Due to the suspension of campaigning we postponed the publication of our candidate blogs and party statements over the weekend. Our final post(*) is from the Scottish National Party, which will be represented at the hustings by Kaukab Stewart. We have also been provided with a statement from Michael Matheson, the SNP Transport Secretary on active travel.

Kaukab has been campaigning for independence since the 1990s and has worked as a teacher in communities across Scotland for almost 30 years and lives in the west end of the city with her family.

She stood as the SNP candidate in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999 against the late Donald Dewar. During her time in the party she has taken on other political heavyweights including former Chancellor Alistair Darling at the 2010 General Election.

Kaukab is hugely passionate about education and ensuring that every young person in Scotland is given an equal chance to succeed. She brings first hand experience to the table along with a determination to make Scottish education even better.

Statement from Michael Matheson SNP Transport Secretary

Over the past year during this dreadful pandemic, our way of living has been turned on its head. One of the biggest changes was that the requirement to firstly “stay at home” and then to “stay local” meant many more of us living and working locally.  The closure of gyms and contact sports to keep people safe also meant many were without their usual ways of keeping fit.  Walking and cycling – active travel – suddenly became much more popular and necessary to get about and get some daily exercise.

As we rebuild and recover from the pandemic it allows us to reimagine how we go about our daily lives. A priority for the SNP, if re-elected, will be to ensure Scotland’s economic and social recovery is green and investment in active travel will be crucial to that.

That is why the SNP has already committed to the Scotland Road Safety Framework, which has just been renewed to 2030 and invests in cyclist and pedestrian spaces to keep people using them safe from traffic. During the pandemic, we have made almost £39 million available to local authorities and other statutory bodies through the Spaces for People programme -which aims to provide temporary on and off-road segregated walking and cycling routes, safer junctions and improved design of local street space.

Last month’s Scottish Budget announcement of an additional £15 million direct capital for the active travel budget bringing the total annual active travel budget to £115.5 million for 2021-22. 

The active travel budget compares favourably to spending on roads. Active travel funding as a percentage of our capital investment in Motorways and Trunk Roads has increased from 6.3% in 2017-18 to 28.2% in the 2021-22 budget.

On cycling, we are offering new support to increase access to bikes for all including the provision of public bike and e-bike share schemes, particularly in areas of multiple deprivation and we are supporting the use of e-bikes and adapted bikes through interest-free loans and grants. 

We are committed to continuing our support for the provision of child and adult cycle training and safety programmes, including driver awareness training.  

The SNP in government also recently updated the Climate Change Plan, which has 100 policies for tackling climate change. These include a commitment to support transformational active travel projects with over £500 million of investment in the next five years, delivering better active travel infrastructure, access to bikes and behaviour change schemes.  

We also want to ensure local authorities work in a ‘joined-up way in delivering active travel infrastructure, linking towns and cities with ‘Active Freeways’. That’s why we have committed to investing an additional £50 million to deliver a strategic active travel network, to provide segregated active travel routes on main travel corridors to city and town centres and major trip attractors – linking communities throughout Scotland.

If we are to tackle the climate emergency and rethink the way we travel within and between our towns, cities and villages, then we need ambitious plans which not only transform our walkways and roads but allow local authorities to be ambitious in their plans to make better spaces for cycling, walking and wheeling. The SNP is not only committed to making all that happen, but to funding it too.  

If you haven’t already done so please sign up here (link) for free to receive instructions on how to join us. The hustings is open to all with an interest in active travel, so we hope as many of our members and friends can attend.

Our hustings will run under the Wheel, Walk, Cycle Vote banner where we will focus our questions around their three pledges on accessibility, infrastructure and investment.

* We did not receive a candidate blog and party statement submission from the Labour Party.

Patrick is co-leader of the Scottish Green Party, along with Lorna Slater, and has previously represented the Glasgow Region in the Scottish Parliament since 2003.

He has been involved in a very wide range of issues including asylum, sexual health, housing, fair work and transgender rights. In response to climate change, he has campaigned extensively on improving public transport and active travel infrastructure and has repeatedly advocated for radical measures to reduce CO2 emissions and end dependence on fossil fuels.

When he’s not fighting for social and environmental justice, he will likely be consuming copious amounts of sci-fi and responsible amounts of craft beer. Glasgow residents are also likely to have seen him whizzing around the city on an aptly-coloured green bike.

Statement

Active Travel

The Scottish Greens know that a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable transport system for Scotland is a vital component in our fight against climate change.

