CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

A pedestrian on Princes St

(165 posts)

No tags yet.


123…6

  1. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @Morningsider

    An excellent argument. It would be interesting to know how much those arriving by private automobile spend compared to those arriving by other means. The answer to that question might well make your case unanswerable.

    Real world retail businesses in the internet age rely on the experience being pleasant enough to offset the additional cost and hassle of coming into the city. Being able to wander around pedestrianised streets and have a drink are surely key to this. It's why European city breaks are so nice. A car is a hindrance if you can get in easily and get your purchases home easily by other means.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. crowriver
    Member

    @Morningsider, could you please e-mail that to Lesley Hinds, and send a copy to Spokes and Living Streets?

    Ta.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. gembo
    Member

    Just to add to Morningsider analysis. Sunday parking is free on street but Saturday is busiest shopping day by a good distance.. A family ticket is £7.50 so staying longer than two hours in town makes it cheaper to take the bus assuming five in a car. Even cheaper for singletons and couples.

    People are just not using their cars to drive into edinburgh to buy fridges it is a mass delusion.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Morningsider
    Member

    Just noticed a typo in my previous post. Footnote 2, instead of "Omni" it should say "Fountain Park". Doesn't change any of the sums - I just confused the two nondescript tin boxes.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. UtrechtCyclist
    Member

    @Morningsider, fantastic analysis! In fact it seems that Essential Edinburgh have lots of nice stats, I just found this pdf which suggests that the 959 public parking spaces in the city centre are used about 2.5 times a day for pay and display on average, for an average stay of sixty minutes.

    I'm guessing Essential Edinburgh will have data on the means of transport used by shoppers to get to the city centre, I shall email them tomorrow and ask.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. SRD
    Moderator

    I'm guessing Essential Edinburgh will have data on the means of transport used by shoppers to get to the city centre, I shall email them tomorrow and ask."

    you may be disappointed...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. UtrechtCyclist
    Member

    You may be disappointed...

    Have you tried before SRD? I know some of their stats are behind a paywall, but they're making lots of this kind of information public...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. cb
    Member

    There are some gems in that Essential Edinburgh PDF.

    "Shoppers looking to park their car are more likely to find a space in the streets that are less utilised."

    Interesting link to live off street car park data:
    http://edinburgh.cdmf.info/public/carparks/list.htm

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    "Interesting link to live off street car park data"

    So PnR doesn't work?!

    Even with the tram running??

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. steveo
    Member

    Interesting, One of my former colleagues used to complain that if she was running late she had to get the train or drive all the way in as the Ingleston P&R would be full.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. PS
    Member

    Someone transport-related (can't remember who) told me recently that PnR had been one of the big successes for the tram. This seemed to be backed up by the number of people who alighted at Ingliston on the couple of occasions I've taken the tram to the airport.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. SRD
    Moderator

    that is seriously good news. i'd suggested that the council/essentialedin should run a christmas shopping promotion linked to park&ride tram as a preferred mode of transport (ideally with some incentive)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. gembo
    Member

    I guess Heriot watt bus park and ride is quieter now that Ingliston tram park and ride is firing on all cylinders. It is now six months since trams kicked off so they are supposed to come to a conclusion about letting bikes on off peak about now?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. Nelly
    Member

    I have a colleague, lives in w lothian. Day trips to Edinburgh used to be a pain in car with wife and 3 kids.

    Now he uses Ingliston P&R, jumps on tram with a seriously cheap family day ticket.

    I suspect there will be a lot in that boat.

    @gembo, I reckon there will be a limited off peak trial in the new year. No evidence, just hunch.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    "

    The true scale of the tedious city centre stroll was laid bare after a camera-wielding crusader tested waiting times at Pelican crossings.

    "

    http://www.citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=13989

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    "

    Aspasia Bisopoulou (@AspasiaB)
    24/11/2014 20:54
    We made the front page! More videos coming soon! tinyurl.com/no2bt85 tinyurl.com/ork98zg @edinburghpaper @UncleKempez

    "

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. Instography
    Member

    Interesting to see that Buchanan Street - the pedestrianised one in Glasgow - is now the most expensive shopping street outside London. Seems it has massive footfall and attracts shoppers. Wonder why. Not that the article makes the connection with pedestrianisation.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/glasgow-street-most-expensive-outside-london.25956959

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    Possibly pedestrianised for thirty years. Once you cross at west Nile street ?? It continues as pedestrian now up to concert hall and round to sauchiehall street which is more low rent. Little bits of the merchant city to the East also partially pedestrianised. The traffic can be intense on all sides of the oasis.

