CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting

Whats the best place to park for a commute in to town?

(28 posts)

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  1. Colscoob
    Member

    Hi All,

    I work at Haymarket and have have just purchased a bike to commute to work. Unfortunatly I live 40 miles away so wasnt plannning to cycle from home but to drive to the outskirts of town leave me car and cycle in.

    Heres the problem, I have no idea where to park. I travel in on the M9 from Falkirk and I initially thought that the Park and Ride would be a good place to park but I guess me parking there and not using their Bus would be frowned upon.

    Does anyone have any suggestions?

    Thanks,
    Colin.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  2. steveo
    Member

    Not sure you need to worry about not getting the bus, you are still parking and riding...

    Seriously though, the council run the park and rides not Lothian buses so I doubt either care terribly, I take you mean the one at Ingleston? That gets very busy according to my boss so i think you need to be there fairly early. Also worth bearing in mind that the airport road is not the most cycle friendly.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    Were you thinking about the canal? Would position you nicely for Haymarket, but might be a bit slow as you approached town.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  4. Colscoob
    Member

    Ah i didnt realise the car park was council run and was thinking that Lothian Buses would be none to happy. Great thanks for that info.

    As for the canal, I guess I could pick it up at Ratho, but again not sure about parking.

    Thank you both for your replies.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  5. chdot
    Admin

    "I guess me parking there and not using their Bus would be frowned upon"

    Interesting question. The answer should be 'obvious' - but isn't

    http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/transport/parking/cec_park_and_rides

    says

    "Why try a park and ride?

    Park and ride is a quick and stress-free way to get into the city centre. Park, catch the bus, and sit back and relax!"

    That's straightforward; doesn't actually say you have to take a bus.

    "Parking is free. Overnight parking is not allowed."

    - so you can't use it as a long stay car park when flying off somewhere. But (perhaps) you could park and cycle to the airport for a day trip to London.

    So I suppose the question is - 'do so few people park and cycle that there is no issue/problem - or if you park and cycle does someone jump on you and demand you buy a bus ticket??'

    Perhaps it's officially OK - but not promoted because the car park gets full anyway.

    You can't be the only person wanting to drive and cycle. I suspect you might even be willing to pay a small 'bus fare equivalent' fee. Certainly the Council wants to discourage driving into the city (especially at rush hour) and cycling.

    There'll be an answer somewhere...

    Meanwhile - http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1092

    Posted 14 years ago #

  6. Stepdoh
    Member

    absolutely 100% fine to park and not catch the bus, lots of RBS staff at gogarburn do and I know of one town working cyclist that does exactly that(I pass them in the other direction!)

    Best route to Haymarket is use the Shared use (pavement) till maybury/gogar roundabout then just hop on st Johns/corstorphine road till you get there. It's greenway most of the way so aside from the odd close passing taxt taxi it's pretty light on traffic.

    There are lots of other cyclists too. The canal is a tad circuitous and personally fine find the interactions under the bridge a bit stressful. Far prefer playing with the buses :).

    (think I have fat finger-itis today *goes and hangs head in shame*)

    Posted 14 years ago #

  7. steveo
    Member

    Yeah good point once you get passed Gogar its nice wide greenways. I'm also of the play with the buses rather than risk a swim type.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  8. chdot
    Admin

    There are various options for avoiding the main Corstorphine Road (though it is undoubtedly quickest) - some ideas here

    http://edinburgh.cyclestreets.net/journey/185016

    http://edinburghpaths.info/pdf/Epark.pdf

    Posted 14 years ago #

  9. Kim
    Member

    The only Park and Ride I am familiar with is at Straiton, but assume they are all the same. At Straiton, there are Sheffield Stands (some of them covered!) behind the main building with CCTV cameras pointed at them, I assume the idea is that people can park and ride their bike into town, needless to say the Sheffield Stands are almost always empty.

    A situation not helped by the Straiton Park and Ride being taken over by travellers, currently the buses are refusing to go in there.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  10. SRD
    Moderator

    If there are sheffield stands then doesn't that suggest that people might ride bikes to the P&R and then take a bus? Or did you think they'd leave their bikes there overnight?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "Or did you think they'd leave their bikes there overnight?"

    Suspect that doesn't happen much (even with CCTV).

