Consultation formed an integral part to the overall development of the strategy and a report on the consultation process has now been published. There were a number of different elements to the consultation process including:
- Pre-Consultation Stakeholder Events;
- NTS Written Consultation; and
- User Consultation.
Pre-Consultation Stakeholder Events
In developing the NTS consultation paper a series of pre-consultation stakeholder events were held to benefit from the expertise of the stakeholder community and gather information on the key issues. In summary, the events focused on:
Various themes - the environment, economy, health etc;
- Other regions of Scotland - working with the Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) to consider how the NTS should address regional issues and how the Regional Transport Strategies should address cross-RTP and national issues; and
Individual modes of transport - sometimes using existing forums, for example the Scottish Rail Stakeholder Forum.
The summary report and presentations for each event can be accessed here.
Written Consultation
Over 600 copies of the consultation paper were distributed to a wide range of organisations and individuals with an interest in national transport policy. In addition, over 500 copies of a summary consultation booklet were also distributed.
In total, 314 responses were received from a wide range of individuals and organisations with an interest in national transport policy. A report on the analysis of the responses to the consultation has now been published.
User Consultation
In order to ensure the views of transport users fed into the development of the NTS independent and objective qualitative research was undertaken that placed a focus on understanding the views of "hard to reach" audiences who are transport users. A copy of the report on this research has now been published.
Research
Research has also been undertaken into National Transport Strategy Best Practice in other countries.