CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
“Edinburgh traffic ban in city centre streets to be made permanent” (With OT…)
(18 posts)-
Posted 9 months ago #
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Liberal Democrat councillor Kevin Lang said his personal support for deferring the decision came due to safety risks, as he said some people had tripped on the temporary infrastructure in place, causing them to be injured
Faux safety concern trolling
Sure, there's a trip hazard, but there are also trip hazards all over city. I've seen a woman fall on the fancy expensive rounded granite kerb ends on the Mound / Royal Mile junction. She was badly hurt, couldn't get up and needed an ambulance.
And taking out the bike lanes and other modal filters will make the streets more dangerous for everyone - including drivers!
Posted 9 months ago # -
@neddie - yes! The temporary lane dividers are actually far safer than regular kerbs, as each one has a metre high hi-viz pole sticking out of it.
Posted 9 months ago # -
@neddie - those rounded kerbs are a real danger. I worked as a steward at the tattoo one year and whilst I don't remember seeing anyone actually fall, I saw lots of close calls as the crowd was leaving (and prevented an indeterminate number by warning folk).
Posted 9 months ago # -
Maybe Living Streets (Edinburgh special branch) should be on the case…
Posted 9 months ago # -
Been doing some digging on my day off into Living Streets the walking charity for England, Scotland and Wales.
They have a Cycling and Walking policy which starts off well but sort of gets stuck on pavement cycling and also they come out against shared spaces for walking and cycling.
The have a trustee Adam Tranter who is the West Midlands Cycling and Walking Comissioner
Another trustee who has a diary 0f a New cyclist angle.
They do say they support cycling but maybe as separated infra away from walkers. They acknowledge. That pavement cyclists are there because the roads are dangerous.
Living Streets Scotland is based in the Melting Pot at Calton Rd in Edinburgh
Living Streets Edinburgh Group therefore may have more purchase than I assumed. The guy fabricates arguments in his attempt to stop cycling on Rose Street and sends us round the bins on Dundee St which is bad.Posted 1 month ago # -
I find this statement from LSE in their Dalry 20-min neighbourhoods submission very telling:
[cycling] is problematic in that it forces compromises to be made in all other uses of the street and modes – including walking and wheeling. This contradicts the ‘sustainable travel hierarchy’
What they are saying is that cycling is a problem and should be discounted as a mode of transport - that people riding bikes don't matter.
And if they really respected the transport hierarchy what they should actually be saying is:
"motoring is problematic in that it forces compromises to be made in all other uses of the street and modes – including walking, wheeling, and cycling"
From: https://www.livingstreetsedinburgh.org.uk/2024/06/03/dalry-living-well-lse-comments/
Posted 1 month ago # -
Yeah @neddie, what I am saying is the Line from Living Steers England Wales and AScotland allows the local wallopper to add his bells and whistles. He is basically a driver and a walker. I assume. I dont think he is in a wheelchair? Could be wrong. The national org does have a disabled trustee,
My focus is on the actual West Midlands Cycling and Walking Commissioner I am not sure an advocate of Cycling with a lot of money to spend should be a trustee of a walking charity that is only very slightly supporting cycling and takes pains to object to pavement cycling but adding at end the cyclists are scared of drivers. But also is against walkers sharing space with cyclists.. Slightly galling since today I went down that WoL path in an exemplary manner despite all the deaf walkers being out [deaf to bell, some even deaf to my call so entranced were they on their phones or talking to their pals whilst their dugs ran about.]
My reward tho was Hannah tweaked my gears and I might get this drivetrain through to when the gritting stops
Posted 1 month ago # -
The have a trustee Adam Tranter who is the West Midlands Cycling and Walking Comissioner
Not been in that role since Andy Street (who appointed him) lost his re-election bid in 2024.
Adam is also one of the co-hosts of the Streets Ahead podcast (with Laura Laker and Ned Boulting), if you want more of an idea of his active travel advocacy.
Posted 1 month ago # -
“Been doing some digging on my day off into Living Streets the walking charity for England, Scotland and Wales“
Good
They are an annoying local irritant
Or
He is an annoying local irritant
Either way, there are bigger problems
The auto industrial complexity
‘Motor normality’ orthodoxy
‘But drivers are voters’ mantra
As I see it there are two issues/aims
1) Countering the above (apparent) ‘truths’ - it’s difficult/incessant/agonising/tedious/etc and necessary
2) connecting with some of the people who already understand this and encouraging more to ‘think different’
With this in mind, I’m really pleased that it looks like PoP will be back in May
A few thousand people on bikes is a wonderful spectacle and achievement
Many fewer than turn up for a Hibs and Hearts match - but MANY more than turned up for that bizarre taxi drivers’ ‘protest’ against 20mph.
PoP really achieved a lot, politicians noticed and policies were altered
Ok, not a lot and and not enough.
