Realistically SL is such a minor issue - compared with (for instance) smoking in pubs and minimum pricing for alcohol - that it's a real shame that more people in all parties (particularly the one currently in power at Holyrood) don't just do it.
The government/Transport Scotland wants "evidence". One problem is that most countries have had SL for so long that 'before and after' stats are next to meaningless.
If there's no evidence that it makes things 'much better', presumably there's no evidence that it makes things 'worse' - so why not just do something else that is 'in line with the rest of Europe' (apart from England)??
It's easy to assume (rightly or wrongly) that there is 'a fear of the motorist'.
I'm sure most people 'here' feel that is an unnecessarily timid attitude.
Obviously the Greens take a different view but it's far from clear if any of the other parties do/would - either for good reasons or even 'just to be different from the SNP'.
The SNP current in charge in Scotland likes roads and bridges and really doesn't understand 'active travel' - it's like an add-on only of interest to a noisy minority.
There is little understanding of health/social/economic/societal/etc. benefits. Of course that view is not confined to the SNP, but ahead of the 2014 vote it's disappointing that walking/cycling (etc.) is not seized on as a way of demonstrating what might be different in an independent Scotland.
Of course it may be that they have already decided it would be a 'voter turnoff' - but I don't think Salmond/Swinney/Brown etc. think it's important enough to think about.
Whether Scotland votes yes or no, I suspect that after the next Holyrood election no party will have an overall majority.
Which means that it's still important to interest all MSPs and parties (and potential candidates) that cycling, walking, SpaceForPeople are important issues - in many policy areas not just 'transport'.
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