Poverty is holding back thousands of Scots from taking up eco-friendly transport options like car shares and e-bikes, a new report has found.

The study by shared transport charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) warned barriers faced by people in deprived communities were causing “transport poverty” with a relative lack of options to get around.

The same issue is also facing older Scots and people living in villages and rural areas – with those taking up car and bike share schemes most likely to be younger people living in cities.

It comes as previous Transport Scotland stats revealed less than a fifth of low-income Scots have access to a bicycle.

Meanwhile, a CoMoUK report last year said Scots households who switched from private vehicles to car sharing could save more than £2,000 a year.

Transport is key to Scottish Government efforts to curb emissions, with plans to scale up “active travel” like cycling and walking, phase out new petrol cars by 2030 and reduce car kilometres in Scotland by 20 per cent, also by the end of the decade.

Rachael Murphy, Scotland director of CoMoUK, said: “If Scotland is to meet its ambitious climate change targets, we must harness the full potential of shared transport and reduce our reliance on the private car.

“Car clubs and other shared transport modes like bike hire can dramatically reduce congestion on our roads and carbon emissions.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Education Matters