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.
Three years ago when I first looked at this issue there were 1,697 public cycle parking spaces in Edinburgh compared with 32,377 official public car parking spaces.
Which makes for around 5% modal share. So if CEC want to encourage cycling share to go up, need to provide say twice as many cycle parking places? More?
I would imagine for most "private" places - i.e. supermarkets, shopping shed parks, multistoreys, cinemas etc. you would struggle to find a ratio of 1 bike rack to 100 parking spaces.
Which is probably better than the average cyclist to driver ratio on a given day.
Expecting supermarkets to do anything but pander to their target demographic is a road to disappointment.
@crowriver 5% modal share assuming 100% occupancy.
@Wilmington's Cow the details of the parking spaces are here, part of making the roads safer and achieving the modal shift would involve reducing the motor vehicles movements into the city. Reducing available parking and making it more expensive that the alternatives such as using the park and ride (which is currently under used) are a part of the mix. As is using road space to allow safe cycling on separated cycle paths where necessary.
Edinburgh is the most liveable city in Britain but has yet to make it into the top table of the world lists. If it really wants to be a top player it needs to look at what the top cities are doing. Take New York for example, there they are removing car parking spaces and introducing separated cycle lanes on roads which have higher volumes of traffic, after taking advice from Dutch traffic experts.
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APPCG (@allpartycycling)
18/10/2012 10:50
Cycle parking is a major issue in Amsterdam. It is hard to persuade cyclists not to park outside their destination.
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APPCG (@allpartycycling)
18/10/2012 10:51
No more space can be created for cycle parking in Amsterdam. The next step will have to be very expensive underground parking.
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In summer I come into the office slightly earlier, otherwise the bike racks are full (and I'm on an 8:30 start as it is). Congestion making itself felt!
yeah, colleague was just saying he might start bike commuting again now that there aren't so many people on the road/paths!
I must admit, I tend to swap to the canal from fountain bridge to Ashley Tc in the winter, far fewer people.
I came in from craiglockhart on the canal this morning. a lovely peaceful ride.
I think its telling that - almost everywhere I go in Edinburgh - I usually look for 'somewhere to lock the bike', not 'cycle specific' parking.
Even if CEC think the overall numbers are 'ok', they are rarely where 'I' want them - and as someone mentioned earlier, we want parking where we are, not several hundred yards away so someone can mess with your pride and joy.
As to overnight parking, well thats a joke - Kim I looked at that link in your blog regarding removal of bike sheds while shaking my head.
I have a shed in the back (security and all that), but was thinking of plonking another in the front (to save dragging dirty bikes through the house every day) - I didnt even realise that you needed permission !!
I thought that planning rules were more permissive now anyway, what with the ailing economy etc. - evidently not.
Technically - without planning permission, you can erect a bike shed in a back or side garden of a house (but not a block of flats) without planning permission. You can also erect one in the front garden of a house if it is no nerarer the road than the front of the house (think L shaped house) or at least 20m from the nearest road. The max size for a bike shed in a conservation area or by a Listed Building is 4 sq metres. You can apply for planning permission for a shed in other circumstances - but this is almost as expensive as most small wooden sheds.
In all honesty, you are unlucky if the Council ever take action against an unathorised bike shed. You would probably have to be ratted out by a neighbour and for the Council to feel energetic enough to take enforcement action (which is an option for the Council but not a legislative requirement).
What we really need is for the Scottish Government to amend the General Permitted Development Order - allowing for bike sheds to be installed without a need for planning permission.
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In all honesty, you are unlucky if the Council ever take action against an unathorised bike shed. You would probably have to be ratted out by a neighbour and for the Council to feel energetic enough to take enforcement action (which is an option for the Council but not a legislative requirement).
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Interesting about the "option" bit.
They are also unwilling to encourage a bit of neighbourly contact.
Understandable - but there have apparently been cases where neighbours have/would have withdrawn complaint but enforcement went ahead anyway.
ThisIsEdinburgh.
chdot - once the Council has been made aware of a breach of planning control they generally feel obliged to do something about it, regardless of whether the person who alerted them later chnges their mind.
Planning circular 10/2009: Enforcement is clear about the discretionary nature of enforcement action, stating:
"Planning authorities have a general discretion to take enforcement action against any breach of planning control if they consider such action to be expedient, having regard to the provisions of the development plan and any other material considerations."
