Transport and Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson has said Scotland will join European transport leaders by developing innovative transport initiatives to encourage more Scots out of their cars.
Announcing the award of funding to seven successful towns and cities, Stevenson said the Sustainable Travel Demonstration Communities projects would showcase a range of transport initiatives that would be good for people's pockets, their health, their communities and the planet.
Initiatives will include proposals for the first self service bike rental schemes anywhere in the UK, as well as more targeted transport advice to commuters.
The successful towns and cities are Barrhead, Kirkwall, Dumfries, Dundee, Kirkintilloch/Lenzie, Larbert/Stenhousemuir and Glasgow East End, who will now use £15m of funding to develop such initiatives as personalised travel planning, the building of more pedestrianised zones, free trial bus and rail passes and the development of better walking and cycling routes to encourage their residents to use greener forms of travel.
The bike rental schemes, based on successful models in Paris, Barcelona and Stockholm, will allow people in Dumfries and Dundee to pick up a bike at a rail or bus station, use it for free for half an hour, and then pay a rental fee at an hourly rate thereafter. Once finished, the bike could then be deposited at any one of a number of other interchanges across towns and cities.
Stevenson said: “With more cars on our roads, increasing levels of congestion and rising emissions, it is time for us all to look at our travel behaviour.
“We need to look at new ways of persuading people out of their cars and onto more sustainable forms of travel such as trains, buses, walking and cycling.
“The proposals from local authorities and regional transport partnerships have been impressive and the seven communities selected now have the chance to improve travel options for thousands of residents.
“Initiatives like the bike rental schemes, the development of park and choose sites, more pedestrian-only areas, and free trial bus and train tickets will help us to meet our ambitious climate change target - to reduce Scottish emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
“These proposals will help to promote healthier travel choices too, providing more opportunities for cycling and walking, allowing more people to enjoy the benefits of increased physical activity.
“These schemes will make a real difference, making transport choices cheaper, healthier, safer and greener.
“We look forward to the lessons learned from this project being used as a template for other local authorities, showcasing the very best of sustainable travel initiatives. It could result in a catalyst for change right across Scotland.”
COSLA's Vice President, Councillor Corrie McChord, added: “COSLA is happy to be involved in this project. It helps both councils and the Scottish Government to meet a number of aspirations we share with the Scottish people. We have far too many short journeys being undertaken, nearly three in five car journeys are for trips of less than three miles.
“Where councils are involved in this initiative local people will be able to see the advantages of intensive sustainable travel initiatives. They will see the benefits of increased active travel in the form of walking and cycling, decreased local car use and emissions, reduced congestion, and improvements to their local neighbourhoods over time.
“One of the less direct but equally important benefits of this project is that it will provide information and experience useful to other councils in preparing similar schemes over the coming years. This project will allow participating local authorities to address these issues with a significant amount of resource and support.”
The Scottish Government and seven Local Authorities will have a budget of £15m to spend on sustainable travel initiatives. £10m will be made available by the Scottish Government with a contribution of £5m from the Local Authorities and the regional transport partnership SWESTRANS.
Similar schemes in England, known as Sustainable Travel Demonstration Towns, have already led to impressive results. In Darlington, there has been a 14 per cent increase in public transport trips, 29 per cent increase in walking, a 79 per cent increase in cycling and car journeys are down by 11 per cent. This has been achieved through simple measures such as improving cycle and walking routes, better public transport links, more pedestrian-only areas, travel advisors visiting homes providing tailored travel plans, car sharing schemes and discounts on bus and train tickets. There are two other demonstration towns in England, in Peterborough and Worcester.
Transform Scotland welcomed the Scottish Government's announcement. Colin Howden, the director of Transform Scotland said: “This will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase how small-scale local transport projects can get people to switch to sustainable transport.
“The English scheme has proved very successful. Given the additional funding available in the Scottish scheme, there is no reason why this shouldn't deliver even better results.
“If Scotland is to achieve its ambitious climate change targets then the transport sector is going to have to get its act together quickly. The sustainable travel towns should be able to provide live examples of how to bring about the reductions in carbon emissions that are urgently required.”
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