This is the simplest, most cost effective way of getting people out of their cars and onto public transportation. If we are serious about car
exhaust emissions and global warming, this is the obvious solution.
A side benefit is the reduction of the isolation tax that residents of the Outer Hebrides pay either directly in ferry fares or indirectly in the increased
cost of goods. This will also encourage tourists and residents of towns to explore areas of Scotland they might not otherwise visit. Visitors spend money
in local shops and contribute to the Scottish economy.
The Basic Rule states that if you drive at a speed greater than conditions allow, you are guilty of dangerous driving.
No points system. No ifs, ands or buts. Violate the Basic Rule and you lose your driving license.
This puts the responsibility for safe driving on the driver. Police will be freed from enforcement and speed trap duties and be able to get back to work
finding criminals and protecting the public.
The technology exists to follow any given vehicle on Scottish roads if the vehicle carries a satellite tracking device.
While it is impossible to monitor everybody at risk groups or individuals can be watched.
Candidates for close scrutiny include newly qualified or re-qualified drivers.
Any uninsured vehicle moving on Scotland's roads will be detected.
Scottish license plates will carry a tag showing that road tax has been paid and that the vehicle is insured.
A system that can follow the movement of any citizen at any time raises human rights issues. The legislation must contain safeguards that it is used
for the intended purpose only.
66% of the world's population drive on the right including Europe and North America. The majority of our tourist visitors drive on the right in their
home countries.
Every year, visitors to our shores die on the roads of Scotland when in a moment of tiredness or forgetfulness they revert to the habits of a lifetime.
A switch to driving on the right would prevent these tragedies.
Any switch will however be traumatic for Scottish drivers. But it can be done.
On 3rd September 1967, Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. This was Dagen H or Hogertrafikomlaggningen, "The right-hand
traffic diversion".
After a massive public education programme, the switch took place and traffic accidents actually dropped for the two years following the switch before climbing
slowly to previous levels.
There are economic benefits from switching. Any right-hand drive car could be imported into Scotland without modification.
Anyone who has used Glasgow Airport knows that it is in a constant state of reconstruction. The airport and the surrounding infrastructure are not fit for purpose
in the 21st Century.
A Scottish Airport Authority will be tasked with the design and construction of a new Scottish International Airport on land north of Falkirk and south
east of Cowie.
This is ideally suited for high speed road and rail links to the major cities of Scotland.
The existing airports at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Prestwick can be re-developed as regional airports.
The Edinburgh tram link will be redundant and will be scrapped!
On a minor note, BAA no longer have a physical presence in their Scottish Airports. For any information, you have to use a phone connected to a call centre.
This is no way to treat arriving visitors to Scotland. We need knowledgable staff on hand to greet our guests and answer any questions they may have on
arrival.
Over the past forty years, motorcycles have become technically sophisticated, larger, heavier and faster. The manufacturers have used success on the race track
to sell bikes for the road.
Pass your bike driving test and you can ride out of the showroom on a machine capable of 195mph on the public road.
Such machines have nothing to do with personal transportation. They were bred on the race tracks of the world for performance. They should stay on the race track.
Any motor cycle of 650cc or under has adequate performance to exceed the speed limit, while providing transport to the nearest grocery store or work place.
The deaths of motorcycle riders on Scottish roads is a serious problem. Part of the solution is better rider education and testing. Part must be restrictions
on the type of motor cycles sold in the country. Scottish roads are not race tracks.
Scotland has a fine tradition of producing world class motor cycle champions. Jimmy Guthrie, Bob McIntyre and Steve Hislop all represented Scotland on
the world stage. There are tracks at East Fortune and Knockhill. We will build two additional tracks in the Dumfries and Galloway area and in the north
east near Aberdeen.
These additional facilities will allow Scottish riders to develop their skills in a domestic series without the need for long drives to the south of England.
Riders with performance machines will have somewhere to test the limits of their skill and machinery in a suitable environment without endangering the public.
While the focus here is on motorcycles, these new race tracks will be designed to host kart and car racing. The next generation Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart
must be encouraged and supported in their development.
Canny Scots will always try to get something for nothing. One of the ways we do this is by making one thing serve two
purposes.
We have trains that are InterCity and Commuter Trains at the same time. The Glasgow to Aberdeen InterCity train stops
at Gleneagles. The half-dozen Gleneagles commuters get a superb service while the InterCity travellers don't. Other stops
are at Carnoustie, Arbroath, Montrose, Stonehaven and Portlethen.
The Glasgow - Edinburgh Shuttle Trains stop at Falkirk, Linlithgow, Polmont, Croy, Lenzie or Bishopbriggs. Is this a
commuter service or InterCity Rail?
The Glasgow - Edinburgh Shuttle averages 52mph. The Glasgow - Aberdeen train does 54mph. The London to Bristol Express
manages 75mph and the Virgin Glasgow to London Record Breaker did 103mph.
