Our capital city has benefited considerably from closer co-operation between transport providers and the wider business community.
With recent infrastructure investment and major new brands seeking new business opportunities we must work even harder together for the benefit of all key stakeholders.
Where Scotland meets the world, our capital city airport has been truly transformed with major investment unlocking new destinations and is on track to hit 10 million passengers in 2014.
With Edinburgh planning for unprecedented levels of economic growth, it is critical that we continue to invest in world class transport systems. Our buses and trams are best in class and continue to set higher standards on customer service.
Following major capital investment at our ports in Leith and beyond, not only does this provide much needed capacity for freight transport, we also welcomed nearly 100,000 passengers from an ever expanding cruise business.
The recent consultation process on long-term development plans for city region housing has, however, highlighted again the key issue with regards to our road network and connectivity with the rest of Scotland. While the investment in the new Forth Crossing should be applauded, the rest of our road network requires major investment.
This is not only key in attracting major new employers but also a key stumbling block in our housing development plans. If ever we needed a clearer transport policy for our capital city, it is now.
The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Inspiring Transport Group represents a cross section of all key transport providers, has a very active agenda to support long term transport strategy grounded in current and future insight from the wider business community.
High on the agenda is also rail transportation where we must ensure investment is not delayed as new franchise operators take up the mantle.
In this area in particular, the capital city's business community are seeking wider engagement as rail connectivity is business critical for both employers and visitors alike. As part of this process, we must also ensure we unlock the full potential of our various railway station investments and the new rail routes. We need to ensure there are agreed priorities and that the whole rail industry is behind them. Too often we experience one off headline grabbers and now is the time for a co-ordinated effort.
Across Scotland and in our capital city we have seen major investments in transportation but this is just the start.
The focus must now be on the residents, employers, employees and our visitors to drive success.
Simpler, smarter ticketing systems, clearer communications and respectable pricing levels are a few examples where the customer experience can continue to be improved. New technology and mobile connectivity provides us with great opportunities as already experienced with Transport for Edinburgh.
In Edinburgh across our wide range of businesses and education sectors, we are proud of the investments to date but do not want to lose momentum.
The growing levels of inward investment in our capital city is testament to how we are perceived in a global market and through even closer cooperation and consultation, we have the opportunity together to set new heights in customer expectation.
David Birrell is chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article