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NEWS RELEASE Wednesday 29th September 2004 Executive spending plans for transport fail to target tackling traffic growth TRANSform Scotland today criticised the Scottish Executive's spending plans for transport as being unfocussed and for failing to prioritise measures to tackle traffic growth.
"The Executive's spending plans on transport
represent simply 'more of everything': more money for public transport,
certainly, but also more polluting road-building and more subsidies for
air travel. There remains an incoherence about the transport spending
decisions of the Scottish Executive. The Executive remains obsessed with
transport mega-projects such as new motorways and airport rail links while
it fails to set out how it will tackle traffic growth. "A first step would be for the Executive to
start to prioritise funding towards local authorities who have in place
credible implementation plans for stabilising, and then reducing, road
traffic levels. It is of no use spending money irrespective of whether
local authorities are making attempts to tackle traffic growth. Simply
throwing money at massive and inappropriate infrastructure projects will
do little to tackle these long-term unsustainable trends in transport." TRANSform Scotland are particularly concerned at
the Scottish Executive Finance Minister Andy Kerr's decision to double
the funding to the Air Route Development Fund. Colin Howden said: "The Executive's doubling of subsidy to the
air transport industry is embarrassing for its environmental credibility.
The Air Route Development Fund is direct state aid to airlines, pure and
simple. Given air transport’s position as the least energy efficient
and most polluting form of transport, this decision further undermines
the Executive's attempt to have a credible or believable strategy on climate
change." ENDS Notes to Editors:
END OF NEWS RELEASE
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