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'Manifesto', sort of

(33 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by chdot
  • Latest reply from holisticglint
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12

  1. chdot
    Admin

    As mentioned elsewhere was thinking of assembling a 'wish list' of 'nice things' that interest people on this forum that we could ask candidates for next year's CEC election to back.

    Sort of 'parenthood and fruit dessert with pastry' items - to show that it's about 'quality of life, not just cycling'

    Obvious and 'out there' - to be 'refined' some time next year.

    RANDOM START

    more 20mph areas

    rapid response pothole teams

    more pedestrian crossing that change when people press the button

    dedicated/named park keepers for all parks

    benches every 1/4 mile on main off-road walk/cycleways

    Don't worry about repeating/refining/adding - good to get an idea of what is most wanted.

    This thread will last for months so no need to rush

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    More bins on cycleways and footpaths, particularly biological hazard disposal bins for biological hazard owners/walkers.
    A requirement to post on-street early warnings of roadworks i.e. a notice at the end of a road which is eventually blocked rather than just at the blockage itself, to aid re-routing calculation.
    Better publication of the system for reporting problems rather than having to delve into the council website or try and find the potholes thread for the link to the Clarence form. Perhaps QR code stickers on lampposts...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    'Green Wave' traffic lighting for cyclists (my one cycling request - well, that and better maintenance of cycle path/lane surfaces - oh, and more secure bike locking points).

    Pedestrianisation of George Street (what a wonderful continental style boulevard that could be! Of course we all know shops die if people can't park outside).

    Pedestrian lights that go green as soon as you press (unless the green man has been on in the preceding, say, two minutes before the next press).

    The opening of more private parks a la St Andrew Square.

    Filling in of potholes before any more roadworks!

    And enforcement of proper restitution of the roads following roadworks.

    Repainting and enforcement of hashed yellow boxes on junctions.

    More bobbies on the beat.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. splitshift
    Member

    proper signage relating to cycle ways when trams cause roadworks that push cyclists onto roundabouts !

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. Saskia
    Member

    Footrests!

    http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/01/holding-on-to-cyclists-in-copenhagen.html

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    "Footrests!"

    Yeah like them.

    At the very least there should be kerbs where cyclists are likely to stop - I always hate the dip in Lothian Road Just past King's Stables.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. crowriver
    Member

    Regular re-painting of ASLs and resurfacing of on-road cycle lanes.

    Introduction of ASLs at more road junctions.

    Double yellow lines in all on road cycle lanes.

    Decriminalisation of double parking, followed by the introduction of clamping and towing of double parked vehicles.

    Provision of sheffield stands outside all council owned/funded buildings, eg. libraries, sports centres, swimming pools, schools.

    That'll do for starters...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. PS
    Member

    Pedestrianisation of George Street (what a wonderful continental style boulevard that could be!)

    Too right - a real opportunity to make the city centre people-friendly, which may actually attract people to use it more. And it would be a straightforward means of making that tricky East-West cycle route connection. Two birds, one stone.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    On-line register of all council owned land and also property that is disused.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    "More bobbies on the beat."

    On bicycles of course!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    More clarity about Council's intentions about 'encouraging cycling' - e.g. 'concerns over shared use!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. holisticglint
    Member

    Pedestrian priority at junctions. Specifically remove railings which force pedestrians to give up right of way when crossing side roads so cars can "safely" wizz round corners.

    This is a classic example by my work which annoys me every morning.

    http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=55.944194,-3.180471&spn=0.000547,0.001742&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=55.944114,-3.180761&panoid=kACQ0LcECHXlOLua7YXvMQ&cbp=12,185.34,,0,18.24

    Although they will need to provide more bike parking to compensate :-)

    EDIT: Obviously need some sort of road markings to make sure drivers actually give way. The only time I've been run over was assuming that the driver had read teh same highway code as me.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. PS
    Member

    Pedestrian priority at junctions. Specifically remove railings which force pedestrians to give up right of way when crossing side roads so cars can "safely" wizz round corners.

    I'd be interested to know what the current thinking is on railings. I was under the impression that consensus was that railings are bad for the streetscape (top Council concern, obviously) and actually dangerous (potential to trap/crush cyclists and any peds who have chosen to ignore the railings to cross the road at its shortest point). BUT new railings seem to be sprouting up in a number of places. Some due to parental campaigns (cf, the railings outside the school at Broughton Road/East Claremont St where that fatality was in April), some for no clear reason beyond protecting peds from poor driving as in holisticglint's example (the crazy logical conclusion of which is railings along every pavement).

