Good News for bikers & car drivers in Edinburgh !

[Scotsman37]

The good people of Edinburgh have rejected the City's Councils proposal to bring in congestion charging by a 3 to 1 majority !!! I bet the Londoners must be kicking themselves this morning for not doing the same when it was proposed

Here's the news about it;

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4287145.stm

[ProXimaCore]

I thought bikers were getting in toll free if the congestion charging went ahead. I was kind of hoping it would have went ahead. Less cars on the road would be much better for the days I take the bike to work.
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Glad at least one city has seen through this kind of scheme. Bit surprised that a city that is run by as big a bunch of anti car people around did not manage to skew the poll to produce the results they wanted.

Would not bet on motorcycles staying exempt from the charge. Main purpose of the London one is to provide money to pay for the buses and tube, and motorcyclists cash is as good as car drivers cash.

All the best

Keith
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[stinkwheel]

Edinburgh council are a bunch of bloody loonys anyway. They always come up with some hair brained scheme which isn't properly thought out.

This was a good example in that there were no plans to upgrade the public transport infrastructure prior to bringing in the conjestion charging meaning that the people who are driving into the centre of Edinburgh would still have no option other than to do so. The only difference it would make is that the drivers would now be more pissed off as they are once again shelling out to Edinburgh city council in addition to the parking charges and parking fines.

You can absolutley count on the fact that any money that would have been generated from such a scheme would have been frittered away on some pie in the sky plan. A bit like the 'Monorail' episode in the Simpsons.

In my oppinion, the public transport in Edinburgh is responsible for a lot of the conjestion. Look at any line of traffic in the city centre and you will find an obsolete, thirty year old, smoke belching double decker (or three in a row, all with four people in them) at the front of it.
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[Zoffo]

Don't give Edinburgh any more money. Last time the found a 50p piece the built Glasgow with it

[Robin]

Not too sure about wether this is a good or a bad thing.

On one hand I disagree with toll roads/charging on any public highway, but.......................




.............In Durham where they have introduced a toll it has cut down traffic, on one of the busiest streets which was/is virtually pedestrian anyway, by 70%. It is now a lot nicer and safer to go shopping there. And a good bit of money has been spent on improving public transport on that section to cater for those who need to go there.

.............In London where PTWs are exempt bike usage has increased and at the same time the number of bike accidents has decreased. Surely less cars=less blind tw@ts to injure bike riders.

Thanks to constant lobbying of Red Ken by the likes of MAG/BMF it would be a major publicity mistake to even think about charging bikes. Bikes do not cause congestion, hence you can not include them in a congestion charge

[instigator]

[Scotsman37]

[Scotsman37]

Here's the reaction to the 'No' vote to congestion charging from the Politicians;

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4287039.stm

This is one of the proposals put forward by the 'Yes' campaigners.

Better for tourists. Tourists don’t come to Edinburgh to be polluted; many do come to see a World Heritage Site that is unfortunately over-run with cars. Tourists will not have to pay the charge if they hire a car, and if they use public transport they too will gain the benefits of the investment programme.



So, you can guess who has been putting money into the Labour Party's election funds!


This was the results of the final count; https://www.transport-edinburgh.org.uk/

[Kickstart]

[cc123]

I used to work in Edinburgh, had to travel from the south city bypass all the way over to Granton. Took me the best part of 30-40 to travel a few miles.

I'd rather wait that time than pay £2 everyday to go to work. I can see the point of the charges but people are not going to pay that kind of money. Over the whole year it's going to add up. And I can't see companies paying for there employee's congestions taxes just to see them make there work surely?
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[Scotsman37]

I find it quite easy getting into Granton when travelling from West as I have relatives in that area. Have you tried the new shopping mall on the front where the Royal Yacht is docked? Plenty of Scottish themed gift shops plus a Chinese pottery stand, etc, but no actual electrical shop ie Dixons to be seen, except there is a quite a few vacant lots inside. There is a huge bar/resteraunt area inside and I do mean huge! It costs £9 to walk onboard the Yacht, but you can view it instead from the shopping Mall's inside upper balcony where a shop's cafeteria is located.