    George street already the posher shopping street in edinburgh. Rose street is pedestrianised but with occasional delivery vehicles bearing down. Multirees walk our poshest shopping zone is pedestrianised and cyclists dismount. I think. Buchanan and sauchiehall also cyclist dismount?

    Pedestrian zone should not impact negatively on george street for sure.

    Good to have the example of Buchanan St.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. Nelly
    Member

    Perhaps its because its been pedestrianised for so long that the Herald doesnt make the link?

    I always like getting out at Queen Street and hitting a non-car zone almost immediately.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. UtrechtCyclist
    Member

    Take 2:

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Widget

    Posted 9 years ago #

  21. UtrechtCyclist
    Member

    That wasn't from us by the way, it was by Fountainbridge

    Posted 9 years ago #

  22. UtrechtCyclist
    Member

    Does anyone know how difficult it would be to prevent westbound Princes street traffic turning onto Frederick Street, and Frederick Street traffic from turning right onto Princess Street westbound? How many bus routes would need altering? Does this interfere with the one way system on George Street?

    It would seem to solve a lot of problems, not just for pedestrians.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  23. Min
    Member

    OM actual G.

    That is insane. I liked the bonus taxi close-passing a cyclist just after 3 mins.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  24. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I seem to remember the unwritten convention of Princes Street in days of yore was that the mass of pedestrians always took precedence, regardless of what the signals were showing. Buses and taxis accepted they couldn't just drive through the throng (which had no place else to go but across) and so waited with varying degrees of patience.

    New practice, buses and taxis alike, seems to be to drive at anyone daring to cross "off light" (which is perfectly allowable), with optional leaning on horn and accelerator.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  25. Kenny
    Member

    The fact there's vastly less pedestrians on Princes Street is also likely a factor then? I also recall the days when peds could just bully traffic into stopping, but there's just not enough of them any more.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  26. Kenny
    Member

    Ok, just watched that new video, there's so many things wrong there, it's quite incredible. It's no wonder peds are crossing on the red man since it's taking so long. The cars having to wait to come southbound out of Frederick Street are also waiting a huge amount of time. Why is Princes St traffic given so much time when it clearly isn't needed?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  27. Fountainbridge
    Member

    Could Frederick Street be returned to pre tram configuration? i.e. closed at Princes Street

    Previously busses were able to turn left and right from Princes Street at the mound. This enabled the airport bus to turn up the mound and the 29 bus route to turn down towards Stockbridge.

    I think the aim of Frederick Street being open was to take pressure away from the St David street / Waverley bridge junction. I'm guessing it does not have the capacity for the extra busses (10, 11, 12, 100 etc)

    My preference would be to close George Street, divert Leith Street / York Place buses down Queen Street, big interchange at West End (somewhere) and Picardy roundabout in the east (as per original tram plan).

    The clip above was my first attempt at an edited youtube video. It was scary to see how fast some of the busses and taxi's were heading towards still crossing pedestrians. I'll be posting more extracts from the full video in the next few weeks.

    Kenny - just to add that the car on Frederick Street waiting to turn on to Princes Street shouldn't have been there in the first place.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  28. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    The fact the green man for crossing Princes Street doesn't stay on long enough for someone walking at normal pace to get completely across is rather telling as well. Screw anyone who is infirm or wrangling ankle biters.

    I've said before one of the simple pleasures of going to the football or rugby is the critical mass of pedestrians that takes over the roads. For just a short period of time we really feel like the tide has turned.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  29. Kenny
    Member

    Kenny - just to add that the car on Frederick Street waiting to turn on to Princes Street shouldn't have been there in the first place.

    Ha! I am so rarely on Princes St, that hadn't occurred to me at all.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  30. neddie
    Member

    That second video is truly disgraceful.

    Having kids with us most times, we do not cross on the red man - setting examples & all that

    Posted 9 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

123…6

Reply »

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin