Spokes

The Dangers of Rose Street

In the last ten years there have been three separate pedestrian-injury crashes reported in Rose Street, with seven persons injured in total, several seriously, all due to drivers of motor vehicles. There have been even more pedestrian injuries at the intersections of Rose Street with north-south streets such as Hanover Street.

Meanwhile, despite east to west cycling having been legal for many years, there were no Rose Street pedestrian injuries involving cyclists. Yet members of the Council’s notorious TRO Subcommittee decided (on a casting vote) that the comprehensive safety audit already undertaken to allow two-way cycle use was insufficient to pass the necessary Order without “further investigation.”

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Tram Granton to Bioquarter: Spokes response

Spokes Planning Group has put considerable time and effort into preparing a thorough and thoughtful 15-page response to the tram consultation. We have received several plaudits, such as “fantastically detailed and comprehensive” from Edi.Bike.

In summary, Spokes supports the tram in principle, but our response has identified some serious issues over cyclist safety, as well as one new major opportunity. We urge the Council to take our comments very seriously in the detailed design, should the Transport Committee decide next year to move to that stage.

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Nov 2025: Rainy Day Traffic Count

Our biannual city-centre traffic count*, on Tuesday 11 November, unusually fell on a day with significant rain forecast. The morning hour (8-9am) did stay dry, though cold, and, despite the forecast, cyclists formed 14.2% of all vehicles, almost unchanged from the 14.4% in last November’s bright and sunny count day. However at lunchtime, when, admittedly, many bike trips are optional, there was not just rain, but a major downpour: bike numbers plummeted and car and taxi numbers rose, resulting in bikes falling from 10.2% of all vehicles last year to 5.6% in 2025.

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Active Travel cut confirmed

At long last the detailed allocation of the Scottish Government’s Active and Sustainable Travel budget (formerly called Active Travel) for 25/26 financial year has been revealed.

It shows total Scottish Government active travel investment now down to just 4.2% of total transport spending – back to below the level of 22/23, and even lower than the 4.6% we had predicted.

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My Favourite Bike Ride: #SpokesComp results

For many people, a favourite ride is a weekend cycle to and through places of great natural beauty or historic interest. But our entries showed that it can also be your daily commute, taking your mind off work; or a school bike bus with its amazing enthusiasm and hope for the future. Our lovely entrants showed just how much cycling can mean to people in so many different ways.

We were also delighted to get a good range of entries from the Lothians, with West and East Lothian entries winning 3rd and 4th positions.

Continue reading My Favourite Bike Ride: #SpokesComp results

West Lothian #SpokesMap – 5th edition!

[special offer ends 31 October – see below]

The 5th edition of our highly praised West Lothian Cycle Map was launched on 11 October by Kirsteen Sullivan, MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow and Cllr Peter Heggie, Council Deputy Provost, at West Lothian Bike Library / Crofthead Community Centre.

The whole county was surveyed in detail by Spokes volunteers, together with a new area covering Falkirk, Bo’ness and the Kelpies. The map was then completely redrawn and revised by our maps group’s skilled volunteer cartographer, using new software which enables simpler future updating.

Continue reading West Lothian #SpokesMap – 5th edition!

Tram Granton to Bioquarter – Spokes early draft response, as of 6 Oct

With the consultation now well underway, the Spokes draft response is developing well. You can find it here [1.9MB pdf]. We strongly stress that this is a work in progress and there are likely to be considerable further edits, particularly to the second part of the response, dealing with individual sections of the route.

Continue reading Tram Granton to Bioquarter – Spokes early draft response, as of 6 Oct

Tram Granton to Bioquarter – initial Spokes thoughts

With the consultation underway, we are publishing some initial thoughts from Spokes and welcome any feedback. You may also wish to consider our points in your own consultation response.

Basically, Spokes supports the principle of the tram, but we have identified some problems and some missed opportunities on the integration of cycling. We urge a fuller treatment of cycling in the forthcoming stage of more detailed planning, and we urge that complete details on cycling provision are included in the next round of consultation.

For a very brief summary on the controversial Roseburn/OrchardBrae options, see here (more details below). We are of course aware that some Spokes members very strongly support each of these options.

Continue reading Tram Granton to Bioquarter – initial Spokes thoughts

Cargobikes in Edinburgh – #SpokesMtg report

Our public meeting on 2 September – which attracted at least 6 cargobikes, inside and out, in addition to the audience! – was an inspiring demonstration of the enthusiasm and effort which is bringing cargobike opportunities to the Edinburgh public. Several cargobike hubs/libraries are already operational, lending to local residents, and The Bike Station hopes to establish 2 new hubs in 2026/27 and create a shared maintenance service for all hubs.

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#SpokesComp 2025 : My Favourite Bike Ride

Stop Press: Due to holidays, judging will not be until early October. We have therefore extended the closing date for entries to Sunday 21 September. [Please repost our bsky post about the extension].

For our 2025 summer competition we’d like to hear about your favourite local bike ride, in Edinburgh and/or the Lothians. It may be a leisure ride, or your daily commute or perhaps the school ‘run’ with your kids.

Continue reading #SpokesComp 2025 : My Favourite Bike Ride

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