Colin Howden

22 Apr

As part of Earth Raise 2026’s Big Give, we’re raising funds to build support for policies tackling the growing impacts of oversized SUVs. donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Colin Howden reposted

21 Apr

Parking shapes our streets more than most people realise. Today we’ve launched Ahead of the Kerb: a new report on the hidden costs of parking, and how we can use parking policy better to create people-first cities 👉 transform.scot/2026/04/21/h...

transform.scot6 questions for '26 - Transform ScotlandLooking at the year ahead, director Colin Howden poses a series of hard questions about the future direction of transport in Scotland. 1. Will we see even one mile of...

13 Jan

6 Questions for '26 transform.scot/2026/01/12/6... 1. Will we see even one mile of new bus lane laid down during 2026? 2. Will we see a national campaign put in place to deliver road traffic reduction? 3. Will we see any movement on traffic demand management anywhere in Scotland?

13 Jan

4. Will any consideration be given to the economic viability of public transport services? 5. Will the new Scottish administration give sufficient attention to transport? 6. Will the new Scottish Parliament do a better job of scrutinising transport?

linkedin.comA new impetus behind road pricing?The reform of transport taxation to place the ‘polluter pays principle’ at its core has for decades now been the cherished ambition of sustainable transport advocates. Road pricing has long been held ...

25 Nov 2025

Following widespread speculation that the Chancellor will announce plans for a pay-per-mile charge for electric vehicle use in tomorrow's UK Budget, here's the article initially written for @transform.scot's 'Ideas for Investment' report. www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-im...

Colin Howden reposted

27 Aug 2025

Today we’re proud to launch Why Fly? – a new website which asks #WhyFly when rail beats air on comfort, carbon, and value to Scotland? Explore our 20 year-long campaign: whyfly.scot Trains emit up to 90% less CO₂ than flights, provide more comfort, and contribute more to Scotland’s economy.

Colin Howden reposted

2 Apr 2025

🚍 NEW REPORT: Public backs bus priority—now it’s time for action Today, we launch ‘Life in the Bus Lane’, revealing strong public support for bus priority measures—even from non-bus users 👇 transform.scot/our-work/our... 🧵 Read on for key findings & what needs to change [1/5]

6 Dec 2024

Yes, spot on. Let's see the £10m *only* spent on delivering bus priority. Five years of buggering about and, as far as I can see, precisely no new bus lanes on the roads.

Edinburgh Bus Users Group@edinburghbug.bsky.social

Today's award for utter billhooks goes to ScotGov comms: 'the new scheme will focus “on delivering bus priority & supporting infrastructure measures to tackle the negative impact of congestion.” £10m across Scotland? For that you'll get a few studies, to add to £28m already spent on er...studies.

route-one.netBus Infrastructure Fund in Scotland to handle spend on priorityThe Bus Partnership Fund in Scotland – currently subject to a heavily-criticised 'pause' – will be replaced by a Bus Infrastructure Fund.

6 Dec 2024

Bus Partnership Fund reported as having been "concluded" by Transport Scotland according to Route One magazine. So concluded only c. £473m short of the £500m originally committed. We wait to see how the replacement £10m Bus Infrastructure Fund will work. www.route-one.net/news/bus-inf...

So the £500m Bus Partnership Fund has indeed been cancelled, not "paused", as Transport Scotland claimed earlier this year. But it has been replaced by a £10m 'Bus Infrastructure Fund'. www.gov.scot/binaries/con... Unclear whether this new fund comes at the expense of active travel investment.

Transform Scotland@transform.scot

Our response to #ScottishBudget: transform.scot/2024/12/04/d... “It’s deeply disappointing that no funds were found for reinstating the Bus Partnership Fund. Installing #BusPriority on the roads is a cheap & quick way to incentivise people to switch from cars to public transport."

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The mystery of 'Low Carbon Programmes' is lifted at Level 4: "ScotZEB 2, LEZ Support, Freight Facilities Grant, HGV Residual Value Support Grant, and EV Infrastructure Fund" plus new "HGV Residual Value Support Grant, Rural & Islands Infrastructure Fund and Transport Just Transition Skills Grant"

This table suggests a value of £10m for the Bus Infrastructure Fund. www.gov.scot/binaries/con... So rather less than the £500m previously promised for the -- now-definitely-cancelled, not-paused -- BPF.

gov.scotgov.scot

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

Interesting that a 'Bus Investment Fund' now being put in place from funds that were previously (mainly) allocated to active travel investment. bsky.app/profile/spok...

SpokesLothian@spokes.org.uk

#ScotBudget Level 4 document--> www.gov.scot/binaries/con... 🤔Almost feels like they are now pitting 🚌 against 🚲/🚶 @transformscot.bsky.social @edi.bike

Strange that this new Fund didn't get a mention in the budget -- not least as it would have answered the budget calls of quite a few folk. We'll have to wait to see what it comprises -- and what impact it has on active travel investment.

