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The Lothian Cycle Campaign |
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Editor: Dave du Feu .Printer:
Barr Printers Print run: 11,000
Copyright details: SPOKES
may be quoted freely, if the source is acknowledged and our address given.
Edinburgh Council's North Edinburgh Network is a huge asset to the City - probably the only British urban network to get you across the city without meeting any motor traffic. It has seen considerable investment over the years - drainage, asphalting, and expensive new bridge works [Spokes 75]. It is also part of the National Cycle Network and North Sea Route.
Yet its significance is still often neglected by decision makers. Two recent consultation documents - Master Plan for Waterfront Granton, and Public Transport Strategy for North Edinburgh - propose to use the crucial Roseburn/ Granton section for trams or buses. One didn't even mention the current cycle network use, whilst the wording of the other implied it would be ripped out.
Spokes, and various individual members, immediately wrote to Transport Convener Mark Lazarowicz, who supported our case and promised full consultation on any detailed proposals. A subsequent letter from Waterfront Project Leader Alan Couper stated, "I can assure you that the design for the strategic public transport link, from Roseburn to Crewe Toll, will be able to accommodate the existing cycling and pedestrian facilities".
Spokes fully recognises that the vast Granton to Leith waterfront developments (5000 houses, 2 schools, a university, a 5000-seat ice-rink, etc. at Granton alone) require modern public transport - and we urge it from an early date as part of a determined strategy to limit car use. We supported the previous council's east/west metro plans, which included a 3m adjacent cyclepath - and even a cantilevered section where the existing Warriston bridge was too narrow for metro and path.
The low priority to the network in the consultations is yet more surprising as cycle/pedestrian accessibility has high priority within the Granton and Leith developments, and a coastal cycleroute is also promised [letter 29.12.98]. We trust the final versions of both documents will now protect the cycle network - and stress its value as a significant transport element linking the centre and south of the city with the new developments.
But if the network's future is now secure - and we will stay vigilant! - its present state leaves much to be desired.
Despite the huge capital investment in creating the network, maintenance is sadly neglected, with soil and vegetation drastically narrowing the path, and litter and glass deterring and disappointing the user.
Along with cars parking in cycle-lanes, path maintenance is the biggest complaint we receive. "I write to you in desperation", said one member in a letter to Cllr Lazarowicz. "Parts indistinguishable from a rubbish tip", "A rubbish and glass-strewn field to the Western General Hospital". Yet the network is so valuable that many people continue to use it, both for commuting and for leisure, despite sections in this condition. How many more would do so if it was maintained at a level reflecting its value!!
A NATIONAL PROBLEM
Path maintenance, and local road maintenance, are national problems, with glass, litter and potholes on paths and roads in many council areas. It is not good enough for government to wash its hands and say it is up to councils to decide how to spend their money, whilst councils retort that there just isn't enough! It is the public who suffer!!
Meanwhile, the Scottish government shovels £100m pa into trunk-road maintenance. True, maintenance suffered badly under the Tory government, with funds diverted to road building. However with £100m lavished on trunk roads, the hand-washing on local road/path maintenance, is appalling. We are to get top class motorways, potholed local roads, and glass-ridden, vegetation-swamped paths. As the Herald editor put it [H 15.4.2000] "Leaving aside the motorways, the state of many of our roads is disgraceful".
WHAT YOU CAN DO
[In all letters, give examples and say why maintenance affects you. See factsheet 1 to find name/address of your MSP, councillor, etc].
Ten years ago, who would have believed that, even without government funding, a 5000-mile UK National Cycleroute Network would be opening in June 2000! No one, perhaps, except Sustrans chief visionary and chief engineer John Grimshaw, and a few crazy campaigners. Yet here it is!! - with 1000 miles in Scotland, and a further 5000 miles on target UK-wide for year 2005.
The National Network - "a living reality reaching all corners of the country, enabling millions of people to change things for the better by making health and the environment a high priority in their lives. And all by the simple act of getting on a bike!" [Sustrans NCN mag, 1/2000].
We have given the centre of this leaflet to Sustrans to describe their feat - and the future you can help create.
On our diary page
we list local celebrations. Be there, to share the delight and to contribute
to the target of one million people on their bikes during the NCN opening
week!
