PUBLIC opinion on congestion charging has only been officially tested once in Scotland – but could the seemingly unpopular policy be the key for a transformation of funding for transport?
In 2005, residents in Edinburgh voted against the introduction of a congestion charge in the capital by a margin of about three to one – 74%.
The ballot of 290,000 city residents took place over 20 years ago, but with the increasing need to reduce car use to tackle pollution and find much needed funding for Scotland’s transport systems, it could be an issue looming over the horizon for the next parliamentary term.
Colin Howden, director at Transform Scotland, told The National that a combination of introducing road user charging – also known as a congestion charge – and additional taxes on aviation, are two of the key ways that Scotland could look to bring in additional funding.
By making car use, particularly in urban areas, and flying more expensive, Howden argues that it will help bring down emissions, as well as funnel much-needed funding into public transport, such as buses and trains.
In London, the Congestion Charge has been in place since 2003. It charges £18 a day, if paid in advance, covering all London boroughs and the City of London, over an area of roughly 8.1 square miles.
Transport for London (TfL) has said that it has not only reduced congestion but boosted bus travel and enabled 10% of journeys to switch to walking, cycling and public transport.
But Howden admits that the policy is “a massively controversial issue” and might not necessarily be popular.
In 2024, there were 3.13 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland – the highest number on record – of which 82% were cars.
It comes after the Scottish Government dropped its target to reduce car use by 20% by 2030. Instead, recent policy documents have said that a 6% reduction in car use by 2035 would be needed to stay within its proposed carbon budgets, which cover a period of five years, rather than the previous single-year climate targets.
“The gold standard, frankly, is still road user charging, road pricing, that's the thing that would be transformational in transport,” Howden told The National.
“It would be paying for more of the external costs that we impose on society and the environment, especially in urban areas.
“That's the goal. That's how we get significant change in transport.
“Unfortunately, it’s a massively controversial issue.”
In London, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was introduced in 2019, charging drivers a daily fee of £12.50 if their vehicles are high-polluting. In Glasgow, a Low Emission Zone was introduced for the city centre in 2023, but it does not charge for entry, instead enforcing fines – which start at £60 – for any breaches. While it faced some opposition, it has led to a reduction in pollution and an improvement in air quality since it was introduced.
Last year, the local authority said it was considering bringing in a driver congestion charge and toll for the Clyde Tunnel – for those who live outwith the city – but regulatory checks need to take place before councils can introduce any system.
A Transport Scotland report, titled Achieving Car Use Reduction in Scotland from June 2025, when Fiona Hyslop was transport secretary – the portfolio is now in Stephen Flynn’s hands – the Scottish Government did seem to be moving in that direction.
It noted that in 2023, transport accounted for 33% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions, and cars accounted for 39% of that. This means that cars alone accounted for 12.9% of Scotland’s total emissions.
“Any introduction of measures to disincentivise car use, such as local or regional road user charging, or workplace parking licensing, could also bring economic benefits due to their significant revenue-raising potential which must be re-invested in measures that support delivery of the area’s Local Transport Strategy,” the report said.
It added that they would undertake a “regulatory check” of the powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, to give local authorities or regional transport partnerships the “option” to implement them.
But the policy is unlikely to be implemented across all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, particularly in rural areas.
Howden said that the main issue is that in urban areas car use is “very underpriced” but said: “When you're getting into remote areas, maybe the price of car use there does actually more reflect the damage that's caused.
“But that's why over the years the likes of ourselves [Transform Scotland] and Edinburgh council and others have promoted road user charging just in central urban areas, that’s where you need to discourage car use.”
He explained: “You're not paying for the full cost of the damage, the pollution that you cause, whether that's environmental pollution like air pollution, climate change emissions, noise pollution, whether it's infrastructure damage in terms of road damage – that's why the roads fall apart because there’s too many vehicles on them, especially heavier vehicles – also social impacts, the damage to communities that cars can do.”
Howden argued that aviation is another area of high-polluting transport that is “underpriced”.
“The reason why people fly everywhere is because its cheap, and there's no way around it,” he explained.
“That's why we're saying you need to have higher taxation on aviation, whether that's the existing Air Passenger Duty or the Air Departure Tax.”
The number of passengers travelling through Scottish airports reached record levels in the first quarter of this year.
UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data shows 5,795,334 passengers used Scottish airports in the three-month period, driven by short-haul European flights.
Transform Scotland has proposed a Frequent Flyer Levy, a policy also supported by the Scottish Greens at the last Holyrood election, as well as using local climate bonds,
They have also said that setting up a Sovereign Wealth Fund, sourced from offshore wind revenues, could finance long-term transport infrastructure investments.
