p.37 made me chuckle:
"Our role, as set out in the forthcoming Climate Change Plan on how we are meeting our climate change targets, will be to promote strategies to:
• reduce demand for transport
• facilitate modal shift to more sustainable forms
• decarbonise vehicles
• make the transport network as efficient
as possible"
Hmm. Not sure how these objectives squares with building new dual carriageways, new motorways, and upgrading existing motorways? How is that reducing demand or decarbonising?
Maybe what they mean is reducing demand for all transport except motor vehicles? Which will, at some future date be decarbonised.
On the exact same page, this climate change action apparently takes the following forms:
"n alignment with the National Planning Framework to enable a comprehensive review of national infrastructure priorities. Progress on key road improvements, including improvements to the A77 south of Girvan, linking to the Cairnryan Ferry
hub and the A75 and improvements to connect Dumfries and the M74, will be considered as part this review. "
Further down the page: "We will examine the case for an extension of the [Borders] railway along with improvements to the A1, A7, and A68 with a study to identify Borders transport requirements reporting by the end of 2017."
Overleaf on p.33, we learn:
"The substantial programme of investment in road improvements and maintenance will continue
in the coming year. £1.4 billion of investment in the road network will include work to dual the A9 and A96. The programme also includes the new Forth Bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, which is expected to be fully open to traffic by May 2017 and is the biggest transport infrastructure project in Scotland for a generation. "
"The M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements project will be complete by spring 2017 and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty project will be open to traffic in winter 2017."
Scottish Government transport strategy in a nutshell:
VVVRRRROOOOMMM! Beep beep! Get out of my way!
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