Spokes works hard to promote the links between transport and health. Our efforts [Spokes 72,68,70] resulted in the Scottish Public Health White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland placing as much emphasis on everyday walking/ cycling for exercise as it does on sport. It sets a hugely ambitious target to raise the proportion of adults taking 30+ minutes of moderate activity at least 5 times weekly from 1995 figures of 32% of men and 22% of women to 50%/40% by 2005 and 60%/50% by 2010. As examples of 'moderate activity', it cites only walking and cycling.
Spokes is lobbying to ensure that the (long overdue) government Physical Activity Task Force includes transport as well as health experts, to bring health aspects closer into transport decisions.
Our member David Leslie [441.5676] is working with Transform Scotland on these issues including...
'Making THE Links' is a an excellent and well-referenced report linking Transport, Health and Environment, from the Health Education Authority [01235.465500, £15, ISBN 0 7521 1805 6]. A Scottish edition would be great, but the HEA report is still a superb guide to practical strategies and actions. All Scottish T.H.E. agencies should have a copy.
Transport departments are advised how to
incorporate public health and environmental objectives; whilst Health authorities
are urged to discuss transport and sustainable development in their annual
public health report. Joint funding of schemes - like cycle networks -
which benefit both transport and health is urged, and examples are given
of travel awareness officers funded from NHS sources!
There is a stream of research showing the health benefits of regular moderate physical activity. Most studies are not specifically on cycling, but health experts generally reckon a daily 15-20 minute bike commute gives a good quota of moderate physical activity. Recent results include...
The consensus that regular physical exercise is a vital part of maintaining health and well-being has existed for at least a decade*. The human body is made to exercise, yet our increasingly motorised existence means that we now walk an average of eight miles less each day than our forebears 50 years ago. Cycling has shown a similar decline: in 1949 34% of miles travelled using a mechanical mode were by bicycle; today only 1-2% are*.
The car, weighing the best part of a ton and often conveying only one person and a briefcase, is a highly inefficient mode of transport. The fumes cars expel cause appreciable mortality* and are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The excessive use of motor vehicles severs communities and makes active modes of transport such as walking and cycling more difficult. Yet 70% of all trips made by car are less than five miles long and eminently suitable for cycling or walking.
Regular exercise has worthwhile effects on several cardiovascular risk factors, notably a reduction in blood pressure of 10/8 mm Hg among hypertensive patients* and of 3/3 mm Hg in normotensive people*. Today 70% of British adults exercise less than once a month*. Although the risk factor changes seem small from the perspective of the individual, across the population they could reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease by a quarter.*
Building walking and cycling into daily life is much more likely to be sustainable in the long term than gym based exercise prescription schemes.* We own more bicycles than ever - an estimated 27 million in the UK - so why do we not use them? The most important deterrent that non-cyclists express is fear of motor traffic. The fear is exaggerated in comparison with the statistical likelihood of injury,* but lowering the speed limit in towns to 20mph would be a straightforward way of reducing it. Seventy per cent of motorists currently exceed the 30mph limit in free flowing traffic. The government's recent road safety review passed responsibility for speed reductions to local authorities* - with no extra resources to implement them. Compounding this was an announcement by the Association of Chief Police Officers that it will standardise enforcement of the 30mph limit at 37mph. This may reflect the realpolitik of British roads, but it is irrational. We know that the difference between 20mph and 37mph is quite literally life and death.* Those with a clear sighted view of road safety issues will continue to press this point.
But the best rule is self rule. Doctors have bought the motor myth as hard as anyone, and it is time to change. We doctors love our status as 'essential car users', though whether such claims would stand scrutiny for the many who simply commute to work is questionable. The difficul-ties of a return to utility cycling - that is, for ordinary journeys such as to work or for shopping - are easily overstated, though neither is it a trivial step.* The BMJ is holding a seminar on cycling and aerobic exercise, follow-ed by a cycle ride. We hope this and other cycling events organised for the Millennium Festival of Medicine will inspire more than a few doctors to make the change. After all, "do as I do" is more effective advice than "do as I say."
*The original article includes
a reference at these points.
