CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Cllr Whyte EEN

(5 posts)
  • Started 2 years ago by Morningsider
  • Latest reply from Morningsider

  1. Morningsider
    Member

    I have just read one of the worst argued articles I have ever seen in the EEN (a high bar indeed) by Cllr Whyte.

    The good Councillor argues, based on that ever reliable source "twitter", that traffic has fallen in Edinburgh between 2000 and 2019 and that increased congestion is the result of "multiple glossy strategies" - that confusingly are also criticised for not being implemented. The twitter source apparently uses "Department for Transport" statistics - unfortunately for the Councillor, not ones that make any sense.

    Actual figures for annual traffic mileage in Edinburgh (see table 5.5) show that the distance driven on Edinburgh's roads increased by 318,000,000 kilometres between 2000 and 2019. To put that INCREASE into context, that's more than twice the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. Stickman
    Member

    The Twitter factoid was provided by the retired air quality specialist who popped up towards the end of the Roseburn/CCWEL process. He now seems to spend his time objecting to any traffic measures anywhere in the city.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. Yodhrin
    Member

    The same air quality specialist who thinks a lane of cars being pushed closer to one side of a road by a mix of legal loading and illegal parking magically produces less emissions than those same cars pushed in the same way by a cycle lane that takes up the same amount of space?

    He's proper wonko.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  4. nevelbell
    Member

    He's also in favour of removing the Edinburgh 20mph speed limits and return them back to 30mph.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  5. Morningsider
    Member

    I see some twitter roasters are still bandying about Department for Transport (DfT) traffic counts from a few points around the city to "prove" that traffic has gone down.

    These statistics were never meant to be used this way (hence the disclaimer attached to them). Their main purpose is to provide the data required to calculate the annual traffic figures, reported by Transport Scotland, which I linked to above.

    The DfT's methodology is available online.

    The hard of thinking can bandy about traffic count data from individual locations all they want. That doesn't change the fact they are the basis for the figures showing traffic mileage has increased.

    Posted 2 years ago #

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