Can do better?

So, according to a media report on a report prepared for TFL, there are 11 conditions that are needed for 'world class' cycling cities.  So, I thought I'd rate Edinburgh. I've written these fairly quickly - more for debate than trying to be definitive:

1. There is strong, clear political and technical  pro-cycling leadership which is supported through all parts of the lead organisation.  7/10  There is some political and technical leadership, but it's not yet fully mainstreamed. 

2. Cycling is considered an entirely legitimate, desirable, everyday, ‘grown up’ mode of transport, worthy of investment, even if current cycling levels are comparatively low.  8/10 The Council's decision to commit 5% of its transport budget to cycling and to increase that by 1% each year, is laudable, and very much signals that cycling is 'legitimate'.  It helps that when I approach my elected reps, they take me seriously, since all three of them (Labour, SNP and Greens) cycle daily as well. 

3. Increasing cycle mode share is part of an integrated approach to decreasing car mode share. There is no intended overall abstraction from walking and public transport; and improving cycle safety and convenience is not intended to diminish pedestrian safety and convenience. 6/10 The Local Transport Strategy and Active Travel Action plan are steps in the right direction, but there's a long way to go. 

4. Loss of traffic capacity or parking to create better cycling facilities, while often a considerable challenge, is not a veto on such action.  4/10  There are very few examples of Edinburgh being willing to remove or limit parking - Leith walk comes to mind.  In some cases, parking is 'traded-off' or moved, on others it has been reinstated. 

5. There is dedicated, fit-for-purpose space for cycling, generally free of intrusion by heavy and fast motor vehicle traffic. In cities where the aim is to grow cycling rapidly, simple, cheap and effective means of securing this space have been used as first steps, with more permanent solutions following in due course.  5/10 It feels like we're on the cusp on this one, with a three short areas of segregation in planning/implementation stages, and the George Street 'experiment'.  But these are just baby-steps.

6. There is clarity about the overall cycling network (including planned future development), with connectedness, continuity, directness and legibility all being key attributes.  8/10 yes, this, I think is well in hand, but the current plans do not have capacity for growth beyond 10% modal share. Some routes are already crowded. 

7. There is no differential cycle route branding, simply three principal types of cycle facility that make up well-planned and designed cycle networks. The current 'family network' approach fails pretty spectacularly here, but I've graded these three separate aspects individually:

a. Paths/tracks/lanes on busier streets which provide a degree of separation from motor vehicles that is appropriate to motor traffic flows/speeds and the demand for cycling.  1/10  Nope. Not yet, but presently...

b. Quiet streets/’bicycle streets’ with 30kph/20mph or lower speed limits and often restrictions on motor vehicle access, particularly for through movements. 5/10 the recent decision to make 80% of Edinburgh's streets 20mph goes some way to achieving this. We also have some examples of permeable infrastructure, but not near enough. 

c. Cycleways/‘greenways’ away from the main highway (e.g. bicycle-only streets, paths in parks and along old railway lines and canals), but still well connected to the rest of the network at frequent intervals.  10/10  I'm being absurdly generous here - there are a number of improvements that could still be made - but this is surely one of Edinburgh's great successes, and the council's commitment to gritting much of it in winter makes it really functional.

8. There is clear, widely-accepted and routinely-used guidance on the design of cycling infrastructure.   6/10 there's guidance, but too often its been ignored or poorly followed, and council has to revisit and replace. 

9. The frequency of occasions when cyclists need to give way or stop is minimised. This means that people cycling are able to make steady progress at a comfortable speed.  6/10 Can we all say chicanes? 

10. At least subjectively, where the cycle mode share is greater, the driving culture (and indeed city culture generally) is more respectful of the needs of cyclists. Local traffic laws often play a part in this.  6/10 This remains to be seen, but the move to 20mph may contribute to a better environment. 

11. Making better provision for cycling, even in the most well-cycled cities, is an ongoing challenge; with growth in cycling, and of city populations as a whole, requiring clear forward planning.  7/10 Edinburgh's pretty good at the planning, but not so hot on the 'doing'.  And I'm pretty convinced that their current planning is only good for a modal share of 7-9%. It's not even remotely prepared for 15 or 20% modal shares. 

I make that out to be a mean and a mode of 6.  Translates as 'could do better' in my marking scheme. 

"There's no where else to go"

It's now January 6th and every day I've been in the meadows this year, I've seen cars parked or driving in the meadows.  Not an auspicious start.

