New ‘war on the motorist’ as SNP says: We’ll cut car use by 20%
Ministers’ 10-year strategy will see even MORE parking restrictions and bus lanes
‘ This is an escalation of the war on the motorist, with climate as an excuse. They have chosen the 20 per cent figure arbitrarily. The function of government is to facilitate people’s lives, not dictation and coercion. This is ’ an assault on people’s liberty.
Ian Taylor, of the Alliance of British Drivers
THE ‘war on the motorist’ is to dramatically escalate after SNP ministers unveiled plans to cut all car use by a fifth in under a decade.
A new target to reduce the distance travelled by cars by 20 per cent was one of the pledges contained in an update to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan.
Details of strategies will be unveiled next year, but the document sets out that policies to ‘dissuade car use’ will include introducing new parking restrictions in town centres and giving more priority to buses.
The Government last night confirmed that the target applies to all vehicles – meaning that even usage of ‘green’ electric cars must be cut.
The plan also commits to helping councils introduce workplace parking levies, where companies must pay a tax on staff spaces – with many likely to pass the cost on to employees.
Ian Taylor, chairman of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘We regard this as an escalation of the war on the motorist, with climate policies being used as an excuse.
‘It is hammering the private car owner. We are not talking about people out for a joyride: a lot of that traffic is people going about their job at work, getting to or from their job at work, and other essential things.
‘They seem to have chosen the 20 per cent figure arbitrarily. I don’t know how they will go about that or what they will put in place but I would suggest the function of government is to facilitate people’s lives and what they are not is dictation and coercion. This is an assault on people’s liberty.’
The updated Climate Change Plan, published yesterday, sets out the ‘path to net zero’ up to 2032.
It aims to ‘address our overreliance on cars’ by cutting the number of kilometres travelled by cars by 20 per cent by 2030.
The plan says: ‘If the health pandemic has moved to a phase to allow more certainty on future transport trends and people’s behaviours – and work and lifestyle choices future forecasting – we will publish a route-map to meet the 20 per cent reduction by 2030 in 2021.’
The Government will work with Scotland’s councils ‘on the further measures that will be necessary to dissuade car use; for example, bus prioritisation in town centres and parking restrictions’.
It also brings forward the target for phasing out all new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2030, from 2032.
Tory environment spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Reducing car usage will play a part in tackling climate change, but this needs to be accompanied by green infrastructure policies which make rail and bus transport both cleaner and more accessible.
‘As yet, that better infrastructure has not been delivered by the SNP which means many people continue to use their cars instead of public transport. This is especially true in our rural communities where having access to a car is an absolute necessity.’
Latest official figures show that road traffic soared to a new high in 2018, when 48billion kilometres (29.8billion miles) were travelled.
Cars made up 76 per cent of these journeys.
Colin Howden, of campaign group Transform Scotland, called the 20 per cent pledge ‘a long- overdue return to road traffic reduction as a headline policy objective’.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: ‘These policies and proposals set us on a pathway to a just transition to net zero. This journey won’t be easy.
‘We know there are factors we can’t control, including technological advances and the limits of devolved power.
‘We will need to be innovative, to learn as we are going and to utilise new and exciting technologies and ideas, seizing on the multiple benefits our journey to net zero presents.
‘We also need the UK Government to match not just our ambition but our action.’
The news comes after it emerged the number of chauffeur- driven cars available for Nationalist ministers to use has almost doubled in five years.
The amount spent on the luxury vehicles hit a record high last year of more than £1.3million.
There are now 41 cars available to ministers, compared with 25 five years ago.
The SNP Government has said this reflects periods of investment, where new vehicles were procured, and older ones were not disposed of immediately.
‘Hammering car owners’