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“Bike Life Edinburgh Launch”

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    Sustrans and City of Edinburgh Council would like to invite you to the launch of Bike Life Edinburgh, the UK's most comprehensive study of cycling in cities.

    With City of Edinburgh Council Transport Convener, Lesley Macinnes, Sustrans Scotland National Director, John Lauder and Prof. Tom Rye, Napier University.

    The morning will include:

    Video screening
    Guest speakers
    Q&A
    Refreshments

    In about 10 days.

    I suspect several people here have been invited.

    https://www.sustrans.org.uk/blog/bike-life-2017-what-can-we-expect

    If you haven’t been and think you should go, send me a DM

    Posted 7 years ago #
  2. HankChief
    Member

    https://www.sustrans.org.uk/bikelifeedinburgh

    There are substantial benefits to Edinburgh from people cycling

    15.3 million trips made by bike in Edinburgh in the past year

    £739,000 NHS annual savings, equivalent to the average salary of 31 nurses

    up to 11,762 cars taken off Edinburgh's roads by bicycles each day, equal to a 35-mile tailback

    £24 million total benefit to Edinburgh from people riding bikes

    There is huge potential for more people to ride bikes

    7.5% of commuters living in Edinburgh travel to work by bike

    45% of people live within 125m of a cycle route

    46% would like to start riding a bike, or could ride their bike more

    And public support to make that happen

    63% say Edinburgh would be a better place to live and work if more people cycled

    75% of people would like to see more money spent on cycling

    65% of people would find protected roadside cycle lanes very useful to help them cycle more

    80% of residents support building more protected roadside cycle lanes, even when this could mean less space for other road traffic

    Posted 7 years ago #
  3. Stickman
    Member

    http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/eight-out-of-ten-back-segregated-cycle-lanes-in-edinburgh-survey-1-4612690


    Neil Greig, head of policy for Scotland at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, was not surprised by the support for segregated lanes.

    He said: “They are right in that the only way we can have totally safe cycling in Scotland is to have segregated facilities.

    “If you look at the countries which have larger numbers of people cycling they do have segregated facilities.The point we make is that this change is coming but it will take time. It didn’t happen overnight in Holland and Denmark – it took them several decades to get where they are.”

    Tory transport spokesman Nick Cook agreed that the benefits of segregated lanes were recognised by many.

    But he added: “The challenge in Edinburgh – which city politicians must face up to – is being realistic about the ability to deliver segregated lanes in such a dense urban environment.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  4. PS
    Member

    “The challenge in Edinburgh – which city politicians must face up to – is being realistic about the ability to deliver segregated lanes in such a dense urban environment."

    Nothing to do with the ability (cf, Holland: plenty of dense urban environments there), everything to do with political will (which is a little odd, given the overwhelming public support indicated by that survey).

    Posted 7 years ago #
  5. steveo
    Member

    "It didn’t happen overnight in Holland and Denmark – it took them several decades to get where they are.”

    There is a wise quote about long journeys, some thing about, oh yeah. Get Started!!

    Posted 7 years ago #
  6. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    45% of people live within 125m of a cycle route

    I'd think that's on the low side, assuming that by 'cycle route' they mean 'road'.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  7. chdot
    Admin

    "

    up to 11,762 cars taken off Edinburgh's roads by bicycles each day, equal to a 35-mile tailback

    "

    "up to"

    Hard to believe that sort of number.

    Is that 'total trips by bike' - so some people/bikes doing more than one a day?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  8. Frenchy
    Member

    Hard to believe that sort of number.

    Possibly, but maybe not.

    Population of 500 000, ~10% modal share. If everyone's making one journey a day, you'd naively expect 50 000 trips by bike every day, and 11 000 starts to look low, if anything.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  9. I were right about that saddle
    Member

  10. neddie
    Member

    being realistic about the ability to deliver segregated lanes in such a dense urban environment

    It's because of all those really narrow streets like Leith Walk, North Bridge, George IV Bridge, Princes St, George St, Queen St, Lothian Rd, Queensferry Rd.

    So narrow they can only fit around 7 lanes of moving and stationary traffic on each...

    Hmmmm

    Posted 7 years ago #
  11. Morningsider
    Member

    Here's how a politician should approach "a challenge":

    "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." President Kennedy, 12 Sept. 1962.

    (https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm)

    Of course, fitting cycle lanes into Edinburgh isn't much of a challenge for the city's transport planners. They have spent much of the last 50 years dealing with a far greater challenge - trying to accommodate as many cars as possible driving into and parking in a medieval/Georgian city. Sliding in a few 2m-wide cycle lanes shouldn't over tax them.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    That is very wry, @Morningsider. But which of our city elders will cast themselves as McJFK?