It all hinges on what the Council consider "expedient" - I would argue that taking formal enforcement action against a bike shed that can't be see from the street is disproportionate. It would be interesting to know whether the bike sheds SPOKES highlight were removed after formal enforcement action or simply "letters from the Council".
We have got to a bad place on Rose Street, which is sad considering the bike parking used to be pretty decent there.
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=8324&replies=22#post-88039
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Camb. Cycling Cam. (@camcycle)
18/10/2012 16:44
In Cambridge a 3,000 space cycle park is planned soon: brookgate.eu/developments/c… Cycle-rail integration now being talked about at #GoDutchConf
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colin wiles (@colinwiles)
18/10/2012 17:38
I wish @camcycle wd stop going on about cycle parking - we need better management, not more spaces. 80% of bikes at the station are dumped.
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How many parking spaces are there in Waverley? Anyone?
I haven't counted them, but thinking about the layout, the fact there are 4 bikes on each 'double decker' rack, and only maybe 20 to 30 of those, plus a few Sheffield stands dotted around.....I'd say maybe 200 spaces tops. That might overestimate it.
I did a count of the bike parking capacity at Waverley today.
Josta double-decker racks: 37 bikes + 20 bikes.
Platform 3: 36 Sheffield stands for (potentially) 72 bikes.
Total: 129 bikes
The majority of the platform 3 racks are prefabs of 6, made with hoops so tightly spaced that typical maximum capacity there is about 50 bikes. The Josta racks had a few hangers-on for good measure, people locking their bike to the support frame.
Practical total: about 110 bikes.
What we want is something like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/f_m_m/8100877756/in/photostream
(anyone like to suggest where that is?)
I know the answer, fimm, but I'll not spoil the surprise. :-)
I don't suppose it is that difficult... ;-)
Edinburgh Planning (@planningedin)
19/10/2012 10:05
@SRDEdinburgh Hello, we have recently reviewed the city centre and will begin installing next year @EssentialEdin @Edinburgh_CC
I should perhaps clarify that my original tweet was about need for bike parking on Princes St.
Next year!?!?
Why does anything to do with a bike take so long? (viz. the Missoni Lane and responses last year that this would be dealt with under the QBC work - I've got myself sorted to do my 'coffee cup lane marking thang next week).
@Wilmington's Cow I've got myself sorted to do my 'coffee cup lane marking thang next week
Oh good, I was wondering if you were going to do that, I will be interested to see what happens.
Green Councillor Nigel Bagshaw blogs on his struggle to try and do something about the bike shed planning issue:
Interesting to see the perspective from a true cycling city, in this case, Münster in Germany.
On one hand there is the bike station at the Station.
You enter down this ramp...
Münster Radstation entrance by ccbb7766, on Flickr
...into this cavern of a bike park...
Münster Radstation by ccbb7766, on Flickr
Despite all the storage space there are still bikes everywhere on the outside...
Bikes outside the radstation by ccbb7766, on Flickr
But... on the other hand, bike parking in Münster almost universally works like this:
Bike parking, Münster style by ccbb7766, on Flickr
Bike parking, Münster style by ccbb7766, on Flickr
I.e. people don't lock their bikes to anything, simply lock the back wheel.
There are very few bike racks in the town (well, compared to the number of bikes at least) and most of the racks are the type that you slot or hook your front wheel into. Most people just park their bikes next to to bike racks (every bike has a kick stand, even BSOs (not that there are many of them)).
Yes, I made some comment to my boyfriend about "wheelbenders" and he said "but all the racks in Amsterdam are like that..."
I'm guessing that bikes which are sturdy enough to stand a friend or two sitting on the rear rack are also sturdy enough to stand up to wheel-benders quite well?
Judging by the bike blogs, bike parking is now a big problem in Dutch cities. They build giant new cycle parks with tens of thousands of spaces in them and it's still not enough. Apparently part of the reason for this is that it's becoming relatively common for regular rail commuters to have a (cheap old) bike in each city they regularly visit, and just leave it parked there ready for their next visit. ISTR they also have the biggest, most convenient bike share programme in the world though, so who knows why.
Spotted some (I think) new cycle parking from my taxi this morning. Top of Hanover Street, just down the hill from Wellington Coffee. Edinburgh-style racks.
Interesting pictures from CB, this is not uncommon in cities on the continent. It is also worth noting the lockable "bread bin" style storage shelters are found in residential areas in NL where there are high densities of flats. These are what we are hoping to get for the On Street storage in Edinburgh.
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