The problem: cars are bad for the environment. The solution: stop people driving. The plan: price motorists off the road through workplace parking levies, taxes, tolls or whatever you want to call them. As a dapper little meerkat would say: “Simples.”
Ah, if only it was that simples. However, for those in the SNP-Green administration such a facile world view makes perfect sense. The assumptions are: a) if you can afford a car, you have pockets deep enough to pay more and if you don’t . . . then tough b) and most motorists are lazy.
This wilfully ignores the fact that driving for most of us is less a matter of choice and more an essential prerequisite to modern life. Not everyone is a petrol-head burning up the NC500.
I’ve never liked driving. In fact, I’d go as far to say I hate it. Unlike many of my schoolmates, I wasn’t desperate to get my driver’s licence at 17. And because I went on to work and live in the centre of Edinburgh, I was able to hold off passing my test until I was 25. I didn’t own a car until I was 32.
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What brought about the change? Deciding to have a family. And there lies the rub. Like millions of Scots, myself included, moving out the city is the best option if you want an affordable, decent-sized family home with a garden and lots of fresh air.
However, over the years public transport connectivity has failed to keep up with the pace of out-of-town house building, resulting in the daily army of commuters trundling in and out of the big smoke in their cars. Packed, infrequent or unreliable trains and buses are a fact of life for commuters. I once missed a potentially life-changing interview because a train was cancelled. Never again, I vowed.
And now that construction work is picking up again post-pandemic, the same model continues unabated – homes built on the premise that buyers own a car.
Meanwhile, the “poll tax on wheels” is a title well deserved. It mimics much of Thatcher’s cruel policy. All would pay the same to park, disproportionately harming the least well-off. And god knows how those who work unsociable hours – such as security guards, hospitality staff and cleaners – would manage. They don’t have access to 24-hour buses or trains. Let’s face it, it will be the little people who pay in the end.
And the lack of joined up thinking doesn’t stop there. At a time when high street pubs and shops are toppling faster than dominoes on the Titanic, the last thing they need is an ill-conceived policy that actively discourages people from going into the city.
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Everyone is agreed we have to cut emissions. But the challenge is how to meet net zero by 2030 without the poorest being hit hardest, especially when homeowners are also facing a dramatic rise in living costs.
A swanky big bridge or promises of a glitzy metro system are all well and good and offer great photo opportunities, but will do little to tackle the real problem – the need for efficient, accessible, reliable and well-funded public transport across the entire country. To encourage workers out of the car, they need decent alternatives.
An honest debate and a clear vision is long overdue. The Government must think big, rather than passing the buck and forcing councils to look to easy revenue streams by targeting workers. Revolutionising Scotland’s transport infrastructure could be Sturgeon’s greatest achievement. Taxing someone for driving to work is not the answer. Simples.
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