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Transport
Transport and logistics issues directly affect all of our daily personal and working lives, the environment and the economy. Such matters are often emotive as well as high profile and politically sensitive.
The importance of investment in infrastructure of all types is a key economic development driver, as acknowledged by the European Investment Bank. Both for internal efficiency and to address our relatively peripheral geographic location, transport infrastructure investment is important for Scotland.
In Scotland, the importance of transport infrastructure investment is acknowledged in the high proportion of transport related projects in the list of fourteen projects of "national significance" in the Second National Planning Framework (NPF2). The National Strategic Projects Review, following upon the National Transport Strategy and Freight Action Plan, sets out actions for Scotland's transport network from 2012. The on going Ferries Review is examining the future provision of lifeline ferry services and associated vessels and port infrastructure.
The Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway has been reopened with (in addition to the freight traffic which was its primary objective) more than double the passenger numbers than projected. Further projects like the Airdrie to Bathgate railway and the first phase of the Edinburgh Trams are being built out.
There was of course been much political and business reaction to the announcement in the draft Scottish budget of the cancellation of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project. The issue of budgetary pressures is a very real one. The prospect of the financial burden on Scotland's public finances of the cost of the Forth Replacement Crossing, the Bill to authorise which is before lodged with the Scottish Parliament, is a sobering one.
The price tag of a high speed rail network in the UK is even greater but nonetheless proportionately not dissimilar to the cost of the Forth Replacement Crossing.
The funding challenge for both public and private sectors in the years to come for all forms of investment (and indeed even operation of service provision) are undeniable.
The European Commission can provide support for funding of infrastructure investment under the TEN-T trans-european transport corridors projects and support for modal shift projects through the Marco Polo funding mechanism. Equally the European Investment Bank has also made its willingness to provide funding in appropriate circumstances.
Nonetheless, alternative approaches both to funding and the nature of solutions need to be found.
It is interesting to note that most of the projects listed as being of "national significance" in the NPF2 are private sector projects. The public sector involvement in these will no doubt largely be of a facilitating and consenting nature. Pump priming measures such as the Freight Facilities Grant remain important.
Private sector capital funding for public transport projects such as the Borders Rail scheme, remains subject to conjecture. In the meantime, the M74 completion is being achieved by traditional public funding whilst the M80 completion is by way of DBFO (i.e. PPP) scheme.
Alternative measures, such as tax increment funding (whether by way of voluntary contribution to facilitate schemes (as with the Edinburgh South Suburban rail proposal) or as a land value tax) may yet become tenable.
Of course not every innovation requires massive expenditure. Much has and can yet be achieved by service innovation and attitude changes.
Technology to deliver real time information on public transport is already being used. The next generation of smart cards (Oyster etc) such as those being proposed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games will take us a step further. In the meantime, other ICT developments look to help manage congestion and reduce emissions through automatic junction prioritisation of buses and HGVs. The development of alternative / hybrid powered vehicles also continues apace.
The major environmental issues associated with transport are touched upon in the articles in this website on climate change matters. The linkages between transport strategy and the economy have of course been examined in the UK in the Eddrington Report and the Stern Report. The political and hence legal pressures for change will doubtless continue.
At Biggart Baillie we have a wide range of expertise and experience on handling transport matters ranging from policy issues, consents and stakeholder liaison, to project contracting, delivery and disputes to operational issues.
If you would like any further information on these or any other transport or logistics related matters, please contact us.
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