Response to the Climate Change Committee: progress reducing emissions – report to Parliament 2021

2. Surface transport

2.1 Publish, and start to implement, a strategy setting out how Scotland will achieve a 20% reduction in car-kilometres by 2030 and deliver 20-minute neighbourhoods. This should be supported by:

• Continuing to strengthen schemes to support walking, cycling, and public transport.
• Investment in infrastructure connectivity to lock in positive behavioural changes that reduce travel demand (e.g. home-working).

Timing: 2021/22

Primary responsibility: Scottish Government

Scottish Government response: accept

The route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kms was published on 13 January 2022. The route map outlines a behaviour change framework which caters for the diversity of people living in Scotland by setting out four sustainable travel behaviours which people can choose to adopt. It contains over 30 interventions we will take between now and 2030 to support each of the four behaviours.

Among these, we have pledged more than £500 m for bus priority measures, £50 m for Active Freeways and £500 m for active travel infrastructure, access to bikes and behavioural change schemes. It is supported by our Programme for Government commitments on 20 minute neighbourhoods – connected, accessible places where people can meet their daily needs locally, enabling people to live, work and pursue opportunities to improve their learning and wellbeing in communities close to home – and the Work Local Challenge Programme to support flexible, remote and local working choices. We also recognise the vital role that digital connectivity will play in meeting Scotland's world-leading climate change ambitions. This is why we made our commitment to extend superfast broadband access to 100% of premises in Scotland, regardless of location.

In January, we also published the draft second Strategic Transport Projects Review recommendations for consultation. The consultation closed on 15 April 2022 and results are currently being analysed. STPR2 sets out the investment priorities for Ministers for the next 20 years. The sustainable travel and sustainable transport investment hierarchies (from our National Transport Strategy) where embedded into the appraisal process of this evidence based, objective led review of transport investment options.

The draft NPF4 sets out a series of spatial principles for Scotland 2045 including 'local living' and speaks of the creation of networks of 20 Minute Neighbourhoods to support local liveability, reduce the need to travel unsustainably, promote and facilitate walking, wheeling and cycling, improve access to services, decentralise energy networks and build local circular economies. As an integral part of this, cleaner, safer and greener places and improved open spaces will build resilience and provide wider benefits for people, health and biodiversity, in a balanced way. Virtual connectivity and active travel links will also be important. Consultation on the draft NPF4 closed 31 March. We are considering all responses to the consultation, including those from the CCC and will lay a finalised NPF4 for approval by the Scottish Parliament before it is adopted by Ministers.

Following its adoption, NPF4 will form part of the statutory development plan, the primary basis for decisions made through Scotland's planning system.

The Climate Xchange research published in 2021; 20 Minute Neighbourhoods in a Scottish Context, takes account of the differing settlement patterns across the country and highlighted place-based working as a key intervention that would support delivery of the concept.

In 2021 we began delivery of the Place Based Investment Programme where £325 million is to be invested over the next 5 years to support community-led regeneration and town-centre revitalisation, including the repurposing of buildings, maintenance and repairs, reallocating external space and community-led land acquisition. The programme aims to ensure that all place-based investments are shaped by the needs and aspirations of local communities and will help support a coherent approach to progress our 20 Minute Neighbourhood ambitions to achieve greener, and more inclusive growth, sustainable development across Scotland and to meet our net zero targets. Continued delivery of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (£25 m per year), Clyde Gateway (£5 m per year), and £140 m over 5 years for local government is included within the programme, to accelerate our shared ambitions for place, town centres, 20-minute neighbourhoods.

All of our work to redesign our communities, promoting innovative place-based solutions to reflect a new approach to local living, including 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, to support a green recovery, to improve overall levels of health and wellbeing, tackle issues around inequality, disadvantage and poverty, and increase climate resilience is supported by the alignment of policy drivers and investment including: Housing to 2040, Climate Actions Towns, the Infrastructure Investment Plan, Investment for Active Travel and the Work Local Challenge Programme and NPF4. New regional spatial strategies and local development plans can guide our future development and help to deliver infrastructure in a way that responds to the challenges of climate change together with the alignment, while established tools such as the Place Standard (and this will be strengthened with the forthcoming "Place Standard with a climate lens" toolkit) and emerging Local Place Plans will provide communities with the scope to set out how they see their places develop and improve in the future.

