We’ve today published our new Annual Report, which reflects on our work and activities for the year 2023/24.
Director Colin Howden reflects on our activities over the past 12 months – from our walking campaign to scrutinising the Scottish Government’s investment and performance on sustainable transport:
“Our annual report highlights the range of work we’ve delivered over the past year. We completed the first phase of our successful behaviour change campaign ‘A Wee Walk Works Wonders’, the evaluation of which showed that 1 in 3 adults in the target areas were walking more for short journeys. We published a range of new research, with our ‘Continental Connections’ report bringing together Scottish local authorities in support of our proposal to implement Continental-style zebra crossings as a low-cost way to improve conditions for walking across Scotland. In our ‘Fossil Free Future’ report, published for the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Sustainable Transport, we worked with the bus, rail and ferry sectors to set out how Scotland’s public transport networks could be swiftly and efficiently decarbonised.
“A large part of our work continued in holding organisations to account in the delivery of public responsibilities. In our ‘Dirty Deals’ report, we exposed the City Region Deals’ gross abnegation of their climate responsibilities, with 70% of their investments being spent on high-carbon infrastructure. Our ‘Fight or Flight’ project demonstrated that the country’s Public Bodies had over the past decade made progress in shifting from air to rail when making Anglo-Scottish trips, but that many were still preferring to use public funds to use high-carbon transport over sustainable alternatives. In our ‘In Reverse’ report, published earlier this month, we demonstrated that the Scottish Ministers had failed on 7 out of 10 crucial sustainable transport commitments that they had made in recent years.
“We’re pleased to have the support of a growing membership of organisations and individuals, and, with their continuing support, we look forward to continuing to press home the case for sustainable transport across the next 12 months.”