With ambitious new plans to transform the capital’s streets, Edinburgh has joined leading European cities in putting people first during COVID-19 and beyond.
Urban life has changed beyond recognition in recent months. With travel restrictions in place and shops, bars and restaurants closed, once-thriving spaces now lay silent. But for many cities across Europe, change is on the horizon. As lockdown measures begin to ease in many countries, cities are planning for a gradual return of people to urban spaces. Whilst this will be celebrated by all, it brings a fundamental challenge: How do we keep people moving whilst keeping them safe?
With both the supply of and demand for public transport massively reduced, cities are fearing a rapid rise in car use as people seek alternatives to public transport. It goes without saying that this simply cannot happen: Congestion, air and noise pollution, road safety, climate change and physical inactivity to name but a few reasons why. Cities simply cannot handle more cars. So what is to be done?
To avoid a rise in car use and keep people safe, a host of cities across the world are putting people first to tackle COVID-19. During lockdown many cities - from Bogota to Berlin to Budapest - introduced pop-up cycle lanes to keep people safe for essential journeys. But now as we move into post-lockdown, many are realising that putting people first cannot stop now.
A score of cities have announced transformative plans to prioritise walking and cycling in post-lockdown life. London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Brussels have all announced such plans in recent weeks, rolling out wider pavements, car-free streets, safe cycle lanes, slower speed limits and more to make walking and cycling the norm post-lockdown. These are truly transformative plans which will change the face of these cities going forward.
So often in Scotland we look to other European countries with jealousy for having achieved things which appear impossible here. The phrase “Why can’t we do it like they do in [insert cool European city here]?” will be all too familiar to anyone interested in making Scottish cities better places to live.
But now, with new plans to put people first during COVID-19, Edinburgh has done something which could put the capital amongst leading European cities.
Safe Spaces for Walking and Cycling in the capital
Last week saw the City of Edinburgh Council set out plans to transform streets across the capital to keep people safe during the COVID-19 crisis and prioritise movement on foot, bike and public transport. The Creating Safe Spaces for Walking and Cycling report sets out proposals to create more space across the city for walking and cycling, whilst implementing measures to prioritise road space for bus services.
Street closures, pavement widenings, pedestrian priority measures, safe cycle routes and bus priority are all proposed in the report, which would see measures rolled out between over the next few months. Many of these proposals featured in pre-existing plans, such as the City Centre Transformation Plan, but with the urgent need to keep people safe during COVID-19, these measures are now being brought forward, in some cases by years.
There’s been a desperate need for these measures in Edinburgh for a long, long time. Narrow historic streets, compact planning and its relatively small size make for ripe conditions to put walking, cycling and public transport first. For too long, walking and cycling in particular have been unnecessarily challenging in Edinburgh, be it due to small pavements, a lack of safe crossing points, unpleasant cycling conditions or high numbers of fast-moving vehicles. These measures seek to tackle these issues, and would go a long way to rebalancing things in favour of sustainable modes of transport.
These plans are not yet fully confirmed. The report will be put before Councillors next week and needs their approval before the plans can be taken forward. The proposals are also largely dependent on a successful application to the Scottish Government’s ‘Spaces for People’ fund, which has provided £10 million to support local authorities in creating more space for walking and cycling during COVID-19. But should these plans succeed, Edinburgh will undergo a rapid transformation into a place where walking and cycling become an easy, convenient, attractive and safe option for many people across the city.
Getting it right for public transport
But whilst walking and cycling are paramount in keeping people safe during COVID-19, public transport cannot be forgotten during this challenging time. The hardships facing public transport cannot be overstated: Passenger numbers are down as much as 95% in some cities, and with many having concerns over the safety of public transport post-lockdown, bus, tram and metro operators are going to face serious struggles in the coming months. Many cities are running public transport at reduced passenger capacity to address these concerns; whilst this might be the right approach to address health concerns, this will limit the recovery of public transport and create higher costs for operators, posing yet more challenges for their financial sustainability. This is a serious problem for cities as a whole, too: Public transport is a huge source of revenue (where public ownership is in place) and often helps fund transport improvements for cities.
That’s why it’s promising to see Edinburgh’s plans clearly state the need to protect and enhance public transport, with a key principle being that measures implemented “should not undermine the long term viability of the public transport network”. The focus has very much been placed on taking space from cars, not public transport, to allow more space for walking and cycling. Greater priority for buses through bus lanes and bus gates should aid the recovery of public transport in Edinburgh by providing reliable journey times across the city. This is a win-win for public transport: more priority for buses, and less space for cars. The plans also include proposals for bus stop ‘rationalisation’, which would consolidate the number of bus stops on certain routes. Some have raised concerns about this proposal, and these concerns need to be taken seriously. With action to increase pedestrian space around bus stops however, issues around overcrowding near bus stops should be easily addressed.
Big questions will need to be asked about how public transport operates in the coming months and years. What impact will falling revenues have for Transport for Edinburgh? Will this impact future infrastructure plans like the tram network extension? How can shared mobility services, like the new public hire bikes or e-scooters, be integrated in Edinburgh’s mobility system to make up for the reduction in public transport supply? There’s no doubt these questions will be discussed and explored more in the months ahead.
Credit: Pixabay.
Looking forward
The measures set out by Edinburgh Council of course serve an immediate and pressing purpose: To keep people safe and keep things moving during COVID-19. Many of these measures appear intended to be temporary whilst we deal with this crisis and try to adapt as best as possible to an ever-changing situation. But whilst this is a huge challenge for Edinburgh, this is also perhaps the greatest opportunity there has ever been to change how things are done in the capital. In the coming months, it’s vital to make the case for making these solutions permanent. This is the chance to show how much better our streets and spaces are when they’re designed for people; to give people a taste of a better future for Edinburgh where moving around is easy and where spending time in the city you live is enjoyable and stress-free. Get this right, and people won’t want to go back to a time when cars limited the potential of this incredible city.
It has taken a global crisis to start putting people first in cities. Yes, we all want a return to some form of normality, but things simply cannot go back to the way they were when it comes to urban mobility. This is a once in a generation chance to change how we plan our cities, how we move around, how we interact in urban spaces, and to fundamentally ask what and who cities are really for.
With this new plan, Edinburgh has a golden opportunity to become one the best small cities in the world. Let’s make sure that happens.