With the elections for Scotland’s local authorities happening on May 5th, it is important to emphasise the vital role councils play in helping blind and partally sighted people to live as independently and inclusively as possible.
People with a visual impairment are more likely to depend on services from their local council, for information that’s readily available in alternative formats, public transport that’s accessible, streets and thoroughfares that allow people to walk safely and without obstacles, education that allows every child to reach their full potential, and employment that’s informed by a better understanding of what those with sight loss can do.
Around 178,000 people are currently living with a significant degree of sight loss in Scotland, of whom over 4,000 are children and young people. Our ageing population and the increase in sight-theatening conditions such as diabetes means this number will, inevitably, grow.
Let’s make one positive legacy of the upheaval we’ve all been through a resolve to make sure we re-emerge as a society in which no one is left at the margins.
Our local authorities are absolutely key to this.
James Adams
Director, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Scotland
A milestone for Edinburgh’s City Centre ‘Transformation’ has been reached as final designs for the Meadows to George Street (MGS) scheme are published.
The Meadows to George Street (MGS) project will overhaul conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling on some of Edinburgh’s busiest and most iconic streets, as well as enhancing public spaces.
Changes made along the route via Teviot Place, Forrest Road, George IV Bridge, the Mound and Hanover Street will be made in a way which respects and enriches the World Heritage Site.
Plans include segregated cycleways, wider pavements and pedestrian priority areas and have drawn on feedback received through various stages of public and stakeholder engagement since 2018.
The council aims to begin construction in early 2024 and once complete, MGS will integrate with the forthcoming George Street and First New Town (GNT) scheme at Hanover Street, which is scheduled for a construction start later in 2024.
Amongst these, the two-way cycle track at Hanover Street is changing to one-way cycle lanes on either side of the road to better tie in with the proposed George Street junction under GNT.
A bus gate is also being introduced on Market Street to reduce through-traffic in the area, while footways along the route have been widened further and a new safe cycle crossing over Princes Street tram tracks has been added.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “The transformation of Edinburgh’s city centre will lead to a truly connected, people-friendly place to live, work and spend time in.
“The Meadows to George Street project is one of the first steps to achieving this, as well as supporting our net zero goals by promoting sustainable travel, so it’s really exciting to see the final designs.
“We’ve worked hard over recent years to develop proposals which balance the needs of all those who use the street while prioritising safe and accessible travel by foot, wheel or bike. These plans provide a snapshot of how the route will look and operate in the near future, as part of our broader ambitions for the city.”
Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “Our plans for Meadows to George Street are key to creating a Capital fit for the future, where healthy, active and sustainable travel is supported, and public spaces are opened up for socialising and relaxation.
“This is one of many projects to transform the way we use our city centre and I look forward to seeing it progress in the coming years.”
The MGS project is principally funded through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme, via Transport Scotland. This links in with other major Places for Everyone projects in Edinburgh, including the GNT project and City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL) which is already under construction.
Simon Strain, Head of Programme, Places for Everyone, at Sustrans said: “Sustrans have been working closely with The City of Edinburgh Council over the last few years to ensure designs for the MGS project meet the wants and needs of the people of Edinburgh. It’s great to see the final designs for the MGS project now shared.
“Once complete, the MGS project will make walking, wheeling, and cycling across Edinburgh city centre a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, connecting the Old Town to the New like never before.”
By transforming walking, wheeling and cycling through the busy heart of Edinburgh, MGS will make it easier and more attractive for people to choose travel by foot or bike as part of their everyday journeys. Improvements to the streetscape will create a safe, vibrant place for people to live in and for all to enjoy.
MGS will be central to the broader transformation of the city centre, which will reshape Edinburgh by significantly improving public spaces and prioritising movement on foot, by bike and by public transport.
It will connect to several other major schemes already underway or in development, such as CCWEL, Meadows to Union Canal and, with cleaner air and a more a more pleasant and attractive city centre to spend time in, the Low Emission Zone.
