So you want a congestion charge? First, fix public transport

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

To elaborate on this point, I know of a recent situation where a friend decided to leave their car at home, instead opting to use the bus, in order to play their part. The bus failed to turn up and in the end they returned to their home and took their car, as if they hadn't they would have been late for their appointment. One can understand that on rare occasions a bus or train may fail to appear owing to circumstances outwith the operator's control. However, of late this seems to be a rather common occurrence in certain areas and routes.
I further feel that serious consideration must be given to the effect of council cutbacks on bus services in outlying areas, again if we are to realistically achieve getting people out of their cars. I am of course referring to those bus services which were hitherto taken under local authority control by tender, or subsidised, when the individual bus companies could no longer afford to run them commercially, ie socially necessary but not necessarily profitable routes serving outlying areas especially at evenings and Sundays. Regrettably the recent hatchet that has been taken to local authorities in relation to spending cuts has witnessed this arrangement cease in some instances with no alternative replacement.
The imposing of such charging will also undoubtedly disproportionately affect many of the more outlying areas of Glasgow such as West Stirlingshire, Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire to name but a few, where there are many communities which have no public transport links at all to Glasgow city centre or very tenuous links especially at off-peak times and have no other option but to use their car. Therefore could it be argued that the imposing of this tax could actually deter people from visiting Glasgow city centre and instead seek other alternatives such as outlying shopping centres or other cities and towns?
A further point to be made is what about those attending or visiting hospitals within the city boundary? Have they to be charged for every appointment or visit to their loved ones?
John G McMenemy, Milngavie.
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Danger in Glasgow tariffs
It is interesting that Glasgow City Council now feels the city needs more money from motorists.
There are toll barriers into the city for those of us who've moved just outside. More fees to go through the Clyde Tunnel and no doubt cross bridges. More money from Westenders for parking outside their front door; there is nothing like taxing achievement.
Donald Trump's attitude would be that those who tariff me will pay duty in return.
Living now in East Dunbartonshire and often crossing into Glasgow to spend my money, it strikes me that someone is going to miss out.
My feeling is, if you want borders then Glaswegians should pay to enter my territory.
What cans of worms those with a little power open.
Glasgow is not a city overly polluted, not by fumes anyway. It's polluted by those on the council who have limited ideas about driving it forward.
Jim Campbell, Bearsden.
Give clarity on train prices
The removal of peak rail fares in Scotland from September is a welcome and overdue step towards making public transport more affordable and encouraging people out of their cars.
However, I am concerned by how this policy has been presented to the public.
ScotRail's messaging claims that passengers will now pay 'the same fare no matter what time they travel'. In reality, this risks being misleading by omission: on some routes, split-ticketing or advance fares can still be cheaper than the new 'any time' price.
For many passengers, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances who cannot easily shop around, such omissions can make the difference between travel being affordable or not.
Consumer Scotland has published clear guidance that public bodies should communicate transparently and avoid creating barriers to informed choices.
I fear that, in this case, the marketing of a positive policy risks undermining public trust. Especially as Transport Scotland's own analysis suggested a hit for those who rely on the cheapest ticket types soon to be removed.
If Scotland is serious about achieving net zero, we need more people to choose rail. But behaviour change depends on trust. Public bodies must be scrupulous in how they communicate, not over-simplifying at the expense of accuracy. I urge Transport Scotland, Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail to update their messaging to include clear caveats and worked examples, so that passengers can have full confidence in the value of their ticket.
George Eckton, Glasgow.
Do we need more clarity over rail ticket prices? (Image: PA)
Capital offence?
The blocking of The Women Who Wouldn't Wheest book referred to by Linda FitzGerald (Letters, August 16) is, as she says, censorship. What next, bonfires of those books a librarian disagrees with? Someone within the National Library of Scotland authorised that censorship. They should be named, shamed and made to justify their action as a warning to others minded to censor similarly anything they didn't like that they will not be allowed to hide behind the cloak of anonymity.
On an unrelated personal matter, I see that, Linda FitzGerald spells her surname with a capital 'G" , whereas I spell mine with a lower case 'p". In the dim distant past I recollect being told that one version indicated some upstairs-downstairs activity leading to a birth which was termed euphemistically 'on the wrong side of the blanket", but I can't remember which was which. Can she or anyone else clear up my uncertainty as to my origins?
Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.
Star attractions
Tuning in to the Sky Sports channels this past weekend and flitting between football and golf I noted that at every commercial break there was an advert/preview for the imminent US Open tennis championships.
By the end of the weekend, I still wasn't sure that there were any men playing this year.
Just saying.
Keith Swinley, Ayr.