THE third delivery plan for Scotland’s national transport strategy has been published, with it highlighting what the Scottish Government is doing to improve travel by road, rail, sea, air, and pathway.
The delivery plan contains more than 70 actions, including completing the £116 million Levenmouth rail project and working on a permanent and resilient infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.
Concluding the fair fares review is also featured, which will look to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares. Further to this is publishing the draft islands connectivity plan strategic paper and draft long-term plan for vessels for ports for public consultancy.
The delivery plan is accompanied by the Report to Parliament, a statutory requirement setting out progress made in the three years since the Strategy was published and the steps taken to keep it under review.
Minister for transport Fiona Hyslop said, “Much has happened since the publication of our national transport strategy in 2020 and we are dealing with very different challenges than we were back then.
“Following the transfer of ScotRail into public ownership, this year we transferred Caledonian Sleeper services into public control and ownership. Over two million people are now eligible to benefit from free bus travel, and we will shortly publish a one year evaluation of the scheme for under 22s. And we are implementing our Active Travel Transformation Project to help realise our commitment to prioritise walking, wheeling, and cycling.
“Throughout all of this our guiding principles, the four priorities of the strategy, remain the same and they continue to focus our decision making and investment priorities towards delivering our vision and creating a more sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system.
“For this vision to be fully realised, we need a tangible means of delivery. This is where our third delivery plan comes in – outlining the actions being taken by the Scottish Government to help deliver our priorities and outcomes for transport.
“In addition to the publication of this delivery plan, I have laid a report to the Scottish Parliament setting out the progress of the strategy in its first three years.
“This report highlights some of the key projects and actions taken by this government to keep transport moving through the pandemic, respond to the cost crisis and climate emergency and the critical ongoing partnership working to make our transport system greener, fairer, healthier and the bedrock of inclusive economic growth.”