The council plans to begin the statutory processes required to carry out the proposed changes to the road layout in May.
The final designs for George Street are due later this year.
Find out more about the Meadows to George Street project and view the final designs online.
The Scottish Government announced record investment in active travel for 2022-23 yesterday. This includes new funding for footpaths, significantly increased funding for local authorities and more than doubling the funding to the National Cycle Network.
Living Streets Scotland, part of the UK charity for everyday walking will receive £555k in 2022/23. The Transport Scotland funding will see the charity work with over 450 schools to run its walk to school programme, which successfully increases walking rates and decreases congestion levels.
It will also allow work to continue on ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’, to ensure local facilities are within a safe and pleasant walking distance.
Commenting on Thursday’s announcement from Patrick Harvie MSP in the Scottish Parliament, Stuart Hay, Director Living Streets Scotland said: “Today is an important milestone in helping to turn Scotland into a more active, healthy and sustainable nation. We are pleased steps are being made to give walking, wheeling and cycling a reasonable share of transport budgets.
“We are thrilled to receive additional support to grow our work in Scotland, including plans to reach over 450 primary schools, high schools and nurseries. These projects will aim to boost walking to school and reduce car journeys by 10%.
“With extra resources we hope to work in every Scottish local authority area on programmes such WOW – our walk to school challenge and Walk to School Week. These projects will contribute towards Scotland’s ambitious national targets to reduce road traffic by 20%. Nowhere is this needed more than outside schools.
“We look forward to working with other partners including Cycling Scotland, Sustrans Scotland and Paths for all to address the very real challenges of creating good walking environments at a local level.”
The Living Streets Scotland Big Walking Seminar ‘Radical changes for everyday streets: making it happen‘ will explore the gap between the rhetoric around walking and active travel, and the lived reality of walking in Scotland. It will hear from members of the public about their real-life walking experience.
Living Streets’ Vice President, Susan Claris, will come together with keynote speakers from the health and equalities sectors, transport experts and local government leaders to ask hard questions about the big shifts needed to deliver change and make walking a pleasant and viable everyday activity for everyone.
Joining Susan Claris will be Sheila Duffy (Chief Executive, ASH Scotland), Colin Pooley (Emeritus Professor of Social and Historical Geography, Lancaster University) and a representative from Mobility and Access Committee Scotland (MACs), among others.
Stuart Hay, Director, Living Streets Scotland said: “We are looking at a real societal change in terms of getting people out of cars, with pedestrians seeking much more prominence in policy and funding decisions. This level of change is very challenging.
“The Big Walking Seminar aims to provide a reality check by considering, not only how streets can be improved, but the fundamental changes needed to make walking projects successful. It will draw on the power of lived experience and lessons from other deep societal shifts, such as the smoking ban.”
The Big Walking Seminar comprises a virtual morning session hosted on Zoom. Walk and Talks will take place in the afternoon, led by Living Streets Scotland staff and setting off from Edinburgh Waverley, Stirling Railway Station and Inverness Railway Station.
An updated five-year programme of investment will see more than £117m invested in schemes to help people walk, wheel and cycle in Edinburgh.
Under the Active Travel Investment Programme (ATINP), we will deliver over 85km (52 miles) of additional safe, protected cycle routes – the equivalent of a trip from Edinburgh to Aberfeldy. These measures, which are already in the pipeline, will help children to walk, cycle and wheel to many of the city’s schools and provide significant improvements to public spaces, pavements and paths.
The ATINP supports our Active Travel Action Plan (ATAP), which sets out a high-level framework for delivering a walking, wheeling and cycling-friendly city. A new ATAP, covering the period to 2030, is currently under development and is expected to be completed in summer 2022 when we’ll be able to share proposals, similarly to Glasgow’s Active Travel Strategy published this week.
The City of Edinburgh Council will pay for less than 20% of the ATINP as most of the funding is secured from external sources, with more than £80m committed by the Scottish Government via Sustrans.
