Ministerial statement following the publication of Transport and Travel in Scotland 2016.

Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport said:

“Today's figures highlight that while advances are being made in building a cleaner and greener transport system there is still work to do.

“It is welcome that the overall share of walking journeys has increased and there has also been an increase in the number of pupils walking and cycling to school. Performance is being maintained in public or active travel to work and the distance cycled in the last five years has increased by 13.5 per cent.

“The Scottish Government wants to see more progress and we have doubled our active travel budget, from £40 million to £80 million, to help achieve our ambitious targets in this area.

“We recognise that more can be done to address the fall in bus passenger numbers and I meet the industry regularly to discuss this. We currently have a consultation running on where we can improve services and we want as many people as possible to get involved in this before it closes in December.

“This is the first time that electric vehicles have featured in the survey and we recognise that as numbers of these vehicles increase there will be a need for charging points. We are working with our delivery partners to further develop the charging network, which is one of the most comprehensive in Europe, including our innovative proposals to make the entire A9 Scotland’s first electric highway.”