But there are people who will come out for another PoP
And people who never quite made it before
And LOTS of people who know nothing of PoP, and may not know/understand the arguments/aims
LOTS of people with children, grandchildren and parents who according to all surveys want the opportunity to be able to CHOOSE to cycle a bit - comfortably and in safety - without worrying for themselves or the ones they love
Posted 1 month ago # -
“Living Streets Scotland is based in the Melting Pot at Calton Rd in Edinburgh
Living Streets Edinburgh Group therefore may have more purchase than I assumed.“I don’t think that necessarily follows. Didn’t they used to be in Rose street? In those days I think LSS didn’t have particularly close ties to LSE.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Melting pot is a cheap(ish) coworking space. So will be a cheap way to keep volunteer’s addresses off the companies house public listing?
Notably D Hunter does have worthwhile input on the safety of the pedestrian realm as a visually impaired person himself. Why this emboldens him to also gun for the most pedestrian-safe cycleway integrations we’ve seen designed for Edinburgh so far baffles me, but by all accounts there is an ego and an agenda at play so the org as a result doesn’t just do what it says on the tin.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Thanks @bakky the detail is helpful in terms of why the wider organisation doesn’t reel him in but lets him run with his anti-cycling agenda and making stuff up. The wider org needs to update its website @Frenchy tho technically a sin of omission. [As West Midlands Cycling and Walking Commissioner blah blah £35 million - but not now]
@chdot I dwell on the local irritant as it demonstrates why Oil Industry abides.
A natural ally to cycling the Living Streets Campaign can be seen in parts of its organisation to campaign against cyclists.
Posted 1 month ago # -
‘To be fair’ (a phrase I hate and never use) LSE has (or at least had) another ‘anti-cycle’ person. Main interest railways, ‘I used to be a cyclist’.
Obviously ‘we’ have our view/s about all this. We know fine the real dangers posed by motors.
Though of course ‘we’ definitely know that it’s some drivers who are incompetent, careless or just couldn’t care less (about others - particularly on two wheels and probably two feet too).
Oh and the fact some things are getting worse because of more/larger vehicles.
And of course ‘our’ ongoing problems with a system that (appears to) largely allow for domination by (often) single occupant/short journey movements.
In Edinburgh this always seem worse due to systemic inertia and also politicians doing incoherent things in the name of ‘local people’ or the ‘general public’.
In a similar vein the likes of LSE start by saying they ‘represent’ (almost) everyone as 90% walk somewhere most days.
An acknowledgment that the ‘state of pavements’ is largely due to motors would help. (Potholes ditto)
Also REAL barriers include waiting at signalled crossings for pedestrians, (and, at some, people with bikes). This would be a much better campaign AND WOULD HAVE THE FULL SUPPORT OF PEOPLE WHO CYCLE!
Yes some people who ride bikes cause problems. Cycling on pavements is often illegal generally undesirable and sometimes the best way for people with bikes and particularly with children to proceed cautiously. That, of course, is a contentious statement.
But for Cycling on pavements to be such a major issue when it’s not, genuinely, a major problem seems unfortunate/unbalanced.
Having whole campaigns, partially based on this, against projects that would improve facilities for people with bikes and people on their feet just seems a waste of everyone’s time.
Posted 1 month ago # -
There are at least two other active members of LSE, that I know of, in addition to the two mentioned above. Based on the language used by them, it does feel like LSE is dominated by one person (“our Convenor”, Hunter)
I dare say they are not a very diverse group, and would very much doubt there’s anyone representing families and children, let alone non-white or working-class people (to stand up for delivery riders for example)
Posted 1 month ago # -
As far as I am aware, Living Streets Scotland are a fairly innocuous organisation that quietly campaign on issues to do with walking, e.g. they doggedly led the campaign for the ban on pavement parking for well over a decade. They also provide some practical support to schools, councils etc, particularly focused on getting kids to walk to school.
I'm not sure of the status of Living Streets Edinburgh with regards the national organisation. They seem to act fairly autonomusly. As ever with anything volunteer driven - much is dependent on the character and aims of the people who turn up.
LSE clearly have the ear of local journalists, who absolutely love the fact that an active travel campaign group are happy to stick the boot into any cycling proposal going.
Posted 1 month ago # -
“LSE clearly have the ear of local journalists, who absolutely love the fact that an active travel campaign group are happy to stick the boot into any cycling proposal going.“
I think that is sadly true and a big part of the problem.
Fortunately there are others more interested in “AT’, engaging and getting a different message across.
I’m sure there’s some awareness of what can/should be done.
But as you say, “volunteers”, people who have usually got plenty else to do and can do without aggravating nonsense…
Posted 1 month ago # -
“
When facing hard choices, scarce capital should prioritise transport that cuts emissions, supports households and delivers long-term economic value. That means investing in a clean, healthy and efficient public transport network – not doubling down on car-first infrastructure.
“
https://transform.scot/2026/01/13/jets-buses-and-roads-our-top-3-takeaways-from-the-scottish-budget/
Posted 1 month ago #
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