It aligns the plans with a Sustrans budget review as well as the delivery of Council projects and priorities. Changes in travel behaviour relating to the Covid pandemic are also examined, taking into account the temporary measures introduced under Spaces for People, now Travelling Safely.
In addition to several major projects to transform the city, like City Centre West East Link and Meadows to George Street, the ATINP will increase spending on key improvements to prioritise travel by foot, wheel or bike. This includes the installation of dropped kerbs and citywide bike parking.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “Supporting people to walk, wheel or bike around Edinburgh is essential for urgently lowering carbon emissions, promoting healthier lifestyles and creating safer streets. Our package of significant investment will kick-start a shift change in the delivery of schemes designed to help achieve this.
“The ATINP drives forward an ambitious programme of improvements which will, for the first time, lead to a truly connected network of protected walking and cycling routes, helping people get from A to B safely, quickly and conveniently. There is an urgency to this which many people already recognise.”
Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, added: “As we emerge from the Covid pandemic we have the opportunity to transform the way we travel around the city, and really support those who have embraced, or rediscovered, walking and cycling over the last 18 months.
“I’m excited to see our ambitious programme of investment take shape over the coming years, and the positive impact it will have on all those who live, work and visit here.”
The 85km of cycling improvements planned over the next five years will add to 211km of existing off-road, quality signed walking and cycling paths and Edinburgh’s 36km of Travelling Safely routes, creating, for the first time, a comprehensive network spanning the city.
As part of this the council will be delivering improvements near more than a third of the city’s schools, helping children and families travel by foot, wheel or bike.
Some of the other key active travel projects being brought forward over the next five years are Roseburn Path to Union Canal and West Edinburgh Link. Spending on minor improvements, such as localised cycle signing or widening off-road footpaths, will also rise under the reviewed ATINP.
The current ATAP was initially approved in 2010 and was subsequently refreshed in 2013 and 2016. By helping people to choose sustainable modes of travel the associated improvements will not only positively impact health, safety and wellbeing, but it will support our net zero carbon goals.
It is with great sadness that we announce today that Edinburgh Cycle Hire will close on 17 September 2021. We know how disappointing this announcement is for our many regular users.
Unfortunately, the contract to provide a cycle hire service to the City has come to an end, so we are unable to continue. The scheme will continue to operate until midnight on 17 September 2021, at which point the service will stop.
All annual and extended period passes which have been purchased and have a remainder of time left on them will be refunded automatically with any balance after 17 September 2021.
Over the coming days we will share more information about the closure, including when certain stations will close.
The scheme has run under a three-year agreement between Serco and Transport for Edinburgh, and in that time has made a great impact on Edinburgh’s sustainable transport network, with hundreds of thousands of trips made on our bikes since 2018.
Since then 70,000 unique users have cycled over 450,000 trips, replacing millions of miles of combustion engine transport with a green travel alternative.
Council Leaders have expressed disappointment at the end of the contract between Transport for Edinburgh and Serco to run the city’s cycle hire scheme.
The Council is investigating alternative options to replace the popular scheme.
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “We are very disappointed that Serco have opted to walk away from the popular shared bike hire scheme in Edinburgh. When the bike hire scheme was first introduced the commitment was to operate it with no public funding and it is highly regrettable that Serco will not continue the scheme on that basis.
“We recognise that the bike hire scheme has helped more people get access to bikes, enjoying the benefits of fast, reliable, healthier journeys around town. The withdrawal of Serco will come as a frustrating shock to many regular users of the bike hire scheme.
“It sends absolutely the wrong message at a time when so many of us are deeply concerned about the climate emergency and what we can each do to combat the effects of human activity. Choosing to travel by bike is one of the easiest changes many of us can make.
“We’re now working on a replacement bike hire scheme for the Capital. We are actively pursuing options to ensure that a replacement scheme is in place as quickly as possible.”