Spokes Sunday Rides - Meet 10am, Usher Hall, Lothian Road. Normally 1st Sunday each month. Rides are fairly gentle, 30-40 miles. Lunch at pub/café, or bring picnic. Odd showers won't put us off, but real bad weather may cause cancellation. We show the way, help with mechanical malfunctions, wait for the less-speedy, and try to ensure all have a wonderful time! Please ensure your bike is in good order. Cycle carefully/considerately. You are entirely responsible for your own safety. Children under 14, or not used to roads, may only come with an adult.
Dates: June 4;July 2;Aug 6;Sep 3(picnic
at Dave & Susan du Feu, Linlithgow. Free tea/coffee, bring own food);Oct
1;Nov 5.
For further details, or to help:
Stuart 445.7073 or Mark 229.7190.
Spokes Cycling Weekends - for programme contact Harry 0131.229.6274, email bike.bus@virgin.net or see http://freespace.virgin.net/bike.bus/
Go-Bike! (Strathclyde Cycle Campaign)
has a big rides programme - usually 1st Sunday each month, and some w'ends.
Richard 0141.563.7871 or drmarsh@bigfoot.com.
May 28-June 10 Jubilee 2000 Orkney-Glasgow via Carlisle & Edinburgh ride, publicising campaign to cancel 3rd world debt. Join any part, including June 4 Edinburgh entry. Also Princes St mass ride - meet Market St 3.30pm. Further info: 0131.225.4321 or email j2000scot@NetworkTeam.net
May 28 /Jun 21 /Jul 9 /Aug 16 /Aug 27/Sep 13/Sep 24/Oct 22 Sustrans rides from Airdrie or Bathgate 0131 623 7600.
May 28 Edinburgh / June 11 Glasgow / June 18 Inverness Bike to the Future annual FOE Scotland sponsored rides. 0131.554.9977 or email events@foe-scotland.org.uk
June 10 The Dandy (comic) - cycling issue
June 11 Stirling / Aug 6 Aberdeen Wheels for Wildlife WWF sponsored rides 01887.820449
June 17-25 Millennium Cycle Festival/Sustrans Ride the Net:
Target - 1 million people on their bikes this week! See www.ridethenet.co.uk. The Sustrans Scottish Ride the Net coordinator is Andy Dunn 01505.614302 amdunn@csi.com.
S 17 Spokes Art Competition Presentation by Richard Demarco. For time/place phone Rosemary 553 5819.
W 21 Spokes Bike Breakfast 8-10am, Edinburgh City Chambers, High Street. Free breakfast for you & oil for your bike. Free maps for earliest arrivals. Stalls, politicians, etc! Details: Rosemary 553 5819.
W 21 Midsummer Day - Sustrans Network Longest Ride [Andy 01505.614302] All 10000 miles to be ridden - Includes Edinburgh to Stirling, St.Andrews, Airdrie, Melrose, Leith, all starting after Bike Breakfast.
Sa 24 The Beano (comic) Billy the Wizz rides the NCN
Sa 24 Edinburgh-St.Andrews LEPRA ride Repair van, luggage van, bookable transport back. 01968.682369.
Su 25 Sustrans/Spokes Meadows Bikefest, 12-5. Live music: Wheely Good Bike Carnival Band [renewable energy pa], Bloco Vomit and Thunderdogs Ceilidh Band. Best dressed bike competition; bike doctor; cycle skills challenge. Rides to cyclefest along NCN routes, then bike Princes Street carnival procession.
More info: Sustrans 623 7600 or Mark 334.2653.
24/25 Ride for Health British Medical Assn & Sustrans, to highlight cycling & health. 020 7383 6872. Free Ride for Health pack advising on events you can organise.
Sep 18-22 SAMH Change-Travel Week to promote walk/cycle/bus, Morningside to W End. Ian Reid 467.7905.
Sep 22 European Car-Free Day 9 European governments have pledged to take part. Britain has refused, but Edinburgh may. In 1999 parts of over 166 towns in Germany, France & Italy were car-free for the day. Details: 01932.828882.
2001, May/Jun North Sea Cycle Route- inaugural ride for this 6000-mile route. Join any section. Mark 0131.229.7190
2001, Sep 17-21 Velo-City
International cycle conference, Edinburgh/Glasgow. velo_city@meetingmakers.co.uk
or 0141.434.1500. A school outreach project is already awheel.
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