STUART PATRICK
In the current debate about traffic in Glasgow’s city centre there is one big assumption being made by the authorities that may be completely wrong. - discouraging Glaswegians from using their cars to come into the city centre assumes they will shift to public transport instead.
Bus usage across Glasgow is down, so does it follow that removing on-street parking places, increasing parking charges, banning certain types of diesel vehicle and now proposing a congestion charge for coming in at all will persuade citizens to leave their cars at home?
What if they don’t? What if many of the Glaswegians who currently use Glasgow’s central district simply decide to stop doing so?
They have two very obvious choices. They could choose to use an out of town leisure and shopping centre like Silverburn where car parking is free, or they could join the growing army of consumers who have moved online and wait at home for yet another diesel van to deliver their cardboard package.
When we ask shoppers what affects their decisions to choose the city centre, accessible parking is the top issue, so it will be no surprise to us if they simply choose to stay away.
There are 17,000 Glaswegians working in the city centre’s shops, and another 16,000 work in the night-time economy. How many of these jobs are at risk from a surge in anti-car measures? No economic impact assessments have ever been commissioned.
At least proposals for a Low Emission Zone in Glasgow have the virtue of solid evidence on causes of poor air quality. We support measures to improve air quality because we want the city centre to be attractive, but we also believe they have to be proportionate.
Staging the introduction over time starting with penalties for the vehicles contributing most is sensible. It takes time for business and the public to find the investment needed to switch to more modern vehicles, and we shouldn’t forget that many people bought diesel cars because they were following the signals from older government policies.
Equally we support the City Council’s independent Connectivity Commission whose remit is to examine what changes could be made to the city’s transport system that also bring an increase in footfall and investment in the city centre.
Here is a chance to explore what the evidence has to say before leaping to eye-catching but damaging proposals like a congestion charge.
Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
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