Depute Council Leader Cammy Day said: “Over the past few years it’s been a welcome sight to see residents, students and visitors making journeys from A to B across Edinburgh by hire bike and they’ve become a key part of our sustainable transport infrastructure in the city. It’s a huge disappointment the scheme’s coming to an end.
“The city will share our huge disappointment that the scheme is coming to an end and that Serco have walked away form a key part of the city’s active travel plans. We will now engage with the cycling community to look at alternative innovative scheme to get people back on the bikes.”
‘Walked away’? Not at all, say Serco. The Serco absolutely refute the council leaders’ claims, and maintain it is the COUNCIL ITSELF that is to blame for the ditching of the scheme.
Serco’s micromobility director Sam Jones, said: “We’re disappointed that we have been unable to find a way to continue the Edinburgh bike scheme.
“We have explored every route possible to find extension options beyond our original three-year contract which expires on 17 September 2021. Those efforts continued through to last week when the council advised us that they were not able to extend the current contract.
“Serco has been running the scheme since September 2018 under a three-year concession. Despite the scheme making a loss over that time we have not walked away and we have stood by our commitments and continued to make a success of the scheme for the city’s people and visitors.
“As was reported in May 2021, funding options were being explored which would have enabled the scheme to carry on – however we were informed two weeks ago that City of Edinburgh Council has been unable to confirm those plans.”
More than half a million journeys were made by over 70,000 users during the life of the bike hire project. During 2020, when the Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme was the fastest growing scheme in Britain, there were with 234,500 trips made.
In 2020 the scheme also won the award for Cycling, Walking and Public Realm at the Scottish Transport Awards.
Many more of us who have been working from home will be set to return to offices either part-time or full-time over the coming weeks and months (writes Dr HELEN FLAHERTY).
There has never been a better time to start integrating exercise into your commute, as we begin to establish new routines both at work and home. With this in mind, here are some tips for doing just that:
Park further from work
Not everyone lives within cycling distance of their workplace, and you may rely on a car to get from A to B.
If this is the case, try parking further from work and cycling the last part of your commute.
Track your distance
It can be really motivating to see how far you have cycled over a week or month and you may be surprised about just how far you can go with an extra few miles each day!
Apps like Strava are great for tracking how far you have cycled over a long period of time.
Adapt your routine
If getting on your bike is simply a matter of starting out a little earlier, consider what might have to change within your routine to accommodate for this.
This may be getting to bed earlier, preparing your meals the night before, or having a lighter breakfast before you set off.
Invest in a new bike
Buying some new equipment can be a great first step towards committing to a new habit.
If you find your rusty old bike is putting you off commuting, you may look to see if your employer is signed up to the Cycle-to-Work scheme where you can get a brand new bike at a lower, monthly cost than you may otherwise pay.
You may also be able to donate your old bike to a local bike renovation scheme.
A new study by Queen’s University Belfast and Washington University in St. Louis shows that promoting physical activity is key to achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
The research provides new evidence to show that integrating strategies to promote increased physical activity is a key part of the action plan for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The study found strong links between physical activity promotion strategies and eight out of the 17 SDGs: good health and well-being (SDG 3); gender equity (SDG 5); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); reduced inequalities (SDG 10); sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); climate action (SDG 13); and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16).
Deborah Salvo, Assistant Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis and lead author on the study, said: “Physical inactivity has been characterized as a pandemic, accounting for 7% of all premature deaths per year globally and resulting in billions of dollars spent on health-related expenditures.”
The international research team applied a modelling method to simulate the effects of large-scale physical activities strategies to gain insights on the potential impacts of widespread scale-up of active transport systems and active urban design strategies on three different city types of high-, middle- and low-income countries.
The simulation results indicated that expected physical activity gains are greater for low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries with high car dependency, physical activity promotion strategies may help to reduce air pollution and traffic-related deaths, but shifts toward more active forms of travel and recreation and climate change mitigation may require complementary policies that disincentivize driving.
