Some thoughts after the event

Karen Wright, SNH Chair of the Firth of Clyde Forum, rounded off the day with the following thoughts presented here in her own words.

I hope everyone will agree that this turned out to be a most interesting conference, stimulating a lot of debate and highlighting a number of exciting possibilities about where the future may lie in terms of transport on and around the Clyde. Regrettably we could have done with more time for discussion, but with a packed programme this was not to be. However, I am sure discussions will continue well beyond this event.

We covered in this conference a wide range of topics related to transport in the Clyde – historically, present day and visionary; strategic and practical . The potential for using the river for high frequency and fast passenger services, and extending ferry services to the towns beyond the immediate confines of the Clyde, provoked much interest both among participants and in the considerable press coverage we received, and it will be fascinating to see how these ideas are developed in the future. Clearly much strategic thought has already gone into how the Clyde transport networks can be developed to reflect changing needs and it is to be hoped that the future will see these being integrated in a practical way.

The conference began with a talk on learning lessons from Europe. We heard that securing integrated transport requires a regional body; integrated ticketing; investment in infrastructure; integration of the various transport services and integration with land use planning. It is thus perhaps useful to finish off this report by seeing how those lessons stood up in the context of the Firth of Clyde in the light of discussions during the conference;

• Regional body: discussions highlighted that a regional approach to transport systems is being considered as part of the forthcoming Transport Bill, although boundary issues between different transport bodies could prove an issue.
• Integrated ticketing: several presentations during the conference highlighted the advantages of having an integrated ticketing system, but it was acknowledged that there is still some way to go in achieving this.
• Investment in infrastructure: there was an underlying acknowledgement throughout the conference that securing an integrated transport system requires significant investment, and several innovative options at various stages of development were discussed (fast catamarans, ferries to the outer communities, LRT and pre-LRT).
• Integrated transport services: all presentations referred to an undisputed need for integrated transport services in one way or another for passenger and freight transport; linking trains, ferries, container ships, buses, cycle ways and footpaths.
• Integration with land use planning: referred to, but not developed substantially during the conference.

From this I think we can be reassured that the key elements of these lessons are acknowledged in current thinking on transport development. However, to what extent transport networks in and around the Clyde are in practice developed in an integrated and sustainable way in the future is now up to those organisations in whose lap the responsibility lies. I would like to think this conference has made a positive contribution to the debate.

On behalf of the Firth of Clyde Forum, I would like to thank all the contributors for their most interesting and stimulating presentations.

Karen Wright
Chair, Firth of Clyde Forum Core Group