Ten years after the first Pedal on Parliament – or PoP – this year the family-friendly cycle will take place on 23 April 2022 at 1pm.
The ride will meet at Chambers Street outside the National Museum of Scotland and will progress from there down George IV Bridge, High Street past the City Chambers, Cockburn Street, Market Street, and Canongate to arrive outside The Scottish Parliament.
Feeder rides from Colinton, Corstorphine, Harrison Park, Leith, Portobello and elsewhere in Scotland such as Dumfries, Dunbar and Glasgow will sell the numbers. More information on feeder rides here. And walkers and wheelers are also encouraged to take part.
As the local elections take place in just a few weeks, the cycle will serve as a reminder of the campaign’s main message:
This Machine Fights Climate Change
The group has its own manifesto which it has asked politicians at national and local level to respond to – and the demands remain much the same as they did in 2012.
Pedal on Parliament asks for:
- Proper funding for active travel – starting at 10% of the transport budget and rising to 20% by the end of the parliamentary term.
- Design cycling for all ages and abilities into Scotland’s roads.
- Implement and enforce safer speeds where people live, work and play.
But there have been some positive responses. The Scottish Government has announced plans to reduce the number of car kilometres by 20% by 2030 and has plans for more active travel included in the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) which you can read about here. The consultation on STPR2 has just ended and will be used to shape government policies for the next five years.
Twenty minute neighbourhoods are now becoming the way that our cities will develop in the future, and 20mph speed limits are becoming the norm, so much of what POP set out demanding is slowly and gradually becoming policy in certain local authority areas. In Edinburgh 10% of the transport budget has already been ring fenced for active travel.
In the manifestos published ahead of the 2022 elections the various parties in Edinburgh have of course had a variety of stances:
A cycle on COP last November was well attended and led to at least some active travel commitment being agreed.
SNP
Getting Edinburgh moving in a greener and healthier way
- Edinburgh SNP will deliver a further £118 million in active travel projects in the next five years creating a network of cycle routes, particularly on arterial routes that provide physical separation from other traffic for their whole length including junctions. This investment will also provide significantly improved infrastructure for pedestrians.
- They will build permanent high quality separated infrastructure that closes key gaps in the existing network of off road paths. As part of that they will also work with landowners such as Network Rail to unlock lines like Piershill to Powderhall as new off-road cycle routes linking safe paths that already exist in the city.
- They will review all temporary Covid-related infrastructure as quickly as possible and remove temporary road furniture thereafter – following the approach of new schemes set out during the next term
Labour
Investing in Edinburgh
Investing in our Services
Investing in our Communities
- Edinburgh Labour will increase spending on Active travel to 15% of the council’s transport budget.
- Increase the pedestrian crossing budget by 20% and review timings to cut waiting times and to ensure the less mobile have time to cross.
- The party promised to review all routes and invest in bus shelters, while protecting Lothian Buses by retaining it in public ownership.
- Labour also want to create a new Edinburgh Transport company which would develop and deliver an integrated transport network for Edinburgh and the Lothians. They would also ensure that all new buses have spaces for wheelchairs and buggies.
- And they want to create an integrated transport system, including looking at the Edinburgh South Suburban Railway or other underused or disused railway lines.
Conservatives
Clean up our capital
- Conservatives would remove all Spaces for People measures from “unsuitable areas” where they were opposed by the public in the previous consultation
- Remove any approval for the Workplace Parking Levy in Edinburgh
- Ensure quality infrastructure for walking and cycling projects with no discrimination against people with disabilities – but they plan to scrap the allocation of 10% of the transport budget “for cycle lanes”. Instead they will allocate resources to projects which will “benefit all road and pavement users” and would avoid conflicts such as floating bus stops.
Green
Think Global Act Local
- Greens will create a system that will help “deliver a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions” all with a view to improving air quality and public health.
- They will reintroduce a bike hire scheme and create priorities for active travel with a 500 km network of citywide segregated routes, while expanding the cycle storage scheme.
- The party would like to expand “Playing Out” days creating car-free days on some streets for children to play there.
- Edinburgh Greens would explore a free public transport pilot scheme and expand the number of bus lanes and their operating hours.
- Greens are in favour of a congestion charge and a workplace paring levy as well as working towards a reduction in parking spaces in the city with plans to convert car parking into green spaces and corridors.
- Greens also want to review car parking rates in Edinburgh.
Liberal Democrats
to stand up for Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Liberal Democrats say they want to make it easier to travel to, from and within Edinburgh. They are pro the proposed workplace parking levy and the idea of a 20 minute neighbourhood.
- They would reintroduce a city cycle hire scheme
- They would review the Spaces for People schemes and consult with locals about retaining or removing these
- Edinburgh Liberal Democrats will protect funding for walking and cycling to provide real alternatives to car use
- On the tram they “recognise substantial financial exposure” over the Tram to Newhaven saying this financial uncertainty is unresolved.
- Tackling the backlog of broken footways paths and roads with a “fixed first time” approach
- They will expand the low emission zone and encourage safer routes to schools as well as the proposed ban on pavement parking.
- Liberal Democrats would make electric vehicle charging points a priority in their green transport plans and expect new developments to include charging points as standard. The LibDems would introduce a presumption that all council vehicles will be electric.
- They would integrate the concept of 20 minute neighbourhoods into planning. This means that everything people need in their day to day lives would be within a short distance from their home reducing their need to travel.
- The party want to review closed railway lines and campaign for the opening of feasible routes. The LibDems would also promote community car share schemes, demand responsive transport and community transport schemes.
- They are in favour of integrated ticketing. They also want new powers to integrate all transport, controlling local buses and ending Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation so that services suit passengers not company owners.
- They promised to commit to fixing the roads, gullies and pavements and declutter streets.
Alba
For an Independent Scotland
- The party’s manifesto was silent on transport matters
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
