CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
AJ
'AT overlooked and underfunded'
'Progress to CAPS target virtually non existent'
'Consensus around chamber that we want to get investment'
'Looking for one exemplar project'
'Cyclists spend more in local economy than people driving by'
'Potholes are a problem'
"Spoon" was a frequently used insult when I was growing up in Norn Iron in the 80s.
Others included "Plank" and "Spanner". Those were the days...
Darkerside - the Official Report of the debate should be online around 2030. You will find it at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/official-report.aspx
'Conservative Party remains committed to AT'
Mary Fee
'Support amendment by Green Party'
'Welcome briefing reports from several organisations'
'Single out contribution from Jim Eadie'
'I'm a walker. My father was a walker'
Derek Mackay winding up.
'Moved on from why AT importance'
'Very sympathetic to idea of exemplary projects' - mentioned by AJ
AJ intervention - 'are you aware some LAs spent nothing'
'We are not a centralising government - will not tell LAs'
'Thought generous generous and modest motion'
'About partnership'
'Further campaigns about road safety'
'New rail franchise will do more for cyclists'
'Advice on 20MPH for LAs coming soon'
'Welcome pro-active cycling lobby'
'Scottish Gov responsible for 6% of roads'
'My first debate as Transport Minister is on AT'
Just had a chat with this SNP luminary;
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/councillors/60/michael_bridgman
Thinks roads are for cars and doesn't believe that anyone who owns a car rides a bicycle. Not sure if he uses steel tools or knaps his own flints.
@IWRATS interesting, he's one of my local councillors. Better go to one of his surgeries, in lycra, jangling my car keys. It will BLOW HIS MIND.
From Spokes link -
"More optimistically – a very powerful speech by Jim Eadie MSP"
Yes, definitely the best - AND he's in the SNP.
Another SNP MSP, Joan McAlpine, clearly understands 'how the Dutch became cyclists' - NOT 'because they always were'.
Some good contributions from people in all parties.
Some pointed 'walkers are more important' stances.
Minister happy to point out how much it's responsibility of LAs.
No conceding that AT funding hasn't keep pace with other transport spending - not even 'we'd like to but' (though inevitable refs to 'Westminster cutbacks to capital budgets').
No real acceptance that investment would save money elsewhere - though talk about 'cross budget spending' - with implication that there was more scope there.
Much talk of community planning - responsibility of Marco Biagi who sat next to Minister but didn't speak.
@twq
Do it, but gently. Low watt bulb, small fuse and all that.
'We are not a centralising government - will not tell LAs'
"Light touch approach" and all that. Trouble is, you end up with good policies, approximately monitored, and barely enforced. After all, that's where the word 'policy' comes from.
And effectively each LA does its own thing to whatever degree it believes is necessary or possible. Before long, you have an entire continent in which cycling is embraced and welcomed in one state, and in another cyclists daring to use the road might be barred from an entire township or run off the road for fun.
"
Tom Gordon (@HTScotPol)
07/01/2015 12:22
SNP Government had record £450m underspend last year, despite repeated moans about austerity. My latest blog
http://scottishpol.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/stash-in-attic.html
"
I'm going to deconstruct some of what the Minister said during this debate.
"a survey showed that more than 50 per cent of schoolchildren travel actively to school" - During 1985/86 69% of children walked to school and 1% cycled. In 2011/12 this was 47% and 2%. The number going by car rose from 6% to 26% (1).
"I have already found how complex the budget lines are in the transport portfolio, partly because different portfolios contribute to active travel and cycling." Who is it that presents the budget in this complex manner? Why, it's the Scottish Government. The budgets are actually pretty simple. Scottish Government funding for active travel pretty much all comes from either the transport budget, or the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets ring-fenced allocation to local authorities. The Scottish Government has simply chosen to lump in the cycling budgets with support for "sustainable travel".
"if there is evidence that the introduction of some form of strict liability will make active travel safer, we will of course look at it." Evidence of the effectiveness of strict liability in protecting cyclists is almost impossible to produce, certainly to a robust standard. Even if it can be produced the Government is simply committed to looking at it.
"I just want to make the point that cyclists, too, use roads, which means that spending on roads is not necessarily a bad thing for cycling in general." - The Scottish Government is investing around £8.7bn in major trunk road projects(2) over the next 10 years, none of which can be used by cyclists. Investment in roads that can be used by cyclists is miniscule compared to this.
"The answer was to have one project as an exemplar, to show what can be done. I am very sympathetic to that idea, because I think that it will help us with the critical mass point." Whatever happened to the Leith Walk "exemplar commuter corridor" (3) lauded by Keith Brown? Half the project quietly shelved for a possible tram extension you say?
"As Alison Johnstone knows, we are not a centralising Government" - ahem, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, council tax freeze - are these ringing any bells?
"In 2011-12, 1.8 per cent of the total transport budget was spent on sustainable and active travel and that will rise to 2.5 per cent in 2015-16 under current spending allocation plans." "Sustainable travel" - this includes electric car infrastructure, Glasgow Fastlink and a whole host of other projects of fairly questionable value.
Make of it what you will.
