The Climate Crisis and, within transport, the Council’s 30% car-km reduction target – Transport Convener Cllr Scott Arthur told the meeting that these are top issues for the new Council. To meet them, he said, will need big changes in parking management and bus priorities, together with a congestion charge, regional cooperation and faster implementation of active travel infrastructure. The Q&A then covered many topics, but a consistent theme was the slowness of previous councils to translate great ambition on active travel and on wider transport into action and to do so timeously – and will the new Council be different??
Continue reading #SpokesMtg report: Cycling & Transport Policy in the new Edinburgh Council
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New Transport Convener Cllr Scott Arthur will speak and answer questions at our first in-person public meeting since the covid restrictions ended. Continue reading #SpokesMtg, Fri 23 Sept: Cycling & Transport Policy in the new Edinburgh CouncilIf you love nipping down to the corner shop by bike for milk or a paper, or if you’ve transported your new bed by cargo bike, or if you use your trailer as a supermarket shopping trolley – as long as it’s Shopping by Bike – send us your experiences, ideas or handy hints – and you could win a great prize plus some modest fame. Continue reading #SpokesComp 2022: Shopping by Bike … closes 4 Sept … don’t miss out!!We are very sad to hear of Sandy Scotland’s recent death, following illness. Sandy joined Spokes in the 1980s and was pivotal in our work for several decades, up to the present, being central to many projects and campaigns to achieve better conditions for getting about by bike in Edinburgh and the Lothians. He was a long-standing active member of Spokes Planning Group, eventually becoming its coordinator until stepping down in 2020. Continue reading A tribute to Sandy ScotlandMay 31st marked 5 years exactly since the tragic death of student Zhi Min Soh, run over by a Rabbie’s bus after falling on the tramlines at the West End. @Infrasisters marked the event with a moving tribute attended by over 100 people, at the site of Zhi Min’s ghost bike. It was also an opportunity to summarise what the Council has done to try and mitigate tramline dangers – and what still needs doing if tramline safety is to play its part in the Council’s Vision Zero ambition. Continue reading Zhi Min Soh & tramline safetyRather unexpectedly, given the results of the election on 5 May, the City is now run by a minority Labour administration, replacing the previous SNP/Labour coalition. What does this mean for active travel? (AT) Continue reading Edinburgh Council 2022 & Active TravelThe May 17th Spokes city-centre 2022 traffic count found bike numbers continuing their upward trend during our covid counts. Totalled over our 4 city-centre count points (northbound and southbound, Forrest Road triangle and Lothian Road) during the 8-9am peak period, total bike numbers jumped dramatically from 217 last May to 310 this year. The increase was entirely northbound (perhaps commuters returning to city centre jobs) with southbound bike numbers almost unchanged. Continue reading City centre traffic count: bikes up, cars down With the main party manifestos for Edinburgh’s May 5th Council elections now published, Spokes has assessed their support for cycling, and active travel more widely, as everyday transport… Our conclusion…
Our March 28 Virtual Hustings was attended by over 70 people, with almost all staying through the whole 2-hour meeting, a testament to the excellent QA in the second half of the meeting. A full video of the meeting is here, so this article is not a blow-by-blow account of the meeting, but instead picking out some points of interest. Check out the video for the full story! Continue reading #SpokesMtg: 2022 Council Hustings – ReportCouncil 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. Please use our info to contact and try to influence your own candidates. Send us any useful replies you receive from them. This article is being filled out further as the election approaches and more info, such as manifestos and hustings, becomes available. Continue reading Thurs 5 May: 2022 Council Elections |
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