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    I read something a while back that suggested pedestrian railings were always sold as a 'safety' design, but in reality it was to herd peds for better traffic management.

    For instance, on crossings which are given a central island, with basically an S bend for the peds to walk through. It's to create space to 'collect' pedestrians, meaning that traffic isn't stopped in both directions at once for as long a time. You can have shorter green man sequences doing this as peds have less far to cross, whereas if they were crossing all in one go the light sequence would have to be longer (double?) and traffic would be held up for longer.

    Yes, as cyclists we're not exactly looked after by a lot of traffic planning, but go further into streetscaping and pedestrians get a really rough ride in Edinburgh in a LOT of places in the city.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. kaputnik
    Moderator

    When undertaking roadworks, utility companies (or whoever) have to make provision for where they are also blocking off the cycle lane/facilities. If adequate temporary replacement (for longer term works in particular, i.e. NCN1 at top of Dublin Street)is not feasible, it at the very least it needs signing to indicate that it is currently suspended (as they did for the lanes at Dundee Street when the bridge across West Approach Road was being resurfaced recently and it was down to single carriageway operation.) And as Wingpig says, not just a sign on the obstruction itself saying "closed", but actually 100m before so you can take some avoiding routefinding (as they would do for diversions or road closure signs aimed at drivers)

    Example this morning a contraflow, cones and lane closures were in the process of being set up at Haymarket heading West from bottom of Morrison Street. If you stuck in the red lane, which splits for going left up Dalry or Right towards Roseburn, the arrangement of cones and the works would force you up Dalry and give you no escape into intended A8 direction.

    Fortunately as nothing was yet dug up, myself and another equally confused cyclist were able to cycle through the cones and find ourselves a safe exit into the single remaining lane of westbound traffic.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. shuggiet
    Member

    I was stunned that any roadworks I came across in Holland whilst cycling had special coned off cycle lanes within the roadworks. Another example of good thinking that we could add to the list..

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. wee folding bike
    Member

    Last year a jeep mounted the pavement and killed two pedestrians near Buchanan bus station in Glasgow. I think the driver had some kind of sudden health problem.

    The council are dealing with this by installing pedestrian barriers.

    Yes, pedestrian barriers.

    They aren't built to stop another jeep driving onto the pavement there (unlikely I know). They are only strong enough to stop pedestrians walking onto the road or for busses on the way out of the station to squash cyclists against them.

    On the wish list I want a pony.

    And non-stick dishes. I invented that last week when we were off camping and number two son had to eat his soup out of a non-stick Trangia pot.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. PS
    Member

    While we are talking about the civilised treatment of cycle lanes in the face of roadworks/utility companies, here's something I saw in Stockholm: a trench dug across a pavement and marked cyclepath on the pavement.

    Here I'd expect a sign saying "pavement/cyclepath closed: get lost" or diversion or similar. In Stockholm, they've got a chippy in to construct a nice wee ramp over the obstacle. Stockholm seemed a fantastic place to cycle (in the non-snow-covered months at least).

    Look here

    Apologies for using a link - I've forgotten how to post a pic in the thread...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  19. kaputnik
    Moderator

    And non-stick dishes

    They exist. Coating just comes off in my experience with them. Plastic works good. Less transparent to heat than aluminium.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  20. crowriver
    Member

    @ wfb Picked a couple of non-stick dishes up from Black's last week in the sale. Great for solo camping, eg. touring...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  21. wee folding bike
    Member

    Dang. There goes my big idea.

    I did warm him that his soup would cool down quickly in the Trangia pot but it was cream of tomato so it didn't hang around for long.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    More effort to restrict driving to work by CEC staff - charge for parking.

    There's a high profile precedent!

    "
    Travel with Professor George Hazel from the centre of Edinburgh to his home in Glenlockhart Valley and likely as not you will go by bus. He tells the following tale. “I was Director of Transportation for Lothian Regional Council in the mid 1990s, a time when Edinburgh was a particularly exciting place to be in terms of sustainable transport.”

    Bus and people priority schemes, a car free development and the first community car club in the UK were among initiatives taken by George Hazel and his political boss David Begg, of whom more later. “Life was good. Among many benefits I had a Range Rover and a garage space at work in the centre of the city.”

