Conveners Transported

Edinburgh’s transport convenership has moved from Cllr Scott Arthur – now Scott Arthur MP – to Stephen Jenