The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Transport chiefs ramp up plan to put feet and cycle power over cars
Angus roads bosses have redoubled their efforts to get drivers out of their cars and choose greener forms of transport.
Transport head Walter Scott pledged greener journeys are “close to the top, if not the top” of his priority list.
He spoke before unveiling a “pipeline of opportunities” to encourage people to walk, cycle or use public transport.
But Angus commuters remain firmly wedded to their private vehicles.
Newly-published research shows fewer people in the county are walking to work, bus use is at only half the Scottish norm and falling numbers of children are either walking or cycling to school.
Internationallyacclaimed transport consultants Systra, which wrote the Angus active and sustainable travel strategy, said existing projects are “patchy” and “not well co-ordinated”.
Angus councillors approved the strategy and action plan at a February meeting outlining the county’s ambitions to 2024.
Councillor Kenny Braes, SNP, said: “It’s an enormous challenge. I see so many potential chicken and egg situations here.”
They also appointed six active travel champions after an “oversight” meant the key role has been unfilled since 2017.
Mr Scott’s team highlighted new paths linking Arbroath to Marywell and Friockheim as well as existing multimillion-pound projects in Monifieth and Arbroath.
Other schemes will work on improving and maintaining existing bus routes, supporting electric vehicles and on better education and awareness, among others.
Councillor Mark
McDonald, SNP, said it was an “epic report with lots to commend in it”.
But consultants Systra suggested progress on growing active travel in Angus lagged behind other parts of Scotland.
The expert team called for “better leadership” to tackle poor accessibility across the county.
The report, which examined travel practices before the coronavirus pandemic, said 69% of Angus workers drive, against a Scotland figure of 62%.
Bus use in the county is only 5% compared to a Scottish average of 10%.
Cycling provided a more positive story for green transport leaders with 3.3% of people regularly biking to work against a Scottish average of 2.4%.
Councillor Bill Duff, SNP, said: “One of the strategic problems Angus has got in terms of active travel is the large number of our residents who commute to Dundee and Aberdeen.
“Those of us who live on the east coast have a good bus and rail link to Dundee and Aberdeen. There is more of a problem as we move inland.
“That’s a real problem for us if we really want to move into active travel because the reality is huge numbers of people are driving 30 or 40 miles to their work and back.
“I don’t see a way we can wave a magic wand and change that.”
Officers are investing millions of pounds in active transport projects across Angus amid a Scotlandwide drive to increase the
number of sustainable journeys.
Councillors hope to cut car emissions in Angus by at least 39% by 2030.
High-profile work includes the £9m Broughty Ferry to Monifieth path, the £13m A Place For Everyone scheme in Arbroath and temporary 20mph zones in seven Angus towns and 25 villages.
The approved action plan parks more ambitious goals such as installing electric vehicle charging points in remote areas of Angus and building new paths over disused railway lines.
Instead, it focuses on a large number of actions including maintaining and improving existing bus routes between towns in the county, cycle storage,
building better bus stops and more integration between different kinds of transport.
Mr Scott said there were “challenges within challenges” but said he had added resource to his team and would not have presented an action plan that he did not feel confident in delivering.
The research focused on methods of travel before lockdown.
An Angus Council spokeswoman said councillors had “set out clear leadership roles and responsibilities” for delivering active travel.
She said: “The report brought together the governance of active travel from strategy, to action plan, to pipeline of active and sustainable travel projects.”