Spokes

Highlands & N.E. bike-rail cuts: MSPs call for action

ScotRail presentation at Scottish Parliament in 2015

Our revelation that new and supposedly bike-friendly HST trains from Edinburgh & Glasgow to Inverness & Aberdeen will in fact cut available bike spaces from 4 to 2 at all intermediate stations has brought public anger and disappointment – and now a Scottish Parliament motion which highlights the need for action by the Scottish Government, its agency Transport Scotland and ScotRail. Continue reading Highlands & N.E. bike-rail cuts: MSPs call for action

Saturday 22 April: Edinburgh PoP

Continue reading Saturday 22 April: Edinburgh PoP

Spokes 2017 Council Hustings – report

Our April 6 Hustings gave the 70 or so people who came along a great chance to interact with politicians from the 5 main parties standing for Edinburgh City Council … Continue reading Spokes 2017 Council Hustings – report

Save the Highland Bike-Rail dream!

Getting bikes from the central belt to Inverness and Aberdeen has always been a problem, both for individual commuters and holidaymakers, and for the tourist industry. Transport Scotland and ScotRail/Abellio had promised big improvements in 2018/19, with the introduction of refurbished 4-coach and 5-coach InterCity 125 High Speed Trains (HSTs). But the bike space promise has gradually been whittled down – and now we discover that for many journeys there will be fewer spaces even than at present. Meanwhile some redundant toilets will be locked away, just transporting air! Continue reading Save the Highland Bike-Rail dream!

Thu 4 May: Council Elections

Council elections are approaching and are critical to cycling and transport policies and budgets for the next 5 years. We’ll tell you here how to make the most of the election opportunity locally … Continue reading Thu 4 May: Council Elections

Spokes Bulletin 127 … a tale of two budgets

Our Spring 2017 issue, out now… highlighting Edinburgh City Council’s unique-in-UK allocation of 10% of the transport budget to cycling, contrasting with the Scottish Government’s fall to 1.6% thanks to ever-rising trunk road cash … And, of course, there’s much more … read on!! … Continue reading Spokes Bulletin 127 … a tale of two budgets

Spokes Council Hustings, 6 April

On May 4th this year, every Council in Scotland will be re-elected. Our Spring Public Meeting on 6th April will be an election hustings for Edinburgh Council… Continue reading Spokes Council Hustings, 6 April

CAPS3 disappoints

The Scottish Government’s third Cycling Action Plan for Scotland (2017-2020) follows the pattern of CAPS1 and CAPS2 – a collection of increasingly useful & positive initiatives, but not an evidence-based, costed and funded programme to achieve its “unshakeable” commitment to 10% of all trips being by bike in 2020. Continue reading CAPS3 disappoints

Top 2016 Tweets – what and why

Below are the most popular Spokes tweets from the last 12 months, measured by the number of retweets (RTs). A truly fascinating picture!! Continue reading Top 2016 Tweets – what and why

Scottish Govt draft 17/18 budget fails 2020 test

Update 27.1.17: Scottish Parliament REC Committee report on the draft budget quotes our submission and asks ScotGov to set out plans to “increase funding for active travel in order to make tangible progress towards meeting its stated targets.”

The draft 17/18 budget just fulfils the SNP manifesto promise to maintain active travel investment at least at current levels – but it fails miserably on the manifesto’s “determination to meet our vision of 10 per cent of everyday journeys being made by bike by 2020.” Continue reading Scottish Govt draft 17/18 budget fails 2020 test

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