    Posted 14 years ago #

  12. Smudge
    Member

    I get the train from Falkirk to Haymarket daily and use the bike at either end (unless I'm feeling particularly keen in which case I bike the whole 25ish miles)
    Can't see the problem with parking and biking as opposed to bus-ing, if they kicked off you could surely embarras them in the press!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  13. Stepdoh
    Member

    Don't think i'd even leave my Bulgarian BSO at the P&R overnight, you get the feeling there wouldn't be anyone on the TV side of the CCTV.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    Elsewhere -

    "
    Can I Park and Cycle?

    Yes. You may park your car for free at our sites and then cycle into Salisbury. You will need to show your bike to the site supervisor who will let you out of the car park.

    "

    !!

    http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/carparking/parkandride/parkandridefaqs.htm#pandr-parkandbike

    Posted 14 years ago #

  15. Stepdoh
    Member

    I mis-read at that and thought you had to pay the bus fare even if you were riding into town *putting outrage back in box with fat fingers*

    Posted 14 years ago #

  16. Kim
    Member

    @SRD "If there are sheffield stands then doesn't that suggest that people might ride bikes to the P&R and then take a bus? Or did you think they'd leave their bikes there overnight? "

    I have always been a wee bit unclear about that, but I think that might have been the intention. But for obvious reasons, it hasn't taken off.

    Before the park and ride was built I did know of someone who used to drive from Peebles park in the shopping centre parking at Stration then cycle to his office in the New Town as it was faster than driving the rest of the way.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  17. holisticglint
    Member

    I Parked n' Cycled from Straiton for most of 2009 without being forced to get on a bus. Always nice to have the option of wimping out and jumping on one anyway when the is particularly bad :-)

    Posted 14 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    And the official line is -

    "Actively encouraged. All three P&R sites have some form of cycle provision - lockers and/or stands."

    As a result of this thread that info is likely to s
    appear on the Council web site with details of how many bike lockers/racks.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  19. cb
    Member

    If it was "actively encouraged" it would have been on the website already!

    Anyhow - a positive outcome!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  20. chdot
    Admin

    "If it was "actively encouraged" it would have been on the website already!"

    Quite...

    "Anyhow - a positive outcome!"

    Indeed - from a new member's first posting too!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  21. Kim
    Member

    "If it was "actively encouraged" it would have been on the website already!"

    The phrase this is Edinburgh, springs to mind.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  22. steveo
    Member

    Its funny when ever i read "this is Edinburgh" I always hear it "this is Edinburgh" as though the "is" is pronounced with a slight sigh and a gentle tilt of the head. As opposed to "This IS SPARTA"

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Flash Videos

    Posted 14 years ago #

  23. Colscoob
    Member

    Thanks for all who advised and more importantly helped to get a long time driving commuter on his bike.

    I had no problems parking this moring at around 7:30am, the park and ride at the airport was empty. From there I followed the pavement under the A8 and along to the Gogar, when i eventually got a break in the traffice at the traffic lights at the Shell gargage I joined the road and had hassle free cycling the whole way in, completing the journey in just short of 30 mins.

    I think this is the fare holiday and noticed the roads were quieter than usual.

    Thanks again,

    Colin

    Posted 14 years ago #

  24. Dave
    Member

    Awesome, well done! It will get busier when the schools go back but shouldn't make much difference on your route. You'll probably only notice because you are overtaking a lot more stationary traffic...

    The secret to this commuting lark is to get into a routine. I started out small (4 miles each way) and lost a couple of stone almost without noticing.

    What sort of bike are you riding?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  25. chdot
    Admin

    @Colscoob

    Well done.

    It's uphill going back (but not much!)

    Posted 14 years ago #

  26. Colscoob
    Member

    Yeah it was pretty non eventfull today but can imagine during peak times it could get crazy.

    Its a shiney new Giant TCX2. I normally ride a mountain bike and have been looking for something faster but cant quite seem to make the jump to a proper road bike. Anyway after alot of investiagation I chose this as i still wanted the option of going off road.

    Colin.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  27. Stepdoh
    Member

    Well done (and I think you may have had a headwind too) and good luck for the way home. The hardest bit is the slight incline 'till you get to murrayfield hosp, then it's pretty much flat all the way.

    There's a bit of a pinch point at Clermiston Road, but the cars are usually pretty snarled up, so it's pretty safe.

    On the end bit of Glasgow Road just before you get to shell, the roundabout usually means there are gaps in the traffic to allow you to move over left, then I just hop on the pavement at the shell garage. You're pretty much home and hosed after that.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    "The routes are for buses and taxis only from 7:30am until 6:30pm on weekdays, and from 8:30am to 6:30pm on Saturdays, with the exception of Glasgow Road, which only operates during peak hours."

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1113

    Posted 14 years ago #

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