Dr Leandro Garcia, from the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast and co-author, said: “The simulation results reveal context-specific relations. In terms of physical activity increases, low- and middle-income country cities stand more to gain from urban transformations that prioritize equitable access to walking, cycling, public transport, and recreational infrastructure.
“As for high-income country cities, findings suggest that to observe meaningful improvements in physical activity levels and climate change mitigation, these types of strategies may need to be further complemented by policies that increase the cost of driving.
“Our research provides strong evidence to illustrate the multiple benefits of promoting physical activity on a large scale, not just for specific areas or populations. The benefits are huge for individuals, communities and to the planet and goes a long way in contributing to the U.N. sustainable development agenda.
“As well as helping to prevent chronic disease, promoting physical activity at scale can reduce traffic deaths and pollution. It helps to create more equitable societies and reduce climate change.
“Physical activity promotion strategies can bring benefits beyond health and bring us closer to a more equitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly future.”
Yesterday – Clean Air Day – Edinburgh Cycle Hire announced that their customers have cycled a staggering 1,500,000km, pedalling around the Earth nearly 38 times!
A recent study undertaken by scientists at Oxford University found that those who switch just one trip per day from car-driving to cycling reduced their carbon footprint by about 0.5 tonnes over a year.
In 2020 Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme totalled 234,470 trips, almost double from the previous year. In one day alone 1,438 people used the scheme. So far in 2021 nearly 60,000 trips have been made with the summer period expected to busy again with locals using the scheme as part of their staycation.
With access to bikes being one of the biggest challenges to cycling, the scheme is planning to upgrade its hire points later this year, as well as reviewing the network to meet the growing customer demand.
The new infrastructure is already being used within the Transport for West Midlands scheme and is a hit with customers. This work is supported with funding from Sustrans and the City of Edinburgh Council.
George Lowder, Chief Executive of Transport for Edinburgh said: “The Edinburgh scheme is key to supporting our city’s sustainability and active travel plans, cutting emissions and congestion.
“Providing access to bikes in an easy to use, affordable and safe way will encourage people to leave the car at home and take shorter journeys by bike.”
Alex MacDonald, General Manager of the scheme said: “We’re gearing up for another busy summer and we’ll have more bikes available across the city.
“Customers can explore on our e-bikes and pedal bikes by simply downloading the app and finding their nearest hire point.”
John Lauder, Deputy CEO Sustrans and National Director, Sustrans Scotland said: “Studies have found that switching from the car to cycling, even just for one day a week can make a real difference to reducing personal carbon emissions from transport.
“Cycle hire schemes, like Edinburgh’s makes cycling more visible, and more normal. Cycle hires remove the first barrier to making that decision to cycle, and help people understand how convenient and easy cycling is. It’s the first small step to changing habits that can make a huge difference.”
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs is disappointed that the project to transform the Powderhall Railway path into a green corridor has been delayed due to the Spaces for People initiative.
In a letter to the MSP from Edinburgh Council, the Active Travel Department said that “Progress on this has been delayed by the need to re-allocate staff resources to develop and deliver temporary Spaces for People (SfP) schemes”.
The feasibility study into transitioning the disuses railway line into a green corridor is due later this summer, with Network Rail amendable to amendable to the “repurposing of the Powderhall spur line into high-quality urban green corridor for people to walk, cycle and wheel on”.
Network Rail have said the railway line is still classed as operational railway, because the track that leads there is still connected to the wider rail network.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said:“I am pleased that talks with Network Rail are going well and they are open to transforming the Powderhall spur line into a high quality green corridor.
“It is disappointing that the project team looking at the Green Corridor transformation has been delayed due to working on Spaces for People schemes.
“This is a great opportunity to create a safe green space to connect Powerhall to Meadowbank and beyond.
“The new Powderhall Green Corridor will be excellent for people to walk, cycle and wheel on, as well as fitting in with Edinburgh’s Active Travel strategy.”
