Transport

MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT AFFORDABLE

The Scottish Greens want to make public transport the preferred choice over private cars for as many people as possible. This means it must be affordable. Thanks to the Scottish Greens, from the summer, bus travel will be free for everyone under the age  of 22. We aim to extend this to include everyone aged 26 and under. We believe in free public transport more generally, and the next step should be similar concessions for rail travel.

To immediately bring down the cost of rail we will:

• Introduce a new Scottish Railcard for everyone who is ineligible for the existing Railcard schemes, modelled on the existing Network Rail card in the South East of England.
• Seek to extend the lifetime of railcards to three years and reduce the initial cost.
• Subsidise fares for longer distance rail travel from Scotland to England; the costs would be covered by a new frequent flyer levy.
• Provide free ferry travel for children and young people.

RAIL FOR ALL – A MODERN, PUBLICLY OWNED, ZERO-CARBON RAIL NETWORK

The Scottish Greens are proposing the Rail for All investment programme: a 20 year, £22bn investment in Scotland’s railways to build a modern, zero carbon network that is affordable and accessible to all, making rail a natural choice for commuters and business and leisure travellers. This investment will be a central component of Scotland’s green recovery from Covid, creating at least 16,800 jobs while delivering infrastructure that is essential to tackling the climate emergency, supports our long-term economic prosperity, and will be enjoyed by generations to come.

ALIGN TRANSPORT INVESTMENT AND GOVERNANCE BEHIND THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Tackling the climate emergency means ending investment in polluting, high carbon infrastructure at the same time as investing in the solutions of the future. We will cease funding road building projects that add capacity to the network and redirect funds toward safety improvements, maintenance of existing infrastructure, public transport, cycling and walking. We will review transport governance, including Transport Scotland, and infrastructure investment programmes, to ensure they are fully aligned behind tackling the climate emergency and are accountable for delivering our climate goals.

INVEST IN CYCLING, WALKING AND FIFTEEN-MINUTE NEIGHBOURHOODS

The Scottish Greens have, for the first time ever, secured increases in the budget for cycling and walking that take it over £100m but this is still just 3% of the national transport budget. We will immediately increase the active travel budget to at least £320m. We view this as a minimum level of investment. Over the duration of the next Parliament, we aim to increase the overall budget for cycling, walking, city centre transformation and 15-minute neighbourhoods to 20% of the national transport budget. Further capital could be raised to accelerate the transition through local taxes aimed at the most polluting vehicles and their use. We will underpin this expenditure with reforms that deliver safer, greener and better communities.

We will:

• Make 15-minute neighbourhoods a key principle in Scotland’s Planning Policy Framework. Our vision is for everyone in towns and cities to be able to get what they need within a 15-minute walk.
• Create a town and city centre green transformation fund to re-orient these places towards pedestrians, cyclists and vulnerable road users including children, the elderly and disabled people. We will reclaim road space for outdoor leisure and commercial opportunities, and support the use of vacant premises for arts, recreation and other activities that benefit local communities.
• Deliver a reinvigorated national cycling and wheeling network, including active highways through rural areas to link towns and cities, with a rich network of well-planned urban cycling and walking routes.
• Streamline the process for designing and building active travel infrastructure and introduce new design standards that prioritise quality and accessibility to all.
• Support a Safe to School programme to ensure every child who lives within two miles of school is able to safely walk or wheel there, and that those who live further away have access to a school bus.
• Introduce a 20mph default speed limit in built-up areas, saving lives and making cycling and walking safer and more attractive.
• Close the loopholes in the pavement parking ban.
• Make it easier to take bikes on buses and trains and require all new buses and trains to be designed to carry bikes.
• Support smart ticketing across Scotland for all public transport so that a smart card or phone can be used to pay for a whole journey, including bike hire.
• Establish an online police reporting system enabling anyone to upload camera footage of dangerous driving.

THE SCOTTISH GREENS WILL ALSO

Reduce road traffic

• Encourage and support the use of demand management schemes at the local level, including workplace parking levies, congestion charging and parking charges that disincentivise the use of the most polluting and larger vehicles.

Put public transport in public hands

• Merge ScotRail and Network Rail (Scotland) into one publicly owned company to provide an efficient and fast-moving new rail agency that answers to the people of Scotland.
• Support Local Government to establish locally-owned bus companies similar to Lothian buses.
• Bring ferry routes currently serviced by private operators into public ownership, and end the waste and uncertainty created by repeatedly tendering for the delivery of public ferry services by directly awarding contracts to Calmac.

Electrify transport

• Ban the sale of  new petrol and diesel cars from 2026. This would make a major contribution to our climate goals and prevent deaths from air pollution. Prior to that date, all public sector bodies will either have to procure zero emissions vehicles or explain why this is not practical on a case-by-case basis.
• Expand the Switched On towns and cities challenge fund to at least 50 towns and cities by 2025.
• Agree a funded strategy with bus manufacturers and operators to electrify the fleet whilst ending public support for new buses that are not fully electric from 2022.

Establish low carbon transport connections with Europe

• Work with Calmac to establish direct, publicly owned services for freight and passengers to continental Europe.
• Campaign for direct train services between Scotland and continental Europe via the channel tunnel.

Expand and green Scotland’s ferry service

• Develop a funded long-term green fleet replacement strategy to ensure all services throughout Scotland benefit from reliable, efficient and zero carbon ferries.
• Resolve the ongoing delays and budget shortfalls in vessel completion at the Port Glasgow shipyard, and route resolutions across the Clyde.
• Categorise inter-island ferries as publicly owned Scottish National Infrastructure delivered by Transport Scotland and Calmac, on Local Authorities’ request, and ensure these services are adequately funded.
• Ensure Council-owned and operated ferries receive sufficient annual resources to allow Island Councils to operate their internal ferries at no net detriment to their annual revenue settlement.
• Maintain current fixed links that connect island communities such as the Churchill Barriers in Orkney and the Uist and Benbecula Causeways and explore new funding and locations for new lifeline links elsewhere.