Source: www.scotsman.com

CHRIS MOONEY

A NEW 6 million park-and-ride project has been branded a waste of
money after it emerged not a single car owner has used the new
scheme in its first two months.

The new public transport project - dubbed Fastlink - aims to reduce
travel time from Livingston to Edinburgh by almost 30 minutes.

Council chiefs in West Lothian admitted buses bosses had been
running services from three park-and-ride sites in Livingston since
January 17, but no cars had yet parked there.

But they said the project was in the early stages and nobody really
knew the facilities in Howden, Knightsridge and Ladywell were
operational.

They stressed that motorists will start to use the car parks
following the official launch of the sites in the next few weeks,
which will be accompanied by a massive publicity campaign.

It is the latest problem to hit the transport project, which was
completed 1.5 million over budget.

Council chiefs said the "significant" rise in costs was mainly due
to new safety measures and design enhancements added to the plans
after a public consultation.

Councillor Tom Kerr, West Lothians Tory leader, said: "As far as
Im concerned this is a huge waste of public money.

"Ive been proposing for some time the need for one of these
facilities in Linlithgow where the railway station is busy and the
streets are overcrowded with cars. It would have the chance to
become a successful scheme.

"But of course Livingston is the centre of the universe and
everything gets tried there first."

Fastlink has seen the A899 "spine road" refurbished to provide
improved access for commuters, the installation of hi-tech bus stops
along the route and park-and-ride facilities.

A fleet of more than 30 new express buses, running every 15 minutes
from Livingston town centre along the spine road and on to the M8
into Edinburgh, provide better and quicker access to the Capital.

Critics of the plans have expressed fears that routing buses down
the A899 will only result in them meeting tailbacks on the M8
quicker.

Councillor Willie Dunn, deputy leader of West Lothian Council, said:
"The Fastlink project has only recently been completed and we are
planning an official launch.

"We will be circulating copies of bus timetables and information
about the new car parking facilities. We are confident that car
users will make use of the excellent new parking facilities once the
Fastlink scheme is fully operational.

"The Scottish Executive has provided most of the funding for this
new public transport project, which we welcome." The scheme has cost
more than 6m compared with the original estimate of 4.6m.

The Scottish Executive provided just over 4m, with 250,000 from
West Lothian Council and 250,000 from a land deal with developers
which is integral to the plans.

The council needed to find an additional 1,471,537.

Currently, services for people living along the length of the spine
road, which runs from the A71 at Lizzie Brices roundabout to the
M8, travel through housing estates before heading into the city.

The new scheme allows buses to travel direct via the M8 into
Edinburgh.

It is safety improvements to the Houstoun and Cousland interchanges
which have led to the overspend.

Plans to close slip roads at each interchange, create roundabouts
and build pedestrian and cycle links between the roundabouts were to
blame for spiralling costs.

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