CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Reducing car travel

(98 posts)
  • Started 3 years ago by Morningsider
  • Latest reply from neddie

  1. bakky
    Member

    Long-time Active Travel and Climate Action Supporter MSP Sue Webber has tabled this for the Scottish Parliament tomorrow:

    https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/votes-and-motions/S6M-17362

    Ending the “War” Against Scotland’s Motorists

    Submitted by: Sue Webber, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
    Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
    Motion reference: S6M-17362
    Current status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on Wednesday, 30 April 2025

    That the Parliament calls on the Scottish Government to take greater action to support Scotland’s motorists and to cease implementing punitive measures against road users, which have been described as a war on Scotland’s motorists; recognises the importance of motorists to the Scottish economy and connectivity; acknowledges that the Scottish Government has abandoned its plans to reduce car use by 20% by 2030 and welcomes the recent Audit Scotland report that states that the Scottish Ministers had "no costed delivery plan or measurable milestones" to achieve this target; calls on the Scottish Ministers to focus on incentives, rather than penalties, to encourage motorists to change their behaviour as part of an affordable transition; notes that the implementation of low emission zones has hindered businesses and motorists in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, and calls on ministers to review the effectiveness of low emission zones before any new zones are proposed, or the current ones are expanded, and to reconsider the punitive fines; recognises that road users in Aberdeen have been hindered by the introduction of bus gates, and that motorists across Scotland have been restricted by the expansion of parking charges; urges the Scottish Ministers not to introduce 50 mph speed limits on national speed limit single carriageway roads; recognises that resurfacing, rather than refilling, is the best solution to tackle Scotland’s pothole problem; urges ministers to work more effectively with the Scottish Road Works Commissioner, local authority road works coordinators and utility companies to encourage less inactivity on road work sites and to incentivise finishing works ahead of time; calls for greater action to futureproof Scotland’s EV charger network, and further calls on the Scottish Government to recognise the vital role that motorists play in Scotland.

    Posted 6 days ago #
  2. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I assume SJW has forgotten about this banger of an article from the Scottish Parliament:

    https://spice-spotlight.scot/2022/08/26/is-there-a-war-on-the-motorist/

    calls on the Scottish Ministers to focus on incentives, rather than penalties, to encourage motorists to change their behaviour as part of an affordable transition;

    Ah, 'incentives' for behaviour change. The magical hands-off approach in which people just need to be 'encouraged' and 'asked nicely'. Perhaps SJW would care to read about behavioural change science as regards people's individual, social and material value systems to learn why incentives alone don't work.

    notes that the implementation of low emission zones has hindered businesses and motorists in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

    I was in Glasgow twice in the last few days. There was an awful lot of shopping going on as far as I could tell.

    Posted 6 days ago #
  3. bakky
    Member

    @Arellcat another cracking link - I also saw @Morningsider sharing that on Bluesky, in response to the news.

    SJW being so far removed from the usual meaning of SJW (initialism) has tickled me.

    The shame is, the way certain parties tap into a sort of nostalgia and fear of change and 'losing our way of life' means no amount of data proving businesses are probably in fact benefitting from the LEZ would sway policy nor messaging. One of the reasons Chris Boardman had said during a semi-recent Active Travel Café session that we need to be able to do more in the way of persuasive storytelling rather than just wielding stats (I paraphrase, but).

    Posted 6 days ago #
  4. acsimpson
    Member

    Storytelling about how Webber and her accessories are directly responsible for hundred of deaths a year?

    Posted 6 days ago #
  5. bakky
    Member

    Better to hear it from the man himself. Video below starts at the question which prompted it at 17m 32s in, about how to cool down culture wars. SJW not mentioned.

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Player

    (The Youtube link I've used links directly to the timestamp, but the forum embed seems to discard that parameter):

    youtube.com/watch?v=MPgi8_rHD9E&t=17m32s

    Posted 6 days ago #
  6. Morningsider
    Member

    Odd that the motion fails to mention the academic research that found the LEZ had lowered air pollution in central Glasgow. Too soon to assess the impact of the others - Glasgow started enforcement first.

    I have no idea if the bus gates in Aberdeen "hindered motorists". However, they have reduced some bus journey times by up to 25% and been so successful that they have funded free weekend bus travel in Aberdeen during January 2023 and free weekend festive night buses in 2024-25.

    As for the proposed reduction of the speed limit on single carriageway interurban roads from 60mph to 50mph, there is no mention of the estimate that "...over the 60-year assessment period there could be a reduction of at least 170 fatal, 720 serious and 378 slight injury collisions."

    Posted 6 days ago #
  7. bakky
    Member

    Transform Scotland have written a briefing regarding the debate:

    https://transform.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/War-on-the-motorist-debate-Transform-Scotland-briefing-paper-2025-04-30.pdf

    Posted 6 days ago #
  8. neddie
    Member


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