Don't know if you know this, but it's free to park your car/bike in the adjacent carpark (that might be only on weekends if I am correct?) - the bike space (for about 8 bikes in total) is just as you enter as the ramp goes up !

[cc123]

That will be Ocean Terminal then??

Been a few times but there really isn't anything of interest in there. Was at one of the bars up the top but it was a small fortune for a drink.

Getting to Granton from the west at 7:30am is a different story though. Thank god I don't work in Edinburgh anymore. It's the most depressing place on the planet!
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[Scotsman37]

Yep, that's the one and it's really only good for one visit just as interesting as going to Oban !

[Kickstart]

Hi

A Guardian article on it with a telling quote at the bottom:-

https://society.guardian.co.uk/publicfinances/story/0,12671,1423220,00.html

[Scotsman37]

What Edinburgh needs most is an underground Metro Rail system like Glasgow/London, but with an added bonus it connects to a large carpark located say West, South and East of Edinburgh if they really want people to leave their cars behind. I think that would be the best way forward to keep as much of the heavy traffic out of Edinburgh with Park & Ride tickets with almost 24hour coverage for people with early and late starts for work or just going out to bars/cinema and nightclubs, etc. The stations themselves at the carparks could be above ground to save digging tunnels for such a long distance ?

They could also place bus stops at those places that I suggested just in case there is a problem with the underground and personally I would make me want to use the option park & ride as long as there was a security guard(s) protecting those carparks!

The only ones I see complaining would be the over priced taxi drivers of Edinburgh - freakin' expensive so they are !

[mchaggis]

Well, it won't be too long before they start introducing toll roads all over the place/ converting existing roads which we pay for with road tax into toll roads.

Hence, we'll still pay our road tax and everything we used to, but be expected to pay extra to use any major roads. Typical. This government don't know what democracy is. Neither does this country. All democracy seems to mean is that we give them a mandate to ru(i)n the country for the next five years.

None of this by the people, for the people crap, that'd be far to fair, and we couldn't help out our mates who've donated a little to our kitty...
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[stinkwheel]

[Walloper]

I got a ticket in Edinburgh last summer when I returned about 15mins after my 30min pay and display ran out.
I had had to extend my visit to a nearby cafe as I was choked up with projectile diarrhea.
I was not too happy to have to pay the £1.00 pay 'n' display for 30min in the first place.
But luckily I managed to almost hit the fascist pig who put the ticket on my car.

Point being, it's good to use the bike to avoid parking, congestion etc. But do any of my learned friends on this forum know of any town or city that provides 'proper' facilities to park motorcycles.
We, the brave (Or stupid), still pay £60.00 road fund duty.

Bikes can't normally trip the barrier sensors in multi storeys.
Glasgow have one row of motorbike parking, that I know of, on one street next to the city chambers. We do get to use the push-bike areas, but they're a pig to get into with a big bike. (I don't mean between the metal pipes in the pavement.)

Are we really not wanted?

Don't get me started!!!!

[Scotsman37]

There's a lot a more than just one free motorcycle parking zones in Glasgow and Edinburgh has them too.

Glasgow;

Waterloo Street (next to the central station and it has a metal barrier built for bikes to chain up to)
Campbell Street (located between Bothwell Street and St. Vincent St)
Holland Street (just outside Strathclyde Police Station)
Douglas Street (next to Blythswood Square)
Blythswood Street (just down from Blythswood Square)
Wellington Street (next West Regent Street and Bath Street)
Hope Street (next to West Regent Street)
George Street (next to North Frederick Street)
North Portland Street
Stockwell Street (nearby St. Enoch Shopping Centre)


Edinburgh;

The Ocean Terminal's car park
Queen Street (several of them there that I've seen)

I did have a list but I shall have to find them and I originally got them by contacting Glasgow and Edinburgh's city councils for that info.

[Walloper]

Thanks for putting me right Scotsman37, Sorry Glasgow District Council.
Observation was one of the things we talked about on DAS. Ooops!

I'll be able to park easier when I get my new bike.
G

[Kickstart]

Hi

Somewhat related, the real reasons for the rise of the London congestion charge have surfaced:-

https://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/londonnews/articles/16949092?version=1