Scottish Rural & Islands Transport Community - Open Cafe & Chat: BYOC Webinar on 28 August 2020

Jenny Milne's first Scottish Rural Islands Transport Convention monthly open cafe today attracted an audience of about 30 from far and wide, with several participants from south of the border - and one from Japan.

Inevitably there was mention of the impact of CoVid-19 on public transport usage and on volunteering, and of the recent very heavy rainfall on transport infrastructure.

The event provided an update on R100 rolling out broadband coverage, and we heard that the Scottish Government's review of the Scottish Tech ecosystem has centred on the need to engender computer science skills from an early age ultimately so as to create more tech jobs, with very little about developing engineering and planning skills. Bus Users UK have launched a new survey. There was discussion about guidance on setting up a car-share or shared transport scheme. Covid-19 has shown Shetland's transport strategy to be not fit for purpose. The Argyll & Bute representative was optimistic that the move to home working would prove permanent.

The MAMBA project on maximising mobility and accessibility of services in rural areas of the Baltic Sea Region has seminars at 1030 on 3, 10 and 17 September. A CoMo webinar about Pedalling a Green Recovery will be held from 1400 to 1500 on 29 September. This year's Rural and Islands Transport Convention Convention will be on 7 and 9 October, dealing on day one with islands, infrastructure and connectivity - and on day two with rural mobility hubs and with Mobility As a Service.

Discussing the new Acceleration Unit in Whitehall, the Campaign for Better Transport representative saw it as contributing to the Government's commitment on levelling up. Recalling how after 9/11 people said they would never fly again but they did, he was doubtful as to whether the outcomes of CoVid-19 would be as radical as some might have us believe.

Notes by John Yellowlees