We want a transport system that prioritises walking, cycling and other active mobility modes, followed by public transport. Commercial and business traffic can be reduced, and encouraged into sustainable modes. Private cars will likely always have a role to play, but cannot be allowed to dominate our public spaces as they do today.

We know we need to make walking and cycling the most attractive and viable transport options in order to achieve this. This means changing both the physical space on our roads and streets, and the culture of how they’re used. It will take serious capital investment to transform our infrastructure, but this should be seen as an investment in a healthy and sustainable economy. So too is spending to achieve behaviour change and an overall shift in attitude and culture.

In the 2020/21 budget negotiations, we secured an additional £15m for cycling, walking and wheeling, bringing the total to record levels, along with a commitment to ensure that the £50m town centre fund supports active travel – but we recognise there’s still a long way to go.

So the Scottish Greens want to see a radical boost in funding in active travel from 2.2%, where it currently stands, to forming at least 10% of total transport budget. This would bring us more in line with other northern European countries, which have far higher numbers of trips made on foot or by bike. It would also reduce air pollution which is estimated to cause over 2,500 deaths per year in Scotland. We’d invest as much again in the ’15-minute neighbourhood’ concept, ensuring that communities’ needs are met with lower demand for road space.

Harnessing a significant modal shift towards active travel in Scotland also requires working closely with local government and communities. For the Scottish Greens, this means calling for increased public consultation and participatory budgeting on active travel as well as 20mph speed limits in residential areas, cycle hubs at bus and train stations, better street lighting and lengthened crossing times at pedestrian crossings.

Every child in Scotland should be given the opportunity to undertake on-road cycle training and provision for the training of adults must also be supported.

To make active travel safe and appealing, the most vulnerable road users need to be protected by law. Changing the law to presumed liability would ensure that when road accidents do happen, the most vulnerable road users are protected.

In line with other major European nations, pedestrians and cyclists with additional vulnerabilities (children, older people, disabled people) should receive automatic compensation in road accidents.

These policies are by no means an exhaustive list of the policies that Scottish Greens believe are required to increase active travel uptake in Scotland and we know that much more work is needed.

I also know how daunting it can be to start cycling in a city like Glasgow, with its woeful track record on active travel. But also know how liberating and joyful it can be, and I want more Glaswegians to share in that.

Keep an eye out for our Holyrood 2021 manifesto, due to launch on 14th April, for more detail on the Scottish Greens’ pledges and commitments to walking, cycling and wheeling.

If you haven’t already done so please sign up here (link) for free to receive instructions on how to join us. The hustings is open to all with an interest in active travel, so we hope as many of our members and friends can attend.

Our hustings will run under the Wheel, Walk, Cycle Vote banner where we will focus our questions around their three pledges on accessibility, infrastructure and investment.

I’m standing to be the first Liberal Democrat MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, having just turned 30 I’m the youngest candidate standing in the constituency. I was born and raised in Greenock, I left school aged 16 to pursue a career in the technology industry with Hewlett Packard in Erskine. For the past five years I’ve been working primarily in London but also in San Francisco, delivering consultancy to some of the world’s largest companies.

I’m well aware of the positive benefits the Scottish Parliament can achieve, especially for young people. My career is the direct result of investment made by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition from 1999-2007. I was 8 years old when the Scottish Parliament first sat but in the last decade I’ve seen the opportunities I was provided fall away for future generations, I now want to return home to make sure we come out of this pandemic with a positive progressive path for Scotland.

Statement

Safer cycling and walking

Scottish Liberal Democrats will:

Change town planning processes to make sure roads have separate spaces for cyclists, walkers/wheelers and motorists, to keep them all safe.

Make cycling more attractive with a new challenge fund to help install showers and changing rooms in workplaces and community facilities.

Decarbonise commuting through more support for e-bikes, as part of a plan to increase government support for households to buy or use forms of electric transport.

Bring forward the £50 million programme for Active Freeway routes from town centres to outlying neighbourhoods, which has been delayed until 2025 by the current government.

Plan so that every child has done their cycling proficiency test by the end of primary school, and every adult can take tuition and a test if they want it. We need to get children interested at the earliest possible opportunity. Only around 4% of children cycle to school.

Insist on a Fatal Accident Inquiry for each pedestrian death and require regional transport authorities to take remedial action.

Attitudes to cycling will only change if it is viewed as a safe and convenient alternative to other forms of transport. Research by Sustrans and Edinburgh Council in 2015 found that just 62% of city residents felt safe riding a bike during the day, falling to 34% at night. The figures for driving a car were up towards 90%.

