Sustainable transport charity Transform Scotland said that was a conclusion of research they commissioned by Edinburgh Napier University looking into the demand management measures that could reduce road traffic in Scotland.

But Transform Scotland says that business groups have felt there could be hostility to the prospect of people paying to enter a city centre with concern congestion charges would “discourage travel and damage city economies which are already struggling post-Covid.”..

In a bid to encourage the use of public transport, the city council’s transport convener Scott Arthur stated that a fee could be used as the council tries to improve bus links in the next few years.

The study by the renowned Transport Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier comes as the Scottish Government committed in December 2020 to reduce all car traffic by 20% by 2030 as part of its net zero carbon emissions plan.