Fury as SNP ministers ramp up their conflict on drivers with measures to pressure households into giving up SUVs
Families with larger cars face extra charges and smaller parking spaces as SNP ministers ramp up their ‘war on the motorist’.
Measures will be considered to ‘disincentivise ownership of certain vehicle types’ such as SUVs under a ‘draft Just Transition plan for transport’.
The new strategy proposes interventions to ensure that car use is reduced by 20 per cent by 2030, and specifically targets vehicles owned by people ‘likely to be on higher incomes’.
The consultation says there is support in urban areas for reducing the size of parking spaces to disincentivise SUV use, and for considering vehicle size when setting out road charges and other taxation schemes.
It states: ‘Recognising that those on higher incomes are responsible for a larger share of transport emissions underpins the need for a greater burden of responsibility for action from this group to reduce both their car use and air travel from a just transition perspective.’
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Sue Webber said the SNP’s ‘only answer to try and mask their appalling transport failures is to wage yet another war on the motorist’.
Calling the plan a ‘talking shop’, she said ministers appeared ‘hellbent on using motorists as a cash cow by once again mooting extra charges’, adding: ‘These proposals are all stick and no carrot and sum up how disconnected SNP ministers are from the reality facing those reliant on their car.
‘They still don’t understand that their failure to deliver reliable and affordable public transport services means many simply do not see that as an option.’
Scottish ministers are considering measures to disincentivise SUVs and reduce their use by 20 per cent by 2030 (file image)
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Sue Webber said SNP ministers were ‘hellbent on using motorists as a cash cow by once again mooting extra charges’
The draft plan published yesterday said ‘we need to transform how we travel in Scotland’.
It highlights the target to reduce car use by 20 per cent by 2030, and ensure 30 per cent of Scottish Government-owned ferries are low emission by 2032, with scheduled flights between Scottish airports decarbonised by 2040.
Asserting that ‘everyone will be affected by the transition that has to take place’, it says this includes a move away from traditional private car use, which is the largest contributor to transport emissions.
It claims that people on higher incomes ‘are more likely to travel by car, travel further and own multiple cars’, while 56 per cent of households on the lowest income do not have access to a car.
Summarising the key points of the approach to cutting car use, the report says: ‘Across our society, the transport transition will mean much greater use of active travel and public transport. Where driving is still required, people need to be able to switch to ultra-low emission vehicles affordably.
‘Those with limited choices must not be disadvantaged.
‘Those who are better off are responsible for a greater proportion of transport emissions, and this needs to be reflected in our approach to meeting the costs of the transition.
The draft plan claims that people on higher incomes ‘are more likely to travel by car, travel further and own multiple cars’ (file photo)
‘The transition is an opportunity to tackle the transport inequities that people currently face – including the place-based challenges facing rural and island communities, barriers affecting disabled people and the safety issues facing women and girls.’
The report claims that reducing car use, especially for short journeys, is ‘more likely to be supported in urban areas’.
It said there is support for ‘measures to disincentivise ownership of certain vehicle types, eg SUV in urban areas’, including ‘reducing the size of city parking spaces and considering vehicle size in design of future road user charging/taxation schemes’.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘Tackling the climate emergency is a key priority.’
