THIS WEEK will be a key one in setting out the SNP government's view on the future of transport in Scotland.
John Swinney, the Cabinet secretary, will present his view on Wednesday on whether or not the planned Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (Earl) and the Edinburgh trams project should be given the go-ahead.
The SNP manifesto included a commitment to scrapping Earl. And last week First Minister Alex Salmond hinted that he would be voting against both projects, so perhaps we can see how the land lies.
One of the arguments that the SNP has used for its opposition to Earl was the claim by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson that the costs were "out of control". This is not a conclusion that was borne out by the report by Auditor-General Robert Black and his team on the two projects last week.
Black concludes that the project costs could be expected to be in the range of £550m to £650m although "there is less certainty about current cost estimates".
It is likely that the total cost of Earl would be towards the top end of that range or could even exceed it.
The Edinburgh trams link, which would have benefits in promoting the local economy and creating a safe environment, is expected to cost about £595m on current estimates.
We believe that fast links to and from our major airports - Edinburgh and Glasgow - are key to Scotland's competitiveness and attractiveness as a business location.
So too is a high-speed land link between the two cities, Scotland's capital and its biggest city.
As we have highlighted before in these pages there is one proposal on the table that kills a lot of these birds with the one stone. It is a maglev or magnetic levitation train that would link together Glasgow airport, its city centre, Edinburgh airport and its city centre.
It would be, if it worked, Earl and its Glasgow equivalent Garl and a high-speed rail link in one.
It may be, if it was subject to rigorous analysis, that it could be shown that maglev is not the best option. There is significant cost and it would be a major project. But if it worked it would be, we believe, transformational to the economy of the central belt where already half of the gross domestic product of Scotland is generated.
The case for maglev, which is being eloquently made by Alan James, chief executive of backers UK Ultraspeed, needs to be tested.
The quality of Scotland's transport system is one of the major challenges facing its economic development and therefore one that should be absolutely at the top of the Executive's agenda.
We believe that John Swinney should this week call for a short, sharp feasibility study into maglev compared to the other fast city link options.
Stirling was right to open gate for livestock market
So, it appears that Stirling is open for business after all.
The decision by the Scottish Executive not to call in plans for a new United Auctions Mart in the new city means the development is now set to go ahead in a move that safeguards 320 jobs.
A question mark has hung over the jobs and the future of the business since an original decision in April by the council to reject plans - on the basis of the chairman's casting vote - for a new livestock auction market to replace the existing one.
That refusal had come despite the company, which is a subsidiary of developer the Elphinstone Group, working for months with planning officials to whittle down an original list of 16 sites to the one at Hill of Drip that was finally agreed.
The council's negative decision, which appeared to be more about petty party politics rather than any serious concern about the look of the area, had put a stain on Stirling - and raised major questions over how supportive the council actually is to business in the area.
Too often, business is frustrated by a planning system that delays and obfuscates for no good reason. But we are delighted that the council has now seen sense and changed its mind - so the development can finally go ahead.
Ken Ross, the chief executive of the Elphinstone Group, has praised the decision and has pledged that his company will invest £10 million in building "something of which we can all be proud".
Providing that he is true to his word, as we are sure he will be, all is well that ends well - for the sake of the 320 employees and their families, for local business and for the local economy and community as a whole.
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