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Eleanor Smith (@sparesoprano)
06/06/2015 10:27
Feeling a lot more confident about cycling in Edinburgh having watched @on_lothianbuses excellent video! #responsiblecompany
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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"Feeling a lot more confident about cycling in Edinburgh"
(12 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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Compared to London or Glasgow, the other two cities I have cycled in, Edinburgh has the best buses.
Someone at or near the top of LB was pro cycling.
Some of the drivers cycle to work
Also the fares are very cheap, though the family ticket has gone up a pound, they have also introduced an evening ticket, same as the day ticket but let's you on the nightbus which is nice.
I also think that the wol path, canal towpath, stenhouse path and NEPN make the basis of good infrastructure certainly going east west. George street good in middle of day. Innocent railway topping., see also gogar staton road, canal to innocent, meadows path, A90 path, it is all happening now.
Perhaps too incremental for some? Spokes have been at this for decades but how long did Copenhagen take to become so cycle friendly? We should find out their time line and compare ourselves to that, not to their current endpoint? We will still be behind as our politicians have a little bit of commitment at the moment but not the same as over there. Shame David begg not around now and also shame they had referendum on congestion chArge. Nevertheless I see lots of progress just now.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Perhaps too incremental for some?"
Well yes...
Still little sign of doing much more than 'we'll fit it in if it doesn't interfere with the traffic too much'.
MASSIVE opportunity missed to add cycle infrastructure with the tram.
OK that's the past. Maybe signs of an accelerated future?
"Subject to securing external funding" - http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14431&page=3#post-190359
Posted 10 years ago # -
"how long did Copenhagen take to become so cycle friendly? We should find out their time line and compare ourselves to that"
Good idea.
You'll be looking into it?
Some background/philosophy here -
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14923#post-190322
Also here -
Posted 10 years ago # -
There is an old picture in the colville Andersen essay CHDot posted this morning. Has masses of Danish looking folk cycling together on separate infrastructure in maybe 1950s?However, you can look at Beijing in the 1970s and the modal share is close to 100%. So I guess finding the right comparison of separate infrastructure and lots of cars might be tricky. Even here in Scotland, the best educated country according to some Office of National Statistics data, we used to walk, cycle or catch the bus to work. Now we all drive.
The tram has introduced a lovely bit of Tarmac to cycle on from stenhouse to the jenners depository. Not sure why that exists but other stretches of the stenhouse path don't go over the bridges with the trams? Does seem an opportunity missed but given the action being mounted by people who have fallen off on the tracks perhaps it was not just about money? Maybe risk, health and safety etc. was a perceived factor against this??
I sense a slight shift in the we will fit this in if it does not annoy the motorists to a slightly more balanced approach. But note the bus lane nonsense feels like a reaction to giving cyclists too much of the cake.?
Posted 10 years ago # -
"note the bus lane nonsense feels like a reaction to giving cyclists too much of the cake.?"
Not sure you'll get any officials/politicians to say that, but the 'motorists were confused' line is less convincing!
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Now we all drive."
Obviously you know that's an exaggeration, but transport depts and (too) many politicians believe that's already true - or should/will be.
There's also the 'belief' that voters = motorists (or perhaps motorists = voters).
I think this forum has shown that in most cases cyclists = motorists (drivers at least) and are mostly in favour of 20mph and sceptical about 'more roads'.
I think one key element of Cpoenhagen (as well as actually building cycle routes) is that is difficult to drive from A to B (in a linear corridor). So it's 'safe' to cycle and harder to get around by car.
Edinburgh is a long way off from that.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I think it's the Dutch that make it hard to go from A to B in a car rather than the Danes - there are some massive roads in Copenhagen (albeit with nice cycle paths along them). What Copenhagen did (as well as upgrade its cycle tracks) is start gradually removing the car parking - 1% of spaces a year, I think. Of course now you can barely find space to park your bike either
Posted 10 years ago # -
"I think it's the Dutch that make it hard to go from A to B in a car rather than the Danes"
Ah, my misremembering!
"removing the car parking - 1% of spaces a year"
Does that include private/office?
In the early days of the Scottish Parliament there were proposals to tax "workplace parking" - and supermarket carparks.
Didn't become law.
Wonder how many manifestos for Holyrood it will be in next year?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Not sure what the 1% includes. I think the figure comes from the Danish Cycling Embassy.
Parking is the third rail of local politics down here: you threaten it at your peril. In a way it's understandable when Dumfries serves a large rural population (and a small urban one) but I still think there's a case for putting the parking in an inner ring around the town centre rather than dotting it everywhere. People who will happily get up and walk their dog for an hour in the morning then balk at the idea of abandoning their car to walk more than 50 yards to a shop...
Posted 10 years ago # -
The Danes did the 'making it harder' thing as well. Yep, big wide streets, but you can't go all the way down them in a car. They have them one way, but not all the way, so you have to zig zag in a car to get to your destination, whereas on the bike it's a straight line (and then they out the green wave in place as well, which works for bikes, but against cars). All added up to the bike being the much more attractive choice.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I think one key element of Cpoenhagen (as well as actually building cycle routes) is that is difficult to drive from A to B (in a linear corridor).
I'd say it is difficult to drive from A to B in Edinburgh as well (certainly in the centre).
Where the Council is going wrong is that it is not making it much more easy (and safe) to cycle from A to B - most cycle routes go round the houses...
Posted 10 years ago #
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