CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years 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.
From Critical Mass:
The proposed bus gate would have avoided another death - but it was delayed. Saving lives is not controversial, and people are fed up with culture wars!
Join us to take our call for safer streets to the council. Meet at 8.30am this Monday (18 November) at the City Chambers.
Would be good to see loads there...
Alas waiting in for gas engineer sorry or would be there. Is it Transport Cttee on Monday?
Yes, Transport Committee is Monday. Think that's the idea...
More details on the Book of…
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=985617820272207&id=100064719934884
Happening tomorrow. Hope to see some of you there
SAVING LIVES IS NOT CONTROVERSIAL CAMPAIGN
In support of the protest tomorrow at 8:30am outside City Chambers on the High Street, we’ve created a template email to send to your ward councillors. Even if you can’t join the protest tomorrow, you can support the message by sending this email ahead of the Transport and Environment Committee meeting to show that making Edinburgh safer is important to residents.
Simply copy, paste, add your details and send! <muscles emoji>
Share this message with friends and family who support safer streets. Thank you!
“Saving Lives is Not Controversial” Campaign email
Template email for Councillors. This template can be used to write to your ward councillors in support of the Edinburgh Critical Mass protest on 18th November 2024 and to ask councillors to stop delaying progress on safe streets. If you don’t know who your councillors are, you can find out through the website: http://www.writetothem.com
Remember to include your full name, address and postcode at the bottom of your email, as proof that you are resident in the ward. You may also wish to copy in Transport Convenor, Cllr Stephen Jenkinson. Cllr.Stephen.Jenkinson@edinburgh.gov.uk
Dear Cllr,
I support/ride with Edinburgh Critical Mass and join them in calling for Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) councillors to dial down the rhetoric, support the facts and make Edinburgh safer.
The evidence on bus gates, modal filters and low-traffic neighbourhoods is that they reduce the risk of death and injury by 50%. These measures are also proven to reduce traffic volumes and miles travelled by car, a key priority for Edinburgh Council to achieve by 2030. Indeed the council’s own Our Future Streets and City Mobility plans include these road safety measures into their designs. So why are Transport and Environment Committee councillors not supporting the facts and delaying progress on safe streets?
This is not a bike versus cars debate. This is about designing Edinburgh’s roads in the best interests of the city’s residents. Re-balancing Edinburgh’s transport system towards safer streets offers immense benefits and opportunities for a healthier, fairer, greener and safer city. Prioritising the flow of cars and enabling increasing traffic volumes and vehicle size can claim none of these benefits. Instead, by focusing on traffic flow, we are seeing a more polluted, noisy, unwelcoming and dangerous city for residents that is unfit for the 21st century.
Moreover, common complaints used against bus gates and traffic filters are that it marginally increases the length of car journeys. However, these arguments do not consider that pedestrians and cyclists regularly take a longer route, in order to be safer and avoid exhaust fumes. Why is this acceptable for pedestrians and cyclists, but framed as a valid concern for car drivers by TEC councillors?
I/We have also seen rhetoric that bus gates and traffic filters are controversial, but saving lives is not controversial and these changes in road design save lives. Rather than repeat the sensational wording in the media, I/we ask that councillors show strong leadership and refrain from using divisive language to delay progress.
The recent tragedy in the Cowgate should serve to remind councillors of the consequences to delaying necessary road safety measures. Campaigners have been calling for improvements to the Cowgate for many years, out of fears for people’s safety. Those fears were realized on 2nd November, in one of the most horrific traffic collisions. Let there be no more families left grieving a loved one.
I/we would like to see cross party support for the safety of Edinburgh’s residents, regardless of whether they walk, cycle, take the bus or drive. Therefore I/we are asking for your support and the support of your colleagues on the Transport and Environment Committee to support the implementation of bus gates and traffic filters across Edinburgh.
Yours sincerely,
Name
Address
Postcode
Edinburgh Reporter:
Video and statement from an Edinburgh Critical Mass member
https://bsky.app/profile/edinreporter.bsky.social/post/3lb7rvvback2x
The @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social Transport and Environment Committee meeting takes place today. Ahead of the meeting there was a quiet but forceful protest by @edcriticalmass.bsky.social
Wasn't the recent tragidy due to a bus incident? Not that I'm against bus gates, but it seems a bus gate being in place would have made no difference to the individual involved, nor made the driver more aware they had just killed someone as they contimued driving down the road.
@Baldcyclist - no scheduled local bus services run along the Cowgate, not even the open top tour buses. Most probably a coach involved in this incident - which would be banned from passing through a bus gate.
There are no Lothian bus routes along the Cowgate.
The 'bus' involved in the incident was a private coach and most likely would not have been allowed to travel through any proposed bus gate.
In any case, the outcome would likely have been pretty terrible, even if the vehicle was a car, or lorry, or whatever.
The underlying protest theme is more general - 9 people have been killed on Scotland's roads in November alone - and 6 of them were pedestrians.
Edinburgh council website simply refers to restrictions on bus lanes/gates as public service vehicles.
Public service vehicles seem to have a loose definition of anything that can carry passengers for reward. So it seems unlikely private hire coaches would be barred, in the same way that private hire cars aren't barred.
Yes, pretty woolly language used on the Council website. I had always thought that only service buses could use the bus gates, but without seeing the original Orders I can't be sure if that is the case.
It is certainly possible to limit bus gates to service buses only.
The distinction on the bus lane signs is "bus" vs "local bus". The latter is what most of us would understand as a bus whereas the further can encompass coaches, minibuses operated under a section 19 exemption (no PSV licence required) and possibly other things too.
I don't know what the various bus gates in Edinburgh do; it possibly varies from location to location
[Edit: Ah, MediumDave just pipped me to it]. Yes "Local Bus Only/Except Local Buses" wording is what prohibits coaches.
Edinburgh's Cowgate: Late-night traffic ban set to be extended in wake of horrific fatal accident*
Cllr Jenkinson:
In response to this tragic accident I’m pleased that my committee took the right decision yesterday to support Officers short, medium and long term proposals to improve pedestrian safety in the Cowgate area of the city.
https://bsky.app/profile/stephenjenkinson.bsky.social/post/3lbbxnexyfk2b
*not an accident, but a result of systemic road danger
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts