Two of Scotland’s leading business gurus have questioned the shock decision by the Scottish Government to cut its proposed electric transport budget, despite the Low Emission Zones (LEZ) having only recently been introduced to Glasgow.
The SNP-led Glasgow City Council’s creation of its LEZ will be followed by Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh from June this year.
However, as revealed by The Herald, the Government has slashed funding for projects run by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Its capital grant for modernising public transport and decarbonising bus fleets has been cut from £15 million to zero. The Government has also cut its contribution to modernisation of Glasgow’s subway from £13m a year to zero.
Ministers also decided not to support the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) bid to deliver a fully electric bus fleet across West Scotland.
Lord Willie Haughey said: “We’ve talked about LEZ in the past but I see the Government is now really feeling the heat from lobby groups after its surprising slashing of the Scottish public transport budgets earmarked for the electrification of the bus fleet.
“So what we are seeing is the Government saying: ‘We’ll be doing something with one hand and taking it away with the other.’.”
Sir Tom Hunter told his co-host of the Go Radio Business Show: “I remember not quite understanding what was happening with LEZ and you explained to me you thought it was, in reality, a tax on the poor because of the focus on older vehicles; if you couldn’t afford a newer car, you were going to have to pay to enter zones.
“In this scenario what alternative do people have but to use public transport? And so why is this now being cut?”
Lord Haughey noted: “There was a plan to spend hundreds of millions electrifying the bus fleet. But what are the statistics? Up until last week, it showed that, since the introduction of LEZ, the usage of public transport actually went down by 25%.
“I don’t get that. It’s going down?
“I think people are simply saying: ‘No, I’m not going to the town anymore.’.”
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