21 September 2011
Scottish Budget fails sustainable transport
Spending on road-building up 25%; Spending on the most sustainable modes down 25%
Transform Scotland [1] today slammed the Scottish Government's Spending Review as failing the future prospects for sustainable transport. The Spending Review sees large increases for spending on road-building at the expense of the most sustainable modes. [2]
Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland, said:
"This budget fails sustainable transport and the prospects for hitting our climate targets. The Government has reneged on their climate plans and has slashed investment in active travel. Transport is the basket case of climate policy -- and yet the Government has cut funding for the areas which would deliver emissions cuts.
"While the large trunk roads budget sees a further increase of 25%, the already modest budget for sustainable and active travel has been cut by 25%. The Government has also made no attempt to fund its own Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP) in order to meet its climate change targets. It is perverse for the Government to draw up plans to tackle climate change and then not to fund and implement them.
"One ray of hope is that the 'Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes' fund remains in the budget, albeit at an undecided level. It is vital that this is funded to at least the level of previous years, and more if the Government is serious about meeting its own targets as set out in the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland and the RPP. The 'Future Transport Fund' could also make a useful contribution. But again the Government has given no specifics."
Colin Howden continued:
"Unfortunately, this budget also fails to support other key transport measures. There is no mention of the Freight Facilities Grant, which has been important in shifting freight from road to rail; the Scottish Greener Bus Fund has disappeared; there is no mention of important projects such as the Glasgow Subway modernisation and Highland Main Line speed and capacity improvements; and there is no evidence of appropriate funding to tackle the backlog in building the new ports and ferries as recommended by the Ferries Review.
"In addition, there is no evidence that the Government is making a serious effort at tackling the widely-acknowledged road maintenance backlog. If the Government wants to stimulate the economy and bring benefit to all of Scotland, it would invest in local infrastructure. Instead, it runs the risk of forcing councils to rack up huge debts to bring local roads up to an acceptable standard. Yet the Government has chosen to waste hundreds of millions of pounds paying foreign companies to build an unnecessary Second Forth Road Bridge that will only benefit a minority of the population."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
[1] Transform Scotland is the national sustainable transport alliance, bringing together rail, bus and shipping operators, local authorities, national environment and conservation groups, businesses and local transport groups - see <http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/members.aspx> for details.
[2] The overall spend on 'Motorways and Trunk Roads' increases from £557.6m to £700.2m over the course of the Spending Review period, while the spending for 'Sustainable and Active Travel' decreases from £25.1m to an average of £18.7m over the three-year period of the Spending Review.
END OF NEWS RELEASE