Brenda Mitchell: Driving change in thinking on transport

A RETHINK is required to get people out of cars, writes Brenda Mitchell

Commuting done by car is up 1 per cent. Picture: PA

According to the latest Scottish Transport Strategy, road traffic has increased by 2 per cent since 2006 while 6 per cent fewer people are travelling by public transport.

It shows 68 per cent of commuting is done by car (up 1 per cent); while bus and rail are unchanged at 10 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Walking has fallen by 1 per cent to 13 per cent, although cycling is up 1 per cent to 3 per cent. Whatever your perspective this has to be disappointing.

The Strategy is badged as an interim “refresh” of the first published ten years ago, but by demonstrating such little progress these figures suggest it is, in fact, time for a total re-think.

Of the three key objectives of the National Transport Strategy, one seeks reduced emissions to tackle climate change, air quality and health improvement and another involves providing transport choice or an alternative to the car.

Scotland’s major cities currently have some of the UK’s worst records for pedestrians hit by motor vehicles and it is statistically proven that walking is more dangerous than driving a car in Scotland.

Cycling is no easier. In 2014, serious injury to cyclists in Scotland was nearly 16 per cent higher than the 2004-8 average, with 155 reported cases, and can only partly be explained by higher levels of cycling.

We clearly live in a world where there is both an aspiration and a desperate need for safer and more sustainable active travel and yet this is also a world where the roads are perceived to ‘belong’ to the car.

It is time to take bolder decisions. The Scottish Government has an opportunity to lead the way with an ambitious policy agenda that embraces road infrastructure, training and education and legislative changes which would provide additional legal protection for the vulnerable on our roads.

Only going forward with such commitment, backed by sufficient funding, will attitudes change and the aims of the Transport Strategy finally be met.

• Brenda Mitchell is a personal injury solicitor and the founder of Road Share, the campaign for presumed liability for Scotland’s vulnerable road users