Calm down dearies.
This Forum has remained pleasantly free of (party) political partisanship in the run up to the election - apart from a tiny amount of (understandable) 'I'm voting second vote Green' - which wasn't universally followed by the electorate!
I started this thread before it was clear/certain that the SNP had an overall majority, but the purpose was to point out that a) (as Morningsider has emphasised) that politicians north and south of the border don't have much of a 'care about pedestrians/cyclists record' and b) (perhaps more important) that a lot of MSPs (of all parties) will be new to the SP.
I suggest that politicians north of the border are less 'friends of the motorists' than some of their fellows further south.
Having an overall majority means that the new (SNP) Government isn't going to cancel the planned Forth bridge. It'll also means no more money for Edinburgh's Tram - the merits of which can be debated endlessly. The fact remains that it is well past the 'merits' stage and will remain a can of worms that (whatever happens) will cost Council Tax payers cash.
Look forward to a year of lively electioneering running up to the vote for the City of Edinburgh Council. (It's too early to say if the ruling Lib Dems councillors will suffer the same fate as the City's MSPs).
The purpose of this thread remains to discuss whether any new MSPs are likely to be sympathetic to policies that might encourage walking and cycling. Merely being an occasional or regular cyclists doesn't necessarily mean pro-cycling action, (unless you are called Boris), but it might help.
Scotland (more than England) is justifiably concerned about policies that affect people who rely on cars in remote(r) rural areas. But these are far fewer than those in urban areas - many of whom don't "have access to cars".
There has been something of a boom in urban cycling in recent years - particularly in Edinburgh (where MSPs spend several days a week). It's well worth pointing out the benefits to MSPs (and that more could be done it encourage more people to walk/cycle more instead of driving).
Coincidentally I saw Mr. Swinney yesterday pram-pushing his new baby. He is a very occasional leisure cyclist and drives a bit - but is more often chauffeured...
He clearly believes in a conventional pro-business/growth agenda which leads to big-ticket items such as the Forth Bridge, M74 and Borders Rail. Over the next few years there are bound to be spending cuts in Scotland. Whether spending proposals in any of the party's manifestos were credible may emerge fairly soon.
Spokes has done a lot of lobbying work (particularly on Mr. Swinney) asking for a higher proportion of the transport budget to be spent on walking/cycling - without much obvious effect.
Being optimistic, the new Government will be looking for cost effect things (like cycle infrastructure) that could also save from other budgets (e.g. NHS costs - longer term).
Being pessimistic walking/cycling will continue to be considered marginal/irrelevant/easy to chop.
The more MSPs are persuaded of the benefits of more people cycling (particularly in urban areas) the better.
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