less demanding, our transport systems must be adapted to face a new world where climate change and the need to reduce oil dependency are key drivers of change. We must deliver a reduction of at least 80% in greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time massively reduce our over-dependence on oil as a fuel for transport. I find it quite staggering that we currently have a system that is 98% fuelled by oil.
The recently announced Strategic Transport Projects Review is either hugely encouraging or massively disappointing depending on which sections you read. It is quite right that we electrify all of our key rail routes and better connect or cities by rail, all of this is long overdue. But to seek to embark on a massive road building programme will do nothing whatsoever to prepare us for the key challenges we face. It would simply lock us even further into a lifestyle and a way of doing business that is simply not sustainable.
Now is the time face up to the changes that will we must make to ensure that we equip our society for a new and different future. Let's make 2009 the year where we are truly honest with ourselves about the changes that must be made to how, why and where we travel.
Paul Tetlaw
Chair, Transform Scotland