Getting something for nothing is a rare event. We need to consider what compromises we are making when we make one thing
serve two purposes.
The InterCity trains will be Inter City. Intermediate stops will be served by commuter trains.
While we do need a modern efficient service between cities in Scotland, there are areas where quaint and slower would attract visitors.
Why can't we have a steam service on the West Coast Line from Glasgow to Mallaig? The Jacobite Steam Train already runs from Fort William to Mallaig
during the summer. The coal smoke wouldn't be welcome in the clean glass palace of Queen Street Station but these details aren't insurmountable.
We do need rail franchises that look after their rolling stock. The trains on the West Highland Line have been recently refurbished but before that, the windows
were almost opaque. We can't have visitors attracted by the Scottish scenery unable to see the scenery because of dirty train windows.
It has been a wet summer and I have done a lot of travelling the roads of Scotland on two wheels and four.
Scotland's roads are terrible.
Modern road surfaces were invented by a Scot from Ayr called John Loudon MacAdam. In 1816 he published a book on his methods "Remarks on the Present System
of Road-Making". These methods included a camber making the road slightly convex, ensuring that the rainwater rapidly drained off the road surface.
We have lost MacAdam's book
Whenever there is a shower of rain in Scotland, the road surfaces have standing water. Standing water is dangerous because it results in aquaplaning.
The tyre contact patch loses its grip on the road and the tyre slides across the road surface on a thin film of water. When aquaplaning occurs, the driver
has no control of the vehicle. Dangerous for car drivers, potentially fatal for motorcycle riders. Aquaplaning cost Bob McIntyre his life in an accident at
Oulton Park in 1962. Scotland's most experienced and best known bike rider was caught out by standing water on the circuit.
If standing water caught Bob McIntyre, what chance have mere mortals?
Most Scottish road surfaces have little or no camber.
Other roads suffer from bad drainage from the roadside. A slight shower of rain on Loch Lomondside results in flooding in many parts of the north bound lane
of the A82. Under-road drains would take the flood water downhill to Loch Lomond. This doesn't require a multi-million rebuilding of the A82. It
needs a common sense appraisal of the problem and drains installed in the appropriate places.
Last Saturday morning, I travelled through Glasgow at 9am. Part of Great Western Road eastbound was three quarters flooded. There were no warning signs, no
action being taken to deal with the problem. Where were the police patrols? Where were the council workers?
We have to do better. This isn't rocket science. John MacAdam worked out a solution 122 years ago. Go find his book!
We are dithering about road surfaces. Some accident prone areas have special anti-skid surfaces. If it works, why isn't it used on all roads?
We have all been caught out in tailbacks from some unanticipated bit of road work. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cost hours of your life.
A couple of years ago, Helensburgh and the Rosneath Peninsula were virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Construction of the Stonymollan Roundabout
sculpture at Ballock was causing long tailbacks on the A82. At the same time, the A814 was being resurfaced through Cardross. With both access roads blocked,
there was no place to go.
There has to be central co-ordination of road works to minimise delays. The work should be done at night whenever possible.
The loss of productivity from daytime road works is enormous. It is much more cost effective for the Scottish economy to pay the road workers high wages
to do the job at night.
In the past year, roundabouts in Scotland have acquired yellow warning lines across the road surface. These start with wide spacings and the spaces get shorter
as the roundabout gets closer. Big Brother thinks that this will convince you that you are going faster than you should. You will then slow down.
Psychological mind games aside, these things are road hazards. The approach to the Stonymollan Roundabout at Balloch must be the worst of the breed.
The bumps are enough to loosen teeth filings. When braking on the approach to a corner, the last thing you need is a series of bumps that upset the
suspension of the car or motorcycle. The Stonymollan bumps are particularily bad on a motorcycle which has a shorter wheelbase than a car.
These things have got to go.
Ditto for "humps" and other traffic calming devices. There are other ways of enforcing speed limits without destroying car suspensions.
An efficient, productive economy requires the free movement of goods, services and people around the country. The M8 and Edinburgh By-pass are congested
and need an additional traffic lane. The A90 through Dundee should be updated and the A9 from Perth to Inverness should be dual carriageway.
In Dumbarton and on the Edinburgh By-pass, roundabouts are the cheap and nasty solution to crossing traffic streams. Proper motorway flyovers are needed
to adequately deal with traffic at these places. The Barloan roundabout replacement should be built at the expense of the Lomondgate Developers.
A flyover would solve the weekend tailbacks on the A82 southbound at Balloch.
An analysis of solutions to the serious weekend traffic bottleneck at Callander should be carried
out.
The Glasgow Subway system doesn't start until 10am on Sunday mornings and closes by 6pm in the evening.
This is unacceptable for a major European city, a former City of Culture.
The Glasgow Subway runs on Sundays.