2.2 Support the public transport and shared mobility sectors to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This should include providing positive communications and messaging to rebuild public confidence in the safety of public transport and maintaining financial support for the sector while confidence and demand are rebuilt.

Timing: 2022

Primary responsibility: Joint with UK Government

Scottish Government response: accept

Since the beginning of the pandemic we have taken actions to ensure our operators and delivery partners have continued to provide a safe and reliable transport system for those using our transport network. We have provided over £1 billion since the start of the pandemic to support transport operators including bus, rail, ferry, tram and subway operators to maintain essential services for those rely upon them. We also continue to:

• Provide up to date guidance and public messaging for those who operate and use our transport networks.
• Monitor and assess the demand for travel in order to support the evidence to adapt the transport system.
• Engage extensively with operators, stakeholders and delivery partners (transport operators, COSLA, regional transport partnerships, poverty groups, the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland, business umbrella groups and academics) to work collaboratively on our response to and recovery from Covid-19.

In addition to this, we are supporting bringing people back to public transport through the establishment of the new free bus travel scheme, which offers free bus travel for young people under the age of 22 and resident in Scotland. The new scheme aims to encourage people to choose the bus as their mode of transport. The Scottish Government has also put in place the Network Support Grant (NSG) for bus services, which will provide £93.5 million in 2022-23 (including £40 million in recovery funding weighted to the recovery phase in the first part of the financial year) to protect services while passenger numbers recover.

To further support public transport, from April 2022 the Scottish Government has taken over direct management of the ScotRail franchise, previously owned by Abellio ScotRail. This investment not only makes a major contribution to keeping fares lower than they may be otherwise but ensures the continuation of support for rail services in Scotland.

To ensure that there is a viable and sustainable transport system for the future, the Scottish Government are taking forward a broad package of work. As part of this we are developing work to facilitate a safe and confident return to public transport as more people begin to travel between their home and their place of work, and as demand for leisure travel also increases. We are:

• Undertaking activities to promote a safe and confident return to public transport.
• Updating operator and passenger guidance to support safe provision and use of public transport services.
• Engaging with operators and delivery partners to promote safe behaviours and the measures required to support our recovery from Covid-19.
• Monitoring and assessing travel demand and identifying evidence of changes to travel behaviours and public transport demand that have become embedded due to COVID-19.

2.3 Where public transport services have been downgraded during the pandemic, a timetable should be published setting out when these will be restored to pre-pandemic levels or enhanced to support reductions in car travel.

Timing: 2022

Primary responsibility: Scottish Government

Scottish Government response: partially accept

Public transport has a vital important role to play in achieving a just transition to net zero. The impact of COVID-19 is resulting in significant uncertainty on future transport trends – such as a reduction in public transport patronage. Our aim is to support a safe and confident return to public transport that not only supports recovery from the pandemic but also ensures there is a viable and sustainable public transport system for the future, recognising that even in the pre-pandemic period there was a decline in bus use.

While we don't accept the specific recommendation to publish a timetable setting out when services will be restored to pre-pandemic levels, we do agree that both the pre-pandemic and pandemic decline in bus use needs to be reversed to support a growth in bus patronage. It is important to recognise that there will be sustained shifts in travel demand, for example where there has been a move towards home working, in which case simply restoring the previous pattern of service would be poor value. Our aim is to improve our services to be better than before, as the eventual landscape will be different from what came before.

We are now taking forward a broad package of work to ensure that there is a viable and sustainable transport system for the future. As part of this we are developing work to facilitate a safe and confident return to public transport as more people begin to travel between their home and their place of work, and as demand for leisure travel also increases. We are:

• Undertaking activities to promote a safe and confident return to public transport.
• Updating operator and passenger guidance to support safe provision and use of public transport services.
• Engaging with operators and delivery partners to promote safe behaviours and the measures required to support our recovery from COVID-19.
• Monitoring and assessing travel demand and identifying evidence of changes to travel behaviours and public transport demand that have become embedded due to COVID-19.

Similarly, for rail we continue to support rail services for Scotland in a post-COVID context, but it is also appropriate that we respond to changing patterns of demand. For rail timetables, ScotRail completed a public consultation to inform its May 2022 timetable change. This has resulted in a reduction in overall services from pre- COVID timetable, which reflects the anticipated change in demand for the remainder of the year. This will stay under review and inform future timetable changes.

