Road Tolling

As an amendment to motion S2M-05598 in the name of Mr David Davidson (Road Tolling), leave out from “opposes” to end and insert “notes that traffic congestion creates a huge burden for society in terms of delays, ill-health and social exclusion; notes that “the CBI estimates that the costs to employers of transport congestion are around £20 billion a year”; recognises that any long-term strategy to reduce congestion and climate changing pollution will require the provision of quality public transport alternatives to car use together with a sensible and appropriate system of demand management; notes the failure of the Scottish Executive to provide leadership over the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposal for a congestion charging scheme and the Executive’s plans for massive investment in new road capacity; notes that new road capacity has been shown to generate more traffic; notes that studies indicate that the introduction of nationwide road pricing is at least 10 years away; therefore calls on ministers to work with regional transport partnerships to consider the introduction of congestion charging and smart charge schemes at specific pinch points and congested areas of the road network, and believes that, in the immediate term, the Executive must reallocate funding for new road schemes to invest in public transport and cancel plans for new trunk roads that will generate increased traffic such as the M74 extension and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.”