Ambition and strategy for Edinburgh’s transport system is one thing – but without political will and resource we are going backwards on making the city’s roads and pavements safer and accessible.
I often have to bite my tongue when Transport Committee members insist on the importance of road safety but then vote against policy that limits car use, prioritises pedestrians, or invests in public transport. For the on-again-off-again council administration of Labour, Lib Dems and Conservative councillors, it seems that it is all too easy to condemn fatalities with one hand, while using the other to keep private cars protected in policy.
If we are really serious about reducing road deaths we need to get heavy and monstrous vehicles off our roads. We need to invest in and prioritise our public transport so that people of all backgrounds choose bus and tram before car – because it is cheaper (free, if the Greens get our way), goes to where they need it to, and makes their day more pleasant. We need to maintain our footways and crossings city-wide so people who walk, wheel, or cycle can confidently go from A to B and back again.
There has been some progress. A ban on pavement parking, more 20mph zones, increases to the dropped kerb budget. But progress is not the same as success – and right now it is not happening at the pace or scale required.
The ideas are all there. We have an ambitious City Mobility Plan. We have Vision Zero to eliminate road deaths. And we have targets to reduce car kilometres by 30%. What we need now is for our city’s administration to be honest about what is needed to make these things happen – reducing the number of cars on our road drastically to make the city safer.
That might be an unpleasant conversation to have with voters on the doorstep for some. But surely not as unpleasant as having to face the families who have lost loved ones to road related accidents and tell them that – despite all your promises – when it came to take the hard decisions you were found wanting.