2.4 Take concrete steps towards reducing costs of public transport in order to reverse the increasing relative price advantage of car travel over public transport. Providing free bus travel to those aged under 22 is a good step in this regard.

Timing: 2022

Primary responsibility: Scottish Government

Scottish Government response: partially accept

We partially accept this recommendation as we have limited levers to influence the cost of motoring. We are taking concrete steps towards reducing the costs of public transport to the extent that our current financial position allows, noting the extremely tight fiscal environment that the Scottish Government is currently working within. However, the key levers which determine the cost of motoring – Fuel Duty and Vehicle Excise Duty - are reserved to the UK Government and outwith the Scottish Government's control.

The Scottish Government has taken concrete steps this year to reduce the cost of bus travel for young people by establishing the new free bus travel scheme for people under 22 and resident in Scotland. This new scheme complements the Older & Disabled Persons Free Bus Scheme, and between them the two schemes will provide nearly 50% of Scotland's population with access to free bus travel. The Scottish Government has also put in place a Network Support Grant (NSG) with £93.5 million in 2022-23 (including £40 million in recovery funding) to protect bus services while passenger numbers recover. This subsidy helps to keep fares at affordable levels and, for operators receiving additional recovery funding (NSG Plus), their fare increases are subject to a CPI cap.

With regards to rail, from April 2022 the Scottish Government has taken over direct management of the ScotRail franchise, previously owned by Abellio. ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services are currently almost entirely subsidised by Scottish Government and therefore by the taxpayer. This investment makes a major contribution to keeping fares lower than they may be otherwise. ScotRail is also required to cap fares increases on the majority of the fares on offer, and in addition ScotRail offers a series of lower fares schemes targeting, as an example, young people and students, ensuring they are affordable.

Our Fair Fares Review is part of the broader package of work being taken forward by Transport Scotland to ensure that there is a viable and sustainable transport system for the future. which will look at the range of discounts and concessionary schemes that are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry and inform the development of a sustainable and integrated approach to future public transport fares. It will take cognisance of the cost and availability of services, and will consider options against a background long term trend which shows that the costs of car travel are declining and public transport costs are increasing. The Fair Fares Review will be taken forward between now and end 2023.

We agree in our route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kms of the need to ensure non-car options compare more favourably than car, for example in terms of convenience, attractiveness and cost. The current approach to motoring taxation has also been identified as a significant barrier to the decarbonisation of the transport sector. Fuel Duty and Vehicle Excise Duty are reserved to the UK Government and successive UK governments have frozen the rate of Fuel Duty each year since 2010, meaning motorists have benefitted from a significant tax cut in real terms. The need to address the cost of motoring is now widely acknowledged, with the revenues from Fuel Duty declining as the transition to lower emission vehicles continues. The UK Government also acknowledged the need for reform in its recent Net Zero Review. The Scottish Government will continue to engage the UK Government on the need for reform of existing taxes related to motoring and ultimately the design of successor taxes as historical, carbon-based revenue streams decline. This is essential for a tax system that incentivises the transition to zero emission vehicles, protects public finances by replacing declining revenue streams and helps fund interventions that support a shift towards healthier, fairer and more sustainable travel.

The Scottish Government is also, commissioning research that will provide a short-list of demand management options for further exploration and feasibility analysis, and will enable the development of a new Car Demand Management Framework by 2025. This will take into account the needs of people in rural areas and island communities as well as those on low incomes and people with Equality Act protected characteristics.

2.5 Support the delivery of Scotland's transition to electric cars and vans. This will require ensuring sufficient supply of and demand for vehicles in Scotland to ensure that sales rise throughout the 2020 s to meet the 2030 phase-out commitment.

• The Scottish Government should seek opportunities to influence consumers to choose fully electric vehicles over plug-in hybrids wherever possible.
• This transition should be supported by maintaining the provision of interest-free loans for EVs (now including second-hand EVs) on top of existing UK government grants. Plan for a transition to fiscally-neutral incentives as EV costs fall.