20-minute neighbourhoods

Active travel will be helped by the drive for 20-minute neighbourhoods. The idea is to build ‘local living’ into how we plan and invest in communities.  This would mean basic services, such as schools, employment, healthcare and other community facilities are accessible and can be reached without a car. The approach should help to disperse investment, jobs and services more widely.

Making Glasgow more accessible for all

Charities including RNIB often campaign on the accessibility of the built environment. We agree with them that there are serious issues which need addressing. For example, clamping down on street furniture to make pavements easier to navigate

We also campaigned for years to clamp down on pavement parking. It was the Liberal Democrats who first tried to legislate on this in the 2007-11 Parliament. It is good that legislation has now been passed.

We campaigned for the Spaces for People rollout and worked to secure funding from Ministers. We wanted to reclaim road space for pedestrians to give everyone more room so that it’s easier to distance. Having more space on streets will also help disabled people in the long-term.

The implementation of that wasn’t perfect everywhere, and where there were issues on the ground in places like Edinburgh we campaigned to see them rectified. It’s in nobody’s interest to see rollouts that don’t work with the community’s needs.

There is a lesson to learn here – that plans need to be properly backed up by planning, consultation and funding. We can avoid and remove obstacles by taking account of the needs of disabled people early in the design process

If you haven’t already done so please sign up here (link) for free to receive instructions on how to join us. The hustings is open to all with an interest in active travel, so we hope as many of our members and friends can attend.

Our hustings will run under the Wheel, Walk, Cycle Vote banner where we will focus our questions around their three pledges on accessibility, infrastructure and investment.

Graham Simpson has been a Scottish Conservative for Central Scotland since 2016. He was a councillor in South Lanarkshire between 2007 and 2017 and formed South Lanarkshire’s Cycling Partnership. Prior to being elected to parliament he was a sub editor for The Scottish Sun.

Statement

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us all the value of the outdoors.

More and more people have discovered what’s on their doorsteps and they are liking it.

The numbers of people cycling and walking has increased and the challenge must be to ensure that increase is here to stay.

People need to feel safe and secure when they are cycling.

So I want to see more segregated routes in every town and city.

The Spaces for People scheme has been good – mostly – but some councils have not gone about it in the right way.

Edinburgh, for example, was particularly bad. They steamrollered scheme through without any consultation and that has got people’s backs up.

What should have been a positive thing has turned into something controversial and that should not be happening anywhere.

I want to see the active travel budget as a proportion of overall transport spend increase. It’s been stuck at around the 2-3% mark for years.

I think it is realistic to aim for that to reach 10% over the course of the next parliament, though anything more would be welcome.

We need to set design standards for routes, using what I would call the double buggy test – that is it needs to feel comfortable for anyone pushing a double buggy. If it doesn’t then it has failed.

Get that right and it helps able bodied and not to able bodied too.

My party’s more-detailed proposals will be set out in our manifesto, which we have yet to publish.

If you haven’t already done so please sign up here (link) for free to receive instructions on how to join us. The hustings is open to all with an interest in active travel, so we hope as many of our members and friends can attend.

Our hustings will run under the Wheel, Walk, Cycle Vote banner where we will focus our questions around their three pledges on accessibility, infrastructure and investment.

Representatives of the various political parties will present their policies for improving provision for wheeling, walking and cycling in Scotland. GoBike will be asking the candidates questions based on the Walk, Wheel, Cycle, Vote pledges. There will then be an opportunity for you to ask questions on how the candidates can make a positive impact on active travel with in the Glasgow Metropolitan area.

The candidates from the five major political parties that will be attending are:

Patrick Harvie – Scottish Green Party
Alex Rowley – Scottish Labour Party
Graham Simpson – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Kaukab Stewart – Scottish National Party
David McKenzie – Scottish Liberal Democrats

During this week we hope to post a blog post from each of the candidates, outlining their parties policies on Active Travel.

On Friday the National Consultation Digest will include a summary of all the active travel policies from each of the parties manifestos.

If you haven’t already done so please sign up here (link) for free to receive instructions on how to join us. The hustings is open to all with an interest in active travel, so we hope as many of our members and friends can attend.

Our hustings will run under the Wheel, Walk, Cycle Vote banner where we will focus our questions around their three pledges on accessibility, infrastructure and investment.

This month the Digest focuses on Transport Scotland’s Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) Phase 1 consultation. STPR2 influences the Scottish Government’s transport investment programme in Scotland over the next 20 years (2022 – 2042). Unlike STPR1 the new review has a big focus on sustainable transport projects and because of this we need to provide as much constructive support as possible.

