EIR/202500496966 · FOI/EIR · not held
Transport Scotland - Argyll and Bute traffic monitoring information: EIR release
Information requested
There is traffic monitoring ongoing at the moment in Tarbert, Argyll and Bute and on various stretches of the A83.
How long will the traffic be monitored and what data is being collected?
How many surveys of this kind have been carried out in Tarbert in the last five years?
Please send me the results of previous surveys in this time period.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Q. How long will the traffic be monitored and what data is being collected?
A. Data is being collected for seven days. The surveys collect vehicle speed, vehicle volume and vehicle class data.
Q. How many surveys of this kind have been carried out in Tarbert in the last five years?
A. One survey has been undertaken in the last five years.
Q. Please send me the results of previous surveys in this time period.
A. Please see Annex's A to E for the survey data for the A83 conducted in 2024.
Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested because data for the most recent survey has not been received from the subcontractor yet.
This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about traffic monitoring, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have.