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The above is of course a 'errors and omissions excepted' job. It's difficult to provide informed public policy scrutiny when the information is presented so opaquely. Only the cynics would suggest that this may be deliberate!

I've now found the Level 4 disaggregations, courtesy of @spokeslothian.bsky.social www.gov.scot/binaries/con...

gov.scotgov.scot

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

Table 8.08 'Grants to Local Authorities' contains a couple of interesting points: Firstly, the 'Cycling, Walking & Safer Routes' line, zero last year, increases back up to 23.9m. That combined with the £164.8m on p74 does total to £188.7m. But not all of the latter will be on active travel.

Secondly, the 'Regional Transport Partnerships' line increases from zero last year back up to £12.4m. This may be the reinstatement of some capital funds which were cancelled last year. But again, would a basic explanatory note have been too difficult for the government to include?

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The A9 dualling programme was justified in the Cab Sec's speech on grounds of safety. But there appears to be no budget for road safety itself. The last time that this featured as a separate line in the budget was in the 2023-24 budget, when the total value fro the rest of Scotland was £25m.

'Support for Ferry Services' (10% up) and the 'Vessels and Piers' budget lines (53% up) both see large increases. Good to see investment going up in ferry infrastructure, as it has been known for years that systematic underinvestment here led to the service unreliability suffered in recent years.

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The spectacularly opaque 'Low Carbon Programmes' increases from £36.0m to £54.4m (a 51% increase). Does anyone know what this is spent on, and whether it actually reduces climate emissions from transport?

The roads spending lines remain reliably obscure. One of the few specific projects isolated in the document is "£112 million to progress the dualling of the A9" (p12).

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The 'Support for Active and Sustainable Travel' budget line (p74) falls by £20.6m (from £185.4m to £164.8m). As ever, there's no explanation of what this budget line is actually spent on, although most of it must be on active travel.

Page 9 refers to "£188.7 million in a range of active and sustainable travel measures". This doesn't match the figures set up on p74, but again must be mostly on active travel. Whatever the number, this is less than half of the 10% of the transport budget promised for investment into active travel.

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

The 'Support for Bus Services', which I presume is the Network Support Grant for bus operations, falls steeply (by 9%) from £55.5m to £49.5m. That'll make it more difficult for bus operators to provide services. So let's just hope that there are some services left for bus users to travel on.

Absolutely no reference to 'bus priority' in the #ScottishBudget, and certainly no indication of the reinstatement of the Bus Partnership Fund. Very strange 'climate emergency' priorities for £100m+ to be found for A9 dualling but not a cent can be found for bus priority.

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

In terms of the 'Rail Services', I'm not sure I ever understood why it rose so much last year (from £878.0m to £1,004.2m). I'm certainly unclear why it now bounces back down to £897.6m. Can anyone else explain this?

The 'Concessionary Fares' line rises substantially (12% up), from £370.4m to £414.5m. There's no explanation in the document, so are we to presume that this is a result of continuing uptake of the under-22s free bus scheme?

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

Looking at the Level 3 disaggregations:

While the Cab Sec spoke about new rail rolling stock in her speech, p70 clarifies this as "commenc[ing] plans to replace ScotRail’s Intercity fleets". As the £43.8m increase (p73) in the 'Rail Infrastructure Improvement and Rolling Stock Projects' line wouldn't buy one many new trains.

Just having a look at the transport aspects of the #ScottishBudget document now. As ever, the thing is difficult to scrutinise because of the general opacity of the information presented.

gov.scotScottish Budget 2025 to 2026The Scottish Budget sets out the Scottish Government’s proposed spending and tax plans for 2025 to 2026, as presented to the Scottish Parliament.

The document itself is available at www.gov.scot/publications...

Transport is on pages 70-75. The Level 2 spend summaries show: Rail: down 4.3% (£69.2m down) Bus & concessionary fares: up 8.9% (£38.5m up) 'Sustainable travel' etc.: up 16.0% (£43.3m) Roads: up 5.3% (£53.9m) Ferries: up 22.7% (£98.5m) Air: up 3.1% (£2.8m) Total transport: up 4.4% (£167.8m)

Colin Howden reposted

transform.scottransform's priorities for the scottish budget - Transform ScotlandWednesday 4 December sees the Scottish Government’s finance secretary set out the draft Scottish Budget for 2025/26. We set out here four areas where we need to see the Scottish...

3 Dec 2024

Wednesday's #ScotBudget needs to deliver for #SustainableTransport: 🚌 Reinstate investment in bus priority 🚶‍♀️ Invest in the healthiest modes of transport 🚃 Get rail electrification plans back on track 💷 Develop new revenue sources Our priorities: transform.scot/2024/12/03/t...

27 Nov 2024

The @transformscot.bsky.social 'Ideas for Investment' report contains my article on how in Iceland action is being taken now to implement road pricing for EVs. transform.scot/2024/11/27/f... It's now almost 4 years since Scot Gov committed to road traffic reduction. We're long overdue for action.