Executive Summary

Background

The Scottish Government’s strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 comprises a number of different elements. One car-related policy outcome in its Climate Change Plan update, published in December 2020, was to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030, in order to meet Scotland’s statutory obligations for greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2045. 

Transport Scotland, in collaboration with COSLA, co-developed a route map to achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030, which was published in January 2022. This route map set out the interventions that would support people to reduce car use wherever possible and identified four key behaviours for people to consider when planning a journey. These were:

  • To make use of sustainable online options to reduce the need to travel.
  • To choose local destinations or reduce the distance travelled.
  • To switch to walking, wheeling, cycling or public transport where possible.
  • To combine a trip or share a journey to reduce the number of individual car trips made, if the car remains the only feasible option.

The consultation process

The consultation ran for 12 weeks from January to April 2022 and most responses were submitted via Citizen Space which is the Scottish Government’s online consultation hub. 

Respondent profile

In total, there were 679 responses to the consultation, of which 64 were from organisations and 615 from individuals. A full list of organisations and their sub-groups is provided in Appendix 1.

Key themes

A number of key themes were evident across consultation questions as well as across respondent groups. To a large extent, the actions and policies outlined in the route map were supported, with many respondents echoing the interventions, actions and policies outlined in the route map as good approaches to reduce car kilometres by 20%. The key themes are summarised below.

  • There was general support for the holistic approach suggested in the route map, with respondents agreeing that behaviour change will be necessary to support the actions within the route map. Of the four behaviours outlined in the route map, the least supported was combining trips and sharing journeys.
  • A key theme was a desire for an initial focus on improvements to public transport and active travel to be introduced, so as to ensure there are viable alternatives to car use. Respondents felt that the other interventions set out in the route map would be more effective once investments in public transport and active travel had been made.
  • The car is currently perceived to be cheap, convenient and quick while public transport tends to be viewed as expensive, inconvenient and slow.
  • There is a desire for a fully integrated public transport system offering connectivity between and across all forms of travel. For example, having a hub and spoke system offering good connections between public transport and active travel options and offering universal ticketing so that it is easy to switch between different modes to complete journeys. There were also calls for the public transport system to be cheaper, safer, efficient and far more extensive than at present.
  • There were some calls for a demand-responsive public transport system, with some suggestions that this could follow the Uber business model, offering dial-up services and so on.
    • Demand-responsive public transport is a form of shared public transport for groups of individuals traveling where vehicles alter their routes for each journey based on particular transport demand without using a fixed route or timetabled journeys. These vehicles typically pick-up and drop-off passengers in locations according to passengers needs and can include taxis, buses or other vehicles.
  • In addition to improvements to public transport, a desire was also identified for improvements to active travel networks in term of ease of use and safety, and connectivity with public transport modes.
  • There were some views that the route map is less appropriate for rural areas and island communities where public transport provision is poor, and for disabled people who use cars as a mobility aid. As such, there were some suggestions that the route map should focus on towns and cities where there are already reasonably well established public transport options, with a perception that these areas offer the most scope to help achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres, and also that interventions should avoid disadvantaging those who use cars as a mobility aid.
  • There was support for the action within the route map for changes to the planning process so that towns and new developments are built around people; creating 20 minute neighbourhoods that have local services and amenities and reducing the need for residents to have to travel elsewhere to obtain the services they need. The National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is seen as an opportunity to help bring this about.
  • There was support for the action within the route map to ensure IT connectivity for all Scotland so that people are enabled to work from home and use more online services. Other incentives and encouragement for working from home were also put forward.
  • There were views that all vehicle types should be included in the route map, for example, commercial vehicles, as these are felt to be as polluting as cars in terms of contributing to emissions.
  • A number of disincentives to car use were suggested. These included low traffic zones, bans from city centres, traffic calming measures, living street designs, road user charging and high parking charges, although based on the proviso that viable alternatives to car use need to be in place before any disincentives are introduced.
  • There was support for the route map actions to provide investment, long term in bus transport and increased in active travel, with some respondents requesting greater levels of investment to help bring about the actions and policies contained within the route map.
  • Positive messaging via education campaigns was perceived as something which could help a move towards a reduction in car kilometres.
  • The opportunities for public sector organisations and large businesses to set a good example in reducing the car dominance of their staff was noted by a number of respondents.
  • While there was broad support for the need to reduce car kilometres from many of these respondents, there were some who disagreed with the route map, feeling that their car use was essential, their freedoms would be impinged, and that drivers should not be disadvantaged. There were also some respondents who felt that it will be difficult to bring about behaviour change given the car-centric culture of today.
  • Some respondents felt the 20% reduction in car kilometres was unambitious. Conversely there were some comments that any approaches to reducing car kilometres will have little impact when considered in a global context.