Transform Scotland today warmly welcomed The City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘City Mobility Plan‘, which was published this morning.
Transform’s director Colin Howden said:
“It’s great to see the new emphasis on bold, transformational action from Edinburgh Council. This had been our main concern about the draft plans which were consulted upon last year. [1]
“We’re particularly please to see the strong emphasis on demand management in the City Mobility Plan, with a clear commitment to implementing a Workplace Parking Levy scheme. It’s great to see an SNP-led administration provide this leadership on road traffic demand management, something which we’ve yet to see from the Scottish Government transport minister Michael Matheson for the country as a whole.
“No doubt the usual suspects will come out with the habitual clichés about the ‘hard-pressed motorist’ being ‘priced off the roads’. This is all grossly misleading: the price of car use has become significantly cheaper over the past decade.
“Demand management was ‘strongly supported’ in the consultation, with even a road pricing scheme drawing 56% support. And, as the City Mobility Plan sets out, in the absence of action we can expect worse pollution, congestion and ill-health. It’s certainly time for bold, transformational action.”
Notes:
[1] In the foreword to the City Mobility Plan, Councillors Lesley Macinnes and Karen Doran state that “now is the time for bolder, more transformational action”.