Section 1: Current Consultations

(in date order for responses)

1.1: Law Commission (& Scottish Law Commission) – Automated Vehicles: A regulatory framework for automated vehicles

This 3^rd consultation builds on the two previous consultations on safety assurance, allocating legal responsibility, and licensing AVs for passenger services and public transport.

Tricia Fort has responded to this consultation on behalf of GoBike. Download the document below and use this as a guide to your own response.

Closes 18 March 2021

1.2: Cycling UK in Scotland – Cycling for everyone election petition

Ahead of the election on 6 May, Cycling UK in Scotland is aiming to show political parties that there is huge support for cycling from people across Scotland.

Their Manifesto for Cycling asks the next Government to:

• Invest more money in cycling
• Create safe space for people to cycle, walk and wheel
• Enable people in rural communities to cycle

Add your name in support of the asks – and increase pressure on parties to improve their commitment to cycling ahead of the election. Sign the petition and share with your friends, family and contacts.

Closes 26 March 2021

1.3: Scottish Government — Draft Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change

This consultation has longer to run than previously advertised so still time to influence this public engagement strategy.

Closes 31 March 2021

1.4: Transport Scotland – Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2)

STPR2 outlines Transport Scotland’s plans for major transport infrastructure projects in the coming 20 years. Instead of being dominated by major road building projects like STPR1, this phase 1 consultation of STPR2 has a much more sustainable transport focus, including reallocation of road space for active travel, development of Active Freeways, and expansion of 20mph zones.

Because of Covid STPR2 will be in 2 phases as Government outlines – ‘the first of which will make recommendations on transport interventions for investment in the short term, as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Scottish Government plans for a green recovery. With Phase 2 reporting in Autumn 2021, STPR2 will then give Scottish Ministers a programme of potential transport investment opportunities for the period 2022-2042.’

In responding to this consultation, I would advise GoBike members not to be daunted by the size of the document or all of the detail in appendices and accompanying documents. The most important things to focus on are the 8 themes and 20 interventions summarised on pdf pages 10 & 11 of the phase 1 report, and the options for Phase 2, Appendix A. These are mostly focussed on sustainable transport and should therefore be, on the whole, supported.

Later in the report or in the accompanying appendices you can read in greater detail about each of the 20 interventions. Having said this, these draft recommendations (as they are called) still lack detail of what projects will actually deliver from 2022 onwards. For example, there is no commitment to the number of kilometres of Active Travel Freeways which will be constructed in Scotland. This may come in Phase 2.

For more of an indication of the types of projects that STPR2 will deliver you have to look at the options being taken forward to Phase 2 for appraisal – all listed in Appendix A. This list includes things such as upgrading the NCN, roll out of public bike hire schemes, segregated active travel routes, and School Streets.

Whilst the 20 interventions proposed cover many positive areas which desperately need funding there may be gaps that you identify when you ready through. One concern is the report’s focus for the short-term on either AT Freeways (Intervention No.1) or making Spaces for People (SfP) permanent (No. 7). For a coherent active travel network in Scotland government needs to do more than just creating key segregated routes into cities, and making the good, but limited, SfP interventions permanent. This, and any other gaps, are worth including in your response as recommendations to enhance STPR2. Phase 2 may include some of the other projects we want to see as greater detailed interventions are developed.

Here is a shortcut to the Case for Change information for the Glasgow region.

Providing your feedback: The STPR2 page is confusing because it looks like it has multiple links for feedback. However all questions to provide feedback on themes, interventions, options and the Case for Change are in this survey form.

Closes 31 March 2021

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

2.2: Scottish Government – Permitted Development Rights (phase 2)

No news yet on Phase 2 of the consultation which will cover permitted development rights for e-bike charging points.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1: Scottish Parliament – Climate Change Plan update

Four Committees at Holyrood have scrutinised aspects of the government’s updated Climate Change Plan and produced reports. Cycling and transport issues were most closely dealt with by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee although the Local Government and Communities received evidence on placemaking and neighbourhoods.

Environment, Climate Change and Land Use committee report

Rural Economy and Connectivity committee report 

Energy, Economy, and Fair Work report

Local Government and Communities Committee report

3.2: Transport Scotland – Road Safety Framework to 2030

Transport Scotland published its new Road Safety Framework last month. The consultation featured in the November edition of the National Digest. There were some significant improvements to the published document which I outlined in a recent blog for Cycling UK in Scotland.