More Motorways?

It's a beautiful sunny May morning. The sort of day that makes cycling to work a joy.

Contrast that with the 2.7 miles of queuing traffic that I filter past. It's pretty shocking.

The Scottish Government is determined to modernise Scotland's roads, not by investing in active travel, but by building more motorways. Yes, that's right the governments view of Scotland's transport infrastructure is that we need more and bigger roads. Keith Brown points that out in the following video.

So what will more motorways achieve? It certainly would achieve more capacity for vehicle travel between our cities and so, through the phenomenon of 'induced demand' would probably encourage more people to use their cars more often.

But wait....more cars, more often.....is that actually a good thing?

There is of course an argument that economic development requires people to be able to move around quickly and freely, and there is no doubt that allowing more people to travel between our cities could encourage that.

What about the costs though?

Ignoring the cost of building motorways (which is huge!!), there are the environmental costs, increased pollution, isolation of rural communities etc. We often forget these costs.

Looking at my filtering video, is there perhaps a better use of our limited finances? What is the cost of all the time that people loose sitting in traffic jams? What is the cost to the environment of all those cars going nowhere but still emmiting CO2 and pollution? What is the cost to the drivers health? What is the cost to society of a city and a country that excludes the poor and the young from feeling safe on our roads, and thus being limited in their freedoms?

Can we really afford not to invest in cycle infrastructure?

I have a vision of a modern Scotland, but it differs a great deal from that of Keith Brown's and the Scottihs Governments. It's time to make your voice heard.

Enough is enough.

Pedal on Parliament on the 19th May 2013 or we might just live to see Keith's future.