Timing: 2021-2030

Primary responsibility: Scottish Government

Scottish Government response: partially accept

We are committed to supporting consumers to make the switch to zero emission vehicles through a range of programmes. This includes our Plugged In Communities programme which provides not-for-profit housing associations, housing cooperatives, constituted comment groups and community transport groups to apply for funding to procure the services of zero emission car clubs and community transport vehicles. These vehicles can then be used by tenants and the wider community. Our funding towards decarbonisation of the public sector fleet funding will now only support zero emission vehicles and associated infrastructure.

We know that registrations of new ULEV cars, vans and buses continue to show year on year progress. The ChargePlace Scotland network also continues to grow and to date there are over 2200 charging points across the network. On 26 January we announced a new public electric vehicle charge point network vision as well as a new £60m fund that aims to double the size of the public charging network over the next few years.

The market for EVs has now developed sufficiently such that manufacturers and dealerships now have a range of financing deals in place to support this switch. As a result we need to consider if Scottish Government loan support to purchase a new EV is still required. To help to boost the emerging second hand EV market and support the uptake of EVs amongst lower income households, we will continue to provide loan funding for used EVs.

2.6 Continue to support the timely expansion of Scotland's public EV charge point network, to ensure the EV transition works for all road users in Scotland with well-maintained facilities, inter-operability between service providers and avoidance of market power.

Timing: Now & ongoing

Primary responsibility: Joint with UK Government

Scottish Government response: accept

On 26 January 2022 in Parliament we announced a draft vision for Scotland's public charging network – to ensure that the people of Scotland will have access to a comprehensive and well-designed network of public charge points meeting everyone's needs. Working with V&A Dundee to help design a network where consumer needs will be placed at the centre of the future EV charging experience, ensuring that drivers not only have ready access to well-designed accessible charge points throughout the country, but that pricing is also fair and transparent. To support achieving this Vision we also announced a new £60m EV infrastructure Fund (£30m from Scottish Ministers) to work alongside private sector investment to grow and develop the charging network in Scotland.

The latest digital innovations will be utilised to help drivers with efficient journey planning as well as benefit from smart charging capabilities. There will be better consumer choice due to leveraging greater commercial involvement in the growth of public charging as well as the ability for drivers to easily roam between different charge point networks thanks to interoperability and open data sharing between networks.

Work is also continuing with the Scottish public sector to consider and develop innovative financing approaches which will see the public sector act as an anchor for public EV charging, blending the requirements of public sector fleets with broader public demand, ensuring public funding is utilised optimally with maximum return on investment.

The draft NPF4 spatial strategy supports the roll-out of electric-vehicle infrastructure. Consultation on the draft NPF4 closed 31 March. We are considering all responses to the consultation, including those from the CCC and will lay a finalised NPF4 for approval by the Scottish Parliament before it is adopted by Ministers. The Scottish Government is currently carrying out a phased review of Permitted Development Rights (PDR) in Scotland. PDR grants planning permission for certain types of development through national legislation, meaning they can be carried out without an application for planning permission having to be submitted to, and approved by, the relevant planning authority. Phase 2 of our review programme will consider the case for extending existing PDR for EV charging infrastructure. A public consultation on our Phase 2 proposals was published on 11 May.

2.7 Implement schemes to reduce use of internal combustion engine buses, HGVs and vans in urban areas (e.g. through use of electric buses, e-cargo bikes and urban consolidation centres), to reduce traffic, improve air quality and increase the safety of active travel.

Timing: 2022

Primary responsibility: Scottish Government

Scottish Government response: accept

A range of work is underway to achieve this outcome, although our efforts are aimed at urban and rural areas, not just urban areas. For example, with regards buses, we have in place the Bus Partnership Fund, support for free bus travel amongst the under 22s, the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce, and the Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.

With regards HGVs:

• we are working to shift freight from road to rail where feasible, facilitated by our rolling programme of efficient electrification on key rail routes and regulatory targets to incentivise Network Rail to promote freight growth
• we have established a Zero Emission Truck Taskforce (first meeting 4^th May 2022) which will meet over the coming year to agree a pathway to fully zero emission HGVs in Scotland
• we have in place a HDV Programme with Scottish Enterprise to explore supply chain opportunities, and we are working with UKG on zero emission HGV trials

Aspects of this recommendation relating to vans are covered at Recommendation 2.5 and we also provide support for the purchase of cargo bikes. We will work with stakeholders to develop a vision for the decarbonisation of last mile delivery in Scotland, which contributes to and draws on work across Scottish Government and the private sector.