Better Public Transport

Major improvements must be made to the quality and price of public transport if Scotland is to catch up with best practice in England and on the continent.

High quality public transport is necessary if society is to function successfully, and can help ensure key public policy objectives regarding the environment, social inclusion and the economy are met.

In particular, policy should aim to ensure that public transport achieves a high modal share of all motorised transport and is comprehensively available, enabling wide public accessibility to work, education, health, shopping and leisure facilities. For this to happen we need to see priority given for investment in public transport over less sustainable modes of transport.

We want to see:

• The Scottish Executive give priority to investment in public transport - buses, trams, railways and ferries – rather than unsustainable modes of transport
• Rail investment on Scotland’s key inter-urban corridors, and the delivery of long-delayed rail projects such as the route to the Scottish Borders
• Delivery of a new tram network for Edinburgh – and for the other Scottish cities to develop their own proposals
• Investment put towards everyday needs rather than a few mega-projects of dubious environmental benefit, such as airport rail links, as is currently planned.