Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop convened a recent summit to hail the sector in Scotland, but there is not much to applaud in the government's record, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson.

In the classic comedy film, Trains, planes and automobiles Steve Martin and John Candy are cooped up in various forms of transport as they try to beat heavy snowfall to get home in time for Thanksgiving.

The interaction between the pair is comedy cold as an exasperated Martin puts up with the antics of travelling companion, Candy during their three day odyssey across the States in 1987.

But it could accurately sum up the Scottish government’s transport in recent years given the various foul-ups and mishaps that have befallen many major building projects.

It could be renamed ferries, trains and automobiles but for the exasperated passengers and motorists, there really is nothing funny about it all.

So it was a bit of a surprise when Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop recently convened a summit to discuss the economic value of the transport sector.

Now that is quite funny.

The Scottish Transport Summit in Glasgow followed the publication of a report by Transport Scotland which found the sector is an “absolute necessity” for various other areas of Scotland’s economy.

The report found the transport sector supports more than 150,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Scotland and provides £10 billion Gross Value Added (GVA).

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