Introduction

Scotland wants to help people use cars less, in a fair and helpful way. The Scottish Government and COSLA are working together to make this happen.

We believe that using cars less can help everyone by:

• Making the air cleaner and quieter;
• Making roads safer;
• Helping people be more active and healthy; and
• Making towns and cities nicer places to live.

This is also important because Scotland wants reach net zero by 2045. The Scottish Government and COSLA know that not everyone can stop using cars easily. For example:

• People in the countryside;
• Disabled people who need cars to get around; and
• Parents with children or people with certain jobs may need to drive more.

That’s why the plan is for the whole country to work together, but not everyone has to reduce car use in the same way. We want to make sure that streets and public spaces are fair for everyone — not just for people who drive cars.

Type of proposal

Decision of a strategic nature relating to the right and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal and describe its overall aims and intended purpose

Research into how to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by transport in Scotland has shown that a reduction in car use – alongside a move to electric vehicles – is needed to meet Scotland’s net zero target. This document sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to achieving this reduction.

The policy statement uses behaviour change tools to inform our approach to helping people to shift to four key travelling habits, according to their circumstances and needs:

• Reducing the need to travel by making use of sustainable online options;
• Living well locally, by choosing local destinations or reducing the distances driven;
• Switching modes to walk, wheel, cycle or public transport where feasible; and
• Combining trips or sharing journeys with another person if car use remains the only feasible option..

To support these four behaviours, the policy statement sets out four key next steps which we will take to progress this ambition:

• Setting a new target for car use reduction in Scotland, making use of the most up-to-date evidence;
• Working with key partners to identify how we can best reduce car use in Scotland in a way that is fair for everyone;
• Working with key partners to develop a national engagement campaign on car use reduction; and
• Working with key partners to fully provide local authorities the power to charge road users.

These are policies that the Scottish Government has committed to introducing, which when taken together, will encourage people to change their behaviour towards the four above travelling habits. These will require their own separate impact assessments.

Key Terms

Reduction/ Reduce: to make smaller or less in amount.

Carbon Emissions: Carbon emissions are made when we burn things like coal, oil, or gas to make electricity, drive cars, or run factories. The most common gas is carbon dioxide (CO₂), but there are others such as Methane (CH₄) which comes from animals like cows when they burp, and from places like landfills and gas leaks, nitrous oxide (N₂O which comes from farming and using certain fertilizers, and other greenhouse gases which are made by people in factories and can be even stronger than CO₂, even though there’s less of them. All of these gases trap heat in the air, which can change the weather, melt ice, and make it harder for animals and people to live comfortably.

Net Zero: Putting no extra greenhouse gases into the air. We can still make some pollution, but we also remove the same amount as a make, so the total stays balanced.

Start date of proposal’s development: November 2022

Start date of CRWIA process: 01/09/2025