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NEWS RELEASE Wednesday 16th June 2004 Transport White Paper welcomed TRANSform Scotland, the national sustainable transport
alliance, today gave a cautious welcome to the Scottish Executive's plans
for a new long-term national transport strategy, a national transport
agency and statutory regional transport partnerships. Colin Howden, Campaign Manager of TRANSform Scotland,
said: "For too long Scotland's transport focus has
been on traffic and pollution-generating road-building. This has been
reflected in soaring rates of car use, decreasing public transport use
and a country that takes less and less exercise. Efforts to change this
are therefore welcome. "The new national transport strategy will only
be of value if it sets out clear plans to reduce road traffic levels and
shifts trips from the car to walking, cycling and public transport. The
transport agency needs to be given clear directions to reduce road traffic
levels if the Scottish Executive is to make any serious effort at tackling
climate change emissions from the transport sector. If Scotland's burgeoning
obesity epidemic is to be tackled then a key strategic focus of the new
agency must be to implement the national walking and cycling strategies. "It is welcome that new statutory regional transport
partnerships are to be put in place. The very public, and ongoing, spat
between the local authorities in south-east Scotland over congestion charging
shows the folly of relying on voluntary arrangements to deliver decision-making
on difficult topics." TRANSform Scotland is however concerned about the
proposal that up to a third of the membership of the regional transport
partnerships could be made up of business sector appointees. TRANSform
Scotland is concerned that this could lead to transport policy being distorted
to favour the private interests of companies rather than the public interest. ENDS Notes to Editors: [1] TRANSform Scotland's response (December 2003) to the consultation 'Scotland's Transport: Proposals for a new approach to transport in Scotland' is available at http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/info/docs/TransportScotlandResponse.pdf END OF PRESS RELEASE |
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