    The USA in 1962 had a sense of mission from the Cold War, a large economic surplus to dispose of (at least the white folks did), regional hegemony and dollars appearing from every oil well in the world. If (white) voters are convinced they're getting a fair basic deal then you can do grands projets.

    Scotland is rudderless, fractious and divided and I don't think we'll give government at any level consent for the small steps until the big problems are sorted. Everybody is (or feels they are) just struggling to get by now and scarce road space is a battleground in that struggle.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  13. Morningsider
    Member

    IWRATS - well, the Scottish Government has the gumption to drive a £3bn dual carriageway through one of our two national parks. The money and political will can be found - although I do agree with your general assessment of the situation.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  14. acsimpson
    Member

    Neddie, somedays I wonder if that is the right interpretation of "dense" in that context.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  15. rider73
    Member

    well thats pretty much all the scottish government can do about traffic problems in terms of return on investment, build roads roads and more roads,
    if they build train lines or bus lanes , its the private companies that gain the profit from it as public transport is not publicy owned.
    and lets face it, buiding new rail lines is even more costly than cycle lanes!

    Posted 7 years ago #
  16. chdot
    Admin

    most people living in the seven cities say cycling is a good thing and are far more supportive of bold and ambitious plans for cycling than decision-makers often think

    http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/massive-survey-finds-that-75-of-brits-want-protected-cycleways-built/022183

    Posted 7 years ago #
  17. PS
    Member

    if they build train lines or bus lanes , its the private companies that gain the profit from it as public transport is not publicy owned.

    Eh? As opposed to the profits the government makes from the roads?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  18. HankChief
    Member

    If you go to the actual Edinburgh report you see that most of the metrics for this year are in the same ballpark as 2 years ago.

    Some are slightly worse though (although not statistically significant) including 48% feel they should ride a bike more vs 54% in 2015.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  19. Stickman
    Member

    Hard to believe that sort of number.

    Is that 'total trips by bike' - so some people/bikes doing more than one a day?

    Full explanation of all items in the report here: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/file_content_type/bike-life-2017-data-sources-and-methodologies.pdf

    Posted 7 years ago #
  20. Frenchy
    Member

    From link: number of cars taken off the road is "the number of return cycle trips by people that could have used a car".

    Posted 7 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 7 years ago #
  22. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    the Scottish Government has the gumption to drive a £3bn dual carriageway through one of our two national parks

    True and, incredibly, very popular.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  23. unhurt
    Member

    Our National Parks are weird beasties though. We don't really treat them like national parks in Furren...

    Posted 7 years ago #
  24. chdot
    Admin

  25. Blueth
    Member

    "The third report"

    Jaw, jaw is better than action, to paraphrase Macmillan's quote of those famous words wrongly attributed to Churchill.

    If they don't know "What needs to happen" by now then they never will.

    Posted 4 years ago #
  26. Snowy
    Member

    If they don't know "What needs to happen" by now then they never will.

    There's plenty of evidence if we are prepared to recognise it that active travellers are being continuously and effectively trolled by the majority of decision-makers in CEC.

    (notwithstanding laudable efforts by certain individuals and teams)

    Posted 4 years ago #
  27. gembo
    Member

    @snowy I do not think it is organised exactly like that

    What you have is a number of blokes using TROs etc to stop measures that would impact on cars as they like cars.

    So i will work with colleague BM and two yeas later the motorbike jumping the car sign at the top of new street is finally replaced with the two NO ENTRY SIGNS and the two Except Cyclists signs and finally cars such as taxis and private motors are no longer driven the wrong way down the street.

    BM’s colleagues argued that one sign was sufficient. Indeed in a same world a sign suggesting no Motorised traffic should be sufficient but in reality that one street needs four signs to stop drivers driving down it.

    Hope that makes sense?

    Posted 4 years ago #
  28. chdot
    Admin

    “I do not think it is organised exactly like that

    What you have is a number of blokes using TROs etc to stop measures that would impact on cars as they like cars.”

    I think you’ve just contradicted yourself.

    Posted 4 years ago #
  29. gembo
    Member

    @chdot, very close yes. Not TROLLING. TROING

    Just read the rules of Corson again to lighten my existential angst.

    Any newbie google Corson The Rules and enjoy. Do also read the comments truly epic.

    I have a rule that i read Corson The Rules every two years.

    Posted 4 years ago #
  30. HankChief
    Member

    Will be on Good Morning Scotland apparently...

    https://twitter.com/John_Lauder/status/1234923836744851456?s=19

    Posted 4 years ago #

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