24th April 2025
Dear Cabinet Secretary
Consumer Scotland is the statutory body for consumers in Scotland. Established by the Consumer Scotland Act 2020, we are accountable to the Scottish Parliament.
In September of last year, following the publishing of the Programme for Government, your officials wrote to Consumer Scotland to outline the Scottish Government’s plans for the transport sector and invited us to work with you on future transport strategy.
Over the past year, Consumer Scotland has been undertaking work focused on improving public transport experiences, benefitting consumers and encouraging more environmentally sustainable transport habits.
I am writing to share with you our briefing on consumers and the transition to sustainable transport. This briefing provides insight into the barriers that prevent consumers from reducing their transport emissions along with the types of action they could take to do so. We have also set out clear recommendations for the Scottish Government and Transport
Scotland to consider.
I am aware that the Scottish Government is currently considering how best to reduce car kilometres travelled as part of its wider net zero strategy. Identifying what drives consumer behaviour change and the barriers to adopting more sustainable choices remain key considerations underpinning future transport policy.
Our key findings are that:
- Sustainable transport options need to be more affordable and better value for money if future targets are to be met.
- While cost is a crucial consideration, investing in the infrastructure underpinning sustainable transport options, including EV infrastructure, will enable more consumers to make sustainable choices.
- Consumers need meaningful and timely information to support them to make sustainable choices. This must highlight the broader benefits of sustainable transport choices for both consumers and communities.
- Sustainable transport options must be available for all, though these options may differ by location. A mixture of improved public transport options, active travel routes, and EV charging infrastructure will be needed for consumers nationwide.
- More work is required to make public transport accessible and inviting for all. For too many consumers, public transport is hard to access or does not feel safe and this may present significant challenges in meeting modal shift and wider emissions targets.
Our briefing also sets out a number of recommendations to the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland focused on future policy and implementation. These are:
- Transport Scotland should design and deliver a new consumer engagement programme to support the implementation of the Just Transition Plan for Transport. The Scottish Government should continue to promote sustainable travel to consumers as part of any net zero communications strategies
- The Scottish Government should work to make public transport safer and more accessible for consumers
- Investment in services and infrastructure should be based on agreed
understanding of current provision and targeted to meet consumer need. - Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government should ensure that all major plans to reduce transport emissions clearly explain the expected contribution of each key action and allocate responsibility, and budget, for delivering work to meet targets.
- Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government should ensure policies to promote more sustainable choices are fully impact assessed and identify where mitigations need to be put in place to support consumers.
- Transport Scotland should take a leading role in ensuring its Vision for public EV charging is achieved, by developing a clear plan to monitor and drive delivery of the actions identified in its draft Vision Implementation Plan.
We hope that the briefing is of assistance as you consider future sustainable transport policy. We have shared this report with colleagues in Transport Scotland and MACS, and would be pleased to meet with you to discuss it in more detail.
Kind regards
Sam Ghibaldan