On a lovely Saturday morning, with kids everywhere on new bikes and scooters, this car was parked squarely on a path in the links, while the several lorries were parked so as to block the dropped kerbs giving pedestrian access to the paths and play park.

Other days I've seen cars parked on the meadows, which we know the council can't do anything about.  Equally common is the range of service vehicles.

Yesterday @fountainbridge reported a lorry, which was totally blocking the Melville Drive pavement.  It was there are again this morning.  When I asked them if they were aware they were blocking the pavement one of them said 'there's no where else to go'.  He suggested that pedestrians could go past on the very boggy grass.  There's no way that the wheelchair I saw there on Saturday could possibly have got past.  It then drove along Melville drive, and made a very awkward turn onto MMW.   They also seemed to take some pleasure in telling me that I'd have this problem for months because there are 275 trees to be planted on the meadows.  Sigh.

This afternoon, @Kim_Harding tweeted about a council vehicle, which was apparently servicing the toilets on MMW and then continued down MMW and along NMW to the other set of toilets - even though those are easily accessible via Buccleuch place.

It's becoming clear is that an awful lot of vehicles are on these paths daily.  Quite possibly both of these particular vehicles did need to be there but did they need to park on them?  Make their way along the paths at length?  Could some or all of their journey be made differently?  Cllr Andrew Burns has promised to let us know what the council's guidance to drivers is.

A further issues is that none of the entrances used by vehicles are suitable, since they are designed for pedestrian and cycle use.  The Melville Drive / MMW entrance to the Meadows paths is particularly dangerous, and the manoeuvres that lorries have to make - at speed - to safely access the path are a recipe for disaster.  The lorry towing a trailer, for instance signalled left, then pulled fully over onto the right-hand-side of the road (by the pedestrian island) before pulling across and onto the path.

Btw, I'm keeping track of ('curating'?!)  all the tweets on this issue over on Storify:https://storify.com/SRDorman/why-are-so-many-cars-in-our-parks  Check out the pics there - there's some doozies.

#MeadowsnotMotors

I'm not much of one for New Year's resolutions, but on my last day of work in 2014, I found myself more than normally annoyed:

by this vehicle, which entered Middle Meadow Walk from Melville Drive and drove the length of the walk to get to this point, whereupon two guys jumped out. They were there for a minute or two then drove back down MMW. They could have easily parked  on George Square lane just beside where I took this picture.  There is also vehicle access on the other side of Middle Meadow Walk through Quartermile.  

I don't spend that much time in the Meadows. Except for my daughter’s occasional football matches, I'm usually just passing through - maybe 30 seconds if I'm on my bike, or 2-3 minutes strolling if on foot. But what struck me, as I reflected on the MMW van, was how often I see vehicles on the Meadows paths. Often they're police vehicles, or rubbish removals, or council employees laying out flowerbeds. Sometimes they are contractors for works in adjacent buildings. In the summer, I often see vehicles connected with the festival or sports events.  Recently, I and others have complained about cars parked on the grass near the cricket pitches in the summer evenings, and near the football fields on Saturday mornings (covered by  the Evening News). 

There are two issues - cars parked inappropriately (some of which have permission to be on the meadows and some of which don't) and vehicles using the paths to access parts of the parks to collect rubbish or plant flowers.  Obviously, the tree cutting and other equipment needs to be on the paths.  likewise, some of the maintenance crews may need to drive in to their sites - but must the vans be parked on the pavement the whole time they're working there?  I'd really like to know what guidance council officials are given about driving in parks - are they simply told to go slowly? or are they given advice as to which journeys are necessary? Is it ever suggested that they might park at an adjacent area and walk in?  Likewise, with rubbish collection, couldn't rubbish be removed to the gravelled area by the tennis courts, by hand-truck, or cargobike, and then collected by lorry? 

Although these lorries rarely constitute dangers to pedestrians, they send a signal that motorised vehicles are allowed in the parks, and this seems to be taken as a signal by others to abuse their privileges and hope they don't get caught.  

So, my New Year's resolution is to keep track of how many vehicles I see in 2015.   This morning I saw a blue rubbish lorry (similar to the one above) rolling down MMW (the sun was too low in the sky for a good picture) and exiting onto Melville Drive, and the Quartermile Tractor, also on MMW. And this afternoon, on my way home, there was a sports car parked next to the pavilion (again the sun was too low for a good picture).   So, three today.   #meadowsnotmotors