scottish cities knowledge centre - inverness ideas forum
DESCRIPTION
SCKC is pleased to announce that we hosted another successful event from our Ideas Forum Series. Taking place on the 28th of February, in Inverness, it focused on issues related to the connectivity of urban areas.TRANSCRIPT
Iain Docherty Professor of Public Policy and Governance
University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School [email protected]
SCKC Ideas Forum: The Connected City
Some reflections
The Connected City
• Some reflections
• Some transport trends
• Critical uncertainties • Implications?
• Format for today
The Scottish Government’s record
• In 2007 I said: • There is no effective strategy to prioritise and deliver transport
projects
• Projects in the Executive’s programme are there mostly due to luck
• Transport and planning remain as un-joined up as ever
• The balance between revenue and capital expenditure is wrong
The Scottish Government’s record
• In 2014 I say: • We have got *much* better at prioritising projects according to
their real impact on the economy/environment/society (although by no means perfect)
• The Scottish Government has stuck with the emerging plan it inherited and – quietly – made some tough choices on prioritisation
• The STPR and NPF3 are massive steps forward in thinking
• The balance between revenue and capital expenditure is better
Some transport trends
Peak car?
Road traffic in Scotland 1993-2012
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
110.0
120.0
130.0
140.0
150.0
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Scottish Transport Statistics
More, but mostly longer rail journeys
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Rail journeys
Rail pax km
Rail travel in Scotland 2000-2010
So much for the active travel agenda
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2009
Walk
Bicycle
Driver of car, van or lorry
Passenger in car, van or lorry
Other private transport (egmotorcycle, private hire bus)Local bus
Surface Rail
Taxi / minicab
Other public transport (eg air,ferry, non-local bus)
Trips per head in Scotland 1998-2009
Critical uncertainties
Eddington said some useful things
Critical uncertainty No 1… technology
Eddington said some useful things
Critical uncertainty No 2… demographics
Critical uncertainty No 3… social norms
So, which future?
• Return to ‘business as usual’? – Road traffic eventually rebounds – EVs make a real impact – With the environmental problem ‘gone’, will the car
triumph? • Or something genuinely different?
– Peak car is real – We stop travelling further to do the same things – Technology and the economic context change social
attitudes significantly
Implications
What is transport for?
• Transport is (mainly) a derived demand
• So, transport per se is not the issue • The real issues are economic performance, quality of
life, sustainability (etc)
• So, the key question is: “What do we want transport investment to do?”
This is what we want it to do…
“Transport creates the utilities of place”
White and Senior (1983)
… or, in other words, we need to ask…
What kinds of places do we want to live in?
“ It seems futile to deny these things (the advantages of motorcars).The motor vehicle is a remarkable invention, so desirable that it has wound itself inextricably into a large part of our affairs. There cannot be any going back on it.”
Buchanan, Traffic in Towns (1963)
Attractiveness of the car
“It is our contention that the urban crises which manifest themselves in so many ways have at least one common root. This is the increasing reliance on the automobile.
Schaeffer and Sclar (1975), Access for all: Transport and Urban Growth
Problems of the car
• Dutch and/or German streetscape
… or, in other words, we need to ask…
What kinds of places do we want to live in?
… or, in other words, we need to ask…
What kinds of places do we want to live in?
How should they be connected to each other?
Format for today
Format for today
• Short presentations from three cities – Edinburgh – Inverness – Perth
• Q&A from panel
• Workshop session • Reflections and ideas to take away
Iain Docherty Professor of Public Policy and Governance
University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School [email protected]
SCKC Ideas Forum: The Connected City