    He also had a wife, Fiona, with a stronger social conscience even than himself. “Set an example,” she said. “Leave the car at home.” He knew his wife was right but kept putting off the evil day, until Scotland’s leading Sunday paper rang to ask whether it was true that the Director of Transportation was giving up his wheels to get to work.

    “Yes!” was George Hazel’s response. “When?” asked the journalist. “Umm, next Monday?” suggested George. “Good idea, because we’re running the story on Sunday.” Professor Hazel does not know for sure who tipped the paper off, but the report and subsequent general media interest forced a fundamental change to his commuting which he does not now regret. “The bus is quick, convenient and fun, especially travelling upstairs,” he says.

    “It was a great personal lesson in the difficulty of accepting change in transport. Change is threatening to people, and if it has to be implemented, is best done so incrementally.” He points to Copenhagen which is reducing parking spaces by 3% per annum, “to gradually reclaim the city from the car”.

    http://www.ciht.org.uk/download.cfm/docid/BBF4EBC5-EB27-4B30-9C26A799B2D2A53B

    UPDATE - just noticed this on his own web site! "My favourite city: Edinburgh My favourite way to travel: Cycling"

    Posted 12 years ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    And previously

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=2877#post-30826

    Posted 12 years ago #

  24. chdot
    Admin

    "Edinburgh welcomes people not cars"

    Especially around George Street

    Posted 12 years ago #

  25. gembo
    Member

    chdot - did we get more about Prof David Begg? I liked him - very sensible but often portrayed in the media as a crazy man.

    I followed a link which went to a magazine with someone's coupon on the front (the other Prof? Maybe his wife leaked to the press he was giving up his range rover?)

    then I followed another link which was our Forum getting all party political. Rupert Murdoch's big fat pal obviously played a blinder but looking at the figures the Labour vote pretty much held its own and the Lib Dem vote all went SNP? Same as it all went Tory in rest of UK. So it appears Clegg is to blame. QED.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    "did we get more about Prof David Begg?"

    ??

    "I followed a link which went to a magazine with someone's coupon on the front"

    That's Prof H. Story is a few pages in.

    "
    David Begg has been appointed a non-executive director of airport operator BAA. Begg, the publisher of Transport Times, is leading BAA’s inquiry into last month’s disruption at Heathrow Airport caused by heavy snow....
    "

    http://www.transportxtra.com/magazines/local_transport_today/news/?id=25363

    "
    David Begg is the publisher of Transport Times. He is a former chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport and has an international reputation as a commentator on transport issues. He is a non-executive board member of First Group and BAA, an adviser to Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and a visiting professor in sustainable transport at Plymouth University.

    "

    http://www.transporttimes.co.uk/about-us.php

    Posted 12 years ago #

  27. gembo
    Member

    Bus and people priority schemes, a car free development and the first community car club in the UK were among initiatives taken by George Hazel and his political boss David Begg, of whom more later.

    Transport Times - mentions sustainable transport, lorry charging

    However, am I now thinking David Begg went into the belly of the beast when he was previously an analyst more critical of motor industry machine?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  28. Kim
    Member

    I will throw in my Manifesto suggestions for active travel which I drew up for the last Scottish elections, OK so it is for the national rather than the local level, but there ideas which could be carried forward...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  29. chdot
    Admin

    "However, am I now thinking David Begg went into the belly of the beast when he was previously an analyst more critical of motor industry machine?"

    I think that depends on what you think he used to believe in, and whether or not you think that (or indeed if) he has changed his views significantly.

    I don't know if he still cycles. He did in Edinburgh even after he left the council.

    He is clearly in favour of public transport. Whether that explains him being with BAA, is another matter.

    Likewise, there are plenty of people who wonder if 'sustainable transport' and HS2 are compatible.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  30. chdot
    Admin

    "
    The Cycling Embassy has a manifesto and a set of demands. But it needs something shiny, a pretty picture to grab the attention of the people who need to read that manifesto and meet those demands. We’re looking for poster and postcard design ideas. Something that sums up the problem and the solution: the fact that fear of traffic prevents people getting around by bicycle, and that separation from traffic removes that barrier.
    "

    http://waronthemotorist.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/you-can-do-better-than-this/

    Posted 12 years ago #

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