Road pricing may be considered - your views online

Charging drivers to use roads will be considered to help the Scottish Government meet its target of cutting car travel by 20 per cent by 2030, Transport Minister Graeme Dey has confirmed.

Douglas Prestell

The increased use of cars in urban areas globally is worrying governments around the world as cities face gridlock and smog. These increases in car use are independent of direct government policy and tend to be a measure of the rising prosperity of a given urban hotspot. Good governments try to intervene to mitigate these increases based on studies that show up to 30 per cent of urban road traffic is taken up with unnecessary short trips where the individual could have walked or taken public transport. The two policies that have been used are 1. Restricting commuters by alternating odd and even registration numbers each day – forcing people to share cars rather than travel alone. This works up to a point and is well intended but still it is vulnerable to rises in unnecessary journeys within the urban mix. It also is cost neutral. 2. Road pricing – this has two net effects where it has been used (London and other places around the world) it dramatically reduces the number of useless short journeys within the city and also results in commuters moving to public transport or car sharing. It also raises revenue that can be ploughed back into improving public transport – in London road pricing funded a massive upgrade of the underground and bus networks. In Edinburgh it could be used to fund tram expansion.

Peter Orange

Another typical SNP knee-jerk headline grabber to appease the Greens. Public transport in rural areas is a joke, as is the get-on-your-bike nonsense. Bike use is OK in the summer months, but certainly not viable for most in our climate in other months.

Steven Robertson

As ever, this means the wealthy will still be able to drive while the poorer people will be forced off the roads. It’s always the poorer people who lose.

Anna Mosspaul

At the moment public transport is decreasing, and not only in rural areas. So what is their answer to that? Walking or cycling? It will be interesting to see how they will effect the charges for using the road. Will the vehicle be charged, or will the driver of the vehicle be charged ? Then of course it will mean a “black box” in every vehicle constantly monitoring it's use, and location 24/7. Big Brother will indeed be watching, and charging for the user for the privilege.

Aleta Jary

Toll roads are not new. Toll bridges also.

Jimi Marshall

I'm a self-employed roofing and building contractor. Any extra cost involved in doing the job gets added to the job, it's as simple as that. The Scottish Government are saying to a large section of the Scottish people that one way or another you will end up paying more for the same.

Malcolm Greig

Car use is a planning problem, not a financial one. You build housing and infrastructure based solely on car use and people will use cars.

Derek Patterson

Charging money for using the roads? They should be paying us for risking life and limb by driving on the said roads as they are in such a poor condition.

Ferry plan

East Lothian Alba MP Kenny MacAskill has urged the Scottish Government to set up a ferry route development fund to encourage direct sea links between Scotland and the continent. Mr MacAskill said Scotland needed to follow Ireland’s example in establishing regular ferry services to the European mainland.

Kathy Aliberti

The intention is great, but a) the last one we had was a flop and b) if our government cannot get a ferry across a river between the mainland and Arran then how can we trust them to run an international route over the roughest seas in Europe?

Robert Bon

You say it was a flop, but I used it every year and it was generally busy. It was the lack of commercial freight that killed it because lorry operators were happy to drive to Hull – that was crazy.

John Keating

There’s no market to sustain it. Ireland has increased ferry services to bypass the previous direct routes via England and Northern Ireland due to Brexit paperwork.

John Hewit

Been there, done that, didn’t get the postcard. It’s just too long a crossing.

Gordon Guthrie

We were warned previously before Greek-owned "Superfast Ferries" started that they would take all the start up monies and then cut and run. Guess what happened next!

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