(1) Table 11.20 Scottish Transport Statistics 2013
(2) Forth Crossing £1.4bn, A9 Dualling £3bn, A96 Dualling £3bn, M8 completion £0.5bn, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route £0.75bn
(3) http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/news/minister-announces-funding-allocation-cycling-infrastructure
Summary of that transcript, with the key quotes.
Summary of the summary: same old, same old.
http://www.darkerside.org/2015/01/summary-active-transport-debate-07-january-2015/
"Much talk of community planning - responsibility of Marco Biagi who sat next to Minister but didn't speak."
He's my MSP. He also came to the last POP, on foot. I spoke to him & he said that he'd like to cycle but feels current conditions are too dangerous.
(Is anyone else on here in his constituency? I can't make this year's POP, unfortunately, and it would be good to keep up the contact & make sure he is there again.)
Forgive my complete ignorance of how this stuff works; is there a public gallery at these things?
@ fimm
Certainly good to keep in touch with him. As he is now a minister it doesn't even need to be constituents.
One thing about yesterday's debate was that those 'supporting active travel' were mostly talking about cycling (with good reason) and those who were lukewarm (no-one is against AT of course - just don't understand what it 'means') were more interested in "walking".
This was partly because 'anyone can do it - so no need for money to be spent on infrastructure'.
Of course most of the talk was of the health benefits if people bothered to do it (some mention of the majority of car journeys being short), but mostly about leisure - tourism even ('come and visit the wonderful paths in the highlands').
Don't remember the word "pedestrian" being used. Some talk of walking to school. ScotGov seems content that all that is about urban areas therefore the responsibility of LAs.
SG just funds behaviour change programmes which (even if they work) seem to be mostly about 'leave the car, it's not too far' and 'be nice to other road users' - nothing much to improve 'walking environment'.
There also seemed (even by the minister) to be little understanding of the role of Sustrans (funded by SG) to work with LAs on things other than the NCN.
Lots to do (or not). Finding out more about "community planning" intentions would be good.
Darkerside - yes, there is a large public gallery. The seats are ridiculously uncomfortable though.
chdot - community planning was formalised by the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. Community planning partnerships (CPPs) have existed for over a decade (there is one for each local authority). CPPs are led by the local authority and involve other major public sector organisations and, sometimes, voluntary and private sector organisations.
The aim is that all these bodies speak to each other, and the public, and then co-ordinate actions to secure the best outcomes. They have hardly been a roaring success, mainly because each organisation has its own priorities and budgets are very carefully guarded.
I can't really see how a focus on community planning will improve active travel in any meaningful way.
If you re interested, there is much more at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/PublicServiceReform/CP
Congratulations to CCE contributor UtrechtCyclist/Uncle Kempez in getting a namecheck and a dream in the debate! Impressive influence for such a short time so far in Edinburgh.
From Jim Eadie:
Many of my constituents have urged me to press the Government to do more, and I reiterate their calls today. However, one constituent stands out. On his blog, “Uncle Kempez’s Edinburgh Blog”, he said that he had had a dream, and that he hoped that I could make it come true. He set out a vision of a greener, happier and healthier Scotland as a result of sustained investment in cycling infrastructure.
"
Sarah Ryan (@AmeliaSalty)
08/01/2015 13:00
Serious notetaking while watching the #scottishparliament #activetravel debate yesterday.
http://pic.twitter.com/u5YGVhWGXi
"
Worth a click!
From Uncle Kempez' Singalong Blog:
"He told them about the proposal to link the other end of George street to the bike lane on Leith Walk ..."
There's a cycle lane on Leith Walk? Where's it hidden? Is it anywhere near the double-parked cars or adjacent to the potholes?
Don't suppose the minister has read this -
"
‘Hard Measures’, designed around walking, cycling, shared car use and public transport, could play an integral part of future proofing places that are able to deliver multi-modal trips and not trips dominated by single occupancy car trips. The Scottish Government’s publication ‘Designing Streets’ (2010) has set out guidance that puts 'place and people before the movement of motor vehicles’.
"
http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/environment/smarter-choices-smarter-places
- or many people in TS really.
I suppose they would argue that it's got nothing to do with the important business of building bridges and upgrading trunk roads.
All that stuff is for LAs to do - and 'we mustn't interfere'...
Outstanding 'telling off' of SG by committee with SNP majority.
A LOT of credit goes to Spokes (and its key individuals) for the evidence that led to committee's conclusions.
"
MSPs seek ‘substantial additional funding’ for active travel
In a detailed reponse to the Scottish Government’s draft budget 2015-16, MSPs on the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee (ICI) recommend that the government consider “substantial additional funding” to roll out sustainable and active travel projects…
The Committee’s detailed scrutiny and evidence-taking focussed on how the draft budget did or did not contribute to 3 of the government’s own National Indicators …
"
"
The reality is that the fiscal underspend the Scottish Government has available from 2013-14 to invest in public services is only 0.5 per cent of our budget, or £145 million.
Far from keeping it a secret, I announced it to Parliament in June, and confirmed that it would be carried into the next year – and that every penny would be allocated to support people in Scotland.
"
http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/145m-is-the-true-underspend-1-3660011
Some for AT then Mr. Swinney?
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