Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Transport minister’s park-and-ride comments “very revealing” says MSP

Halbeath bus park
Barclay got on the bus at Halbeath and became abusive. Image: DC Thomson.

The transport minister has said local authorities introducing park and ride charges should monitor the impact of the fees.

In a letter to Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell, Humza Yousaf said although it is up to councils whether or not to charge, “we would urge local authorities to be flexible in their approach and monitor the effects of such a charge.”

Mr Ruskell had written to the minister to raise concerns about Fife Council’s proposals for a £1 daily fee at Halbeath and Ferrytoll park and ride sites.

The MSP has called for more thorough consultation on the proposals, which the minister confirmed had not been discussed by the Forth Replacement Crossing Public Transport Strategy Working Group.

“This letter from Humza Yousaf is very revealing,” said Mr Ruskell.

“Fife Council assured me that they had discussed the planned parking charges with stakeholders ahead of introducing it in their budget in February, but this clearly wasn’t at the public transport working group.

“What is the purpose of this body if not to scrutinise plans which could have a major impact on the use of public transport across the bridges?”

He added: “If the introduction of fees leads to more people choosing to drive into Edinburgh, this will have a huge impact not just on locals in west Fife but on Edinburgh residents and businesses, and public transport operators, not to mention the environmental impact that we will all suffer from.”

Members of the public have until May 10 to share their views by emailing lynne.lees@fife.gov.uk.

But Mr Ruskell said he was “not happy” with how that consultation is being carried out.

“There is no mention at all of the consultation on either of the park and ride websites run by Fife Council,” he said.

“I am concerned that not all users will be aware of the process and will miss out on the chance to comment on something that will impact on their daily routine.

“We urgently need to get more people out of their cars and onto public transport if we are to address environmental and air pollution issues, and charging to use these facilities is sending out completely the wrong message.”

John Mitchell, service manager for asset management and sustainable transport at the council, said: “Fife Council has represented and has helped to develop the Forth Replacement Crossing Public Transport Strategy.

“At the time of the last meting, Fife Council’s administration had not yet decided whether or not to consider parking charges at the Ferrytoll and Halbeath park and ride sites. Therefore, details of the proposal could not be discussed with a wider group.

“Fife Council will carefully monitor the implementation of the proposed charges to investigate any potential migration of parking.

“By way of comparison, the recent introduction of a similar £1 per day charge at Leuchars Railway Station car park has shown no reduction in the level of demand.”