1. Spokes Spring Meeting 2015 on Edinburgh City Centre “My view” or “Space, the Final Frontier” Professor Tom Rye, Director, TRI

2. City centre – need to redistribute space (the final frontier)
For more sustainable travel choices – sustainable movement
For better more prosperous nicer places to be – sustainable places

3. Note also that 35% of all trips and 19% of trips to work are on foot, 2% and 7% by bike (2009)

4. How people travel to shop - Austria

5. How people travel to shop - Bristol

6. So for economic reasons city centre needs boost for access by all sustainable modes
Excellent that cycling has commanded ever greater resources from Council
This must not be at expense of pedestrians; or bus passengers
Converting a bus lane to a bike lane could ”cost” bus passengers £000s a week in extra congestion
All sustainable modes need more space
In city centre much of this has to come from car
Different locations demand different solutions – but here are some examples

7. Remove on-street parking
Especially when major new off-street car parks are to be built!

8. Widen footways, narrow traffic lanes, share uses, cut dominance of vehicle traffic

9. Don’t waste space on trams – instead share that space with the buses that subsidise the trams
The tram is a tram not a railway on the street

10. Re-route car traffic – Oxford example

11. Edinburgh has also removed through traffic before....

12. Proper high quality pedestrianised areas and high quality public realm

13. If it’s a problem, cut severe bus congestion
Cut bus boarding times so buses spend less time at stops

14. Can City of Edinburgh Council make these kinds of changes?
Sometimes I wonder – cattle before people?

15. How Council can change to make city centre a better place
CEC already has many excellent ground breaking policies
Needs political and senior management leadership to put these into practice more
Key example most relevant to city centre - draft Street Design Guidance
Contains almost everything to make city centre better more sustainable place
A positive development but to be well used by the Council’s own street designers, maintenance engineers it needs:
Resources
Leadership
Training
Ownership
Fingers crossed!

16. In conclusion
City centre: pressing need for more space for sustainable movement and sustainable places
This space has to come from car
It can be done, has been done elsewhere
It has to be high quality
The Council has the tools to do it – needs political and managerial leadership to make it happen