AUDIT Scotland has shared that it believes a “lack of leadership” is to blame for the Scottish Government’s minimal progress towards reducing car use.
This came just hours before Edinburgh councillors met to discuss their goal of reducing car kilometres by 30% by 2030.
Councillors state that this goal is not likely to be met unless a workplace parking levy or a congestion charge is put in place in the city.
It has been reported that since 2020, car traffic has increased in Scotland whilst public transport use has reduced and there has been no major change in how much people walk and cycle.
Yesterday, Audit Scotland released a statement saying that the government has yet to produce a delivery plan for its target of reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030, and is unlikely to meet this goal.
Stephen Boyle, auditor general for Scotland said: “The Scottish Government set an ambitious and very challenging target to reduce car use by 20% by 2030.
“But there has been a lack of leadership around delivering this goal.
“It’s now unlikely the government will achieve its ambition, so it needs to be clear how this will affect its wider ambitions to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.”
The City of Edinburgh Council has a similar ambitious goal of reducing car kilometres by 30% in the same time span.
As part of their city mobility plan, they also aim to reach net zero for carbon by 2030, and to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2050.
In a transport meeting that took place yesterday, councillor Chas Booth for the Scottish Green party stated: “In the last few weeks we’ve seen devastating wildfires in California along with confirmation from scientists that those fires were made more likely by the climate crisis.
“We’ve also seen the context of our own figures on car kilometres which were reported to the committee in November last year, which reported that we’re nowhere near meeting our targets.
“The additional context is the Audit Scotland report this morning that found that the Scottish Government’s failure to meet targets is partly due to a lack of political leadership.
“I would say that the Audit Scotland report does not say that it’s a lack of leadership purely at the Scottish Government level, because it’s absolutely clear that the responsibility of achieving that car kilometres target, which is crucial to achieving our climate target, lies here at the council level as well.
“We can’t do it unless they give us all the powers, but we should be using our powers here as well.”
Audit Scotland has said that some councils have prioritised the car kilometre target more than others, and that the goal is harder to achieve in rural areas with less public transport infrastructure.
Ruth MacLeod, a member of the Accounts Commission, said yesterday: “All parts of government need to act to deliver the 2030 car use reduction target.
“Councils need to set out to what extent they will contribute and how they will measure their progress.
“But they also need clearer guidance and direction from the Scottish Government to agree their role in reducing car use in their area.”
