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.
A campaign to get 20,000 former cyclists back in the saddle across Scotland will be launched today by transport minister Humza Yousaf.
Cycling groups welcomed the Big Bike Revival scheme but said it should have been staged earlier in the year and much more was required.
The £450,000 initiative by Cycling UK - the former Cyclists Touring Club - follows a similar project in England.
The minister even responded to a tweet about it being good but mote infra required...
@EilidhTroup @AlastairDalton Good thing we recently invested millions into South City Way & now off to Lesmahagow where we invested £770K
The minister doesn't seem to grasp that with an annual budget of £2bn and a national problem, the 2 schemes he's boasting about just doesn't cut it.
The South City Way got £3.25m of Scottish Government funding to much fanfare, Glasgow Council had to find the other £3.25m from its own funds. This SG funding is less than 10% of the the construction cost of the Dalry bypass - a fairly minor trunk road project on the route between Paisley and Ayr.
Think about it - that £35m would go a good way to providing a core cycle superhighway network for Edinburgh. Which investment produces better outcomes? To me the answer is clear - the cycle investment would provide far greater health, environmental and social benefits than a bypass around a very small town on a minor trunk road. Yet, the bypass gets the investment. Until that situation is reversed then we know that the SG is paying little but lip service to its ambitions for cycling.
Cycling scheme costs are so low compared to other transport schemes that the Barnett formula consequentials resulting from any transport infrastructure increases made by the May government's expected economic plan could actually make a big difference to the way Scotland travels. Unfortunately it would probably just be used to plug the gap that results from Network Rail's overspend...
"the SG is paying little but lip service to its ambitions for cycling"
Not exactly news, is it? This has been the policy all along. The SNP even wanted to cut cycle funding when they first got into government. Only concerted lobbying prevented that. Let's face it, active travel is not only low on the list of priorities for the SNP, they just don't seem to believe in it at all. Whether this represents "capture" by vested interests in the big road construction companies, bureaucratic inertia, or sheer bloody mindedness is not immediately clear. Maybe a combination of all three...
NB, for info... spokes also said to the Scotsman...
We welcome this initiative to get 20,000 people cycling. However that is just 1 in every 250 people in Scotland, and if the Scottish Government is serious about 10% of all journeys being by bike then it needs to invest properly in safe cycling infrastructure. If Edinburgh Council can invest 10% of its transport budget in cycling and walking, why is the Scottish Government stuck at a mere 2% ?
But that bit didn't make it into their article.
I suppose Magnatom's quote was viewed as the presentation of that viewpoint. Shame - it left Spokes sounding a little more supportive than it really is.
If it works...
Meanwhile -
Will this inspire some to cycle?
"
At the start of this year I had almost no experience as a road cyclist. Like many people, I had only ever gone on occasional bike rides with my family.
But in a few days’ time I will be cycling 450 miles from Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace in six and a half days.
"
"
Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus, who has just finished a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, is supporting the Big Bike Revival and encouraging people to get back on their bikes. She said:
“I’m very honoured to have been asked to be an ambassador for this wonderful campaign. I want to get fit and healthy and the Big Bike Revival is a fun and environmentally friendly way to do just that.
"If I can give it a go, you can, too. Even if it’s to cycle to your local shop or park with friends and family, or if you’re adventurous you can ditch the car and cycle to work. No matter how short a journey, get on your bikes and ride.”
"
"... if you’re adventurous you can ditch the car and cycle to work."
Adventurous? Really? The way these things work someone from the campaign will have written that up, for her to agree to have her name put on it. So the official campaign to get more people on their bikes is telling folk they have to be 'adventurous' to take the bike to work.
Has there been a genuinely good government cycle campaign in the last ten years? Nice Way Code; that ginger kid helmet hair poster; the give cyclists room poster that suggests to drivers you just need to be a child's arm length away; now this. C'mon people. Engage brains!
Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus, who has just finished a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, is supporting the Big Bike Revival and encouraging people to get back on their bikes.
What!!! really! Really!! REALLY!!!
[scraping the barrel!]
Is this the same Michelle McManus who was complaining about not being able to park right outside her tenement flat recently?
I know, more joy in heaven for one repented sinner etc...
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