r/Glasgow Tools

Yes, I'm not saying the idea is simple.

We've built a transport system which necessitates lots of car travel. And we see that in the congestion and traffic volumes.

It needs to be noted that none of this will happen overnight. There are strong plans in the works, some of it already under way, for significantly improved public transport in Greater Glasgow. I'm not just talking the metro project with potential tram lines connecting underserved areas, but that is part of it.

We'll have integrated multi operator bus ticketing within the next two years. The rollout of tap on tap off systems is part of this. It'll be linked to Subway ticketing with rail to follow not long after. We can reasonably expect to see caps on bus fares as has been delivered in England recently. There is a commission investigating this for Scotland, set to deliver the specific proposals some time this summer.

Glasgow will have something close to bus rapid transit in place along five bus corridors in a couple of years too. Corridors in and out of the centre which serve dozens of bus routes. The planning for this recently went out to tender.

There is a government aim to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030. Glasgow's stated aim is 30% by 2030. This isn't to punish people, but to help move people to different modes of transport where possible. And as I say, there are multiple areas where new infrastructure and mechanisms will make public transport work for a lot more people in coming years.

More work is being done on moving freight onto rail. As with switching car trips to public transport, it's not a case of moving everything. But just enough that you reduce the volumes of vehicles on roads, which have ballooned in Scotland in recent decades.

With these plans in mind, it's the M8 ideas seem perfectly plausible.