Drivers to be offered incentives in £15m move to limit car use

Published on Sunday 16 March 2008 20:56

FREE bus and train tickets and cut-price bicycles could be offered to drivers to slash car use under radical plans being launched today.

Ministers want to encourage showcase projects to develop greener transport in communities across Scotland. They hope to repeat the success of similar schemes in England which have seen cycling increase by up to 80 per cent in some towns.

Transport campaigners welcomed the 15 million move, which they said was more than had been provided south of the Border.

Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, said: "I want to see Scotland do even better."

Reducing car use is part of the ten-point Let's Go Green Together campaign launched by The Scotsman and the Scottish Government in January.

Cars and other vehicles are responsible for nearly one-fifth of Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions and other gases that affect air quality and health.

The Scottish Government has teamed up with Cosla, the local authorities umbrella body, for a three-year project to create "sustainable travel demonstration communities".

It will encourage councils to jointly fund, with the government, schemes which would showcase initiatives to maximise walking, cycling and public transport and reduce car travel.

Other measures could include no-car zones, improved cycle paths and footpaths, car-sharing schemes and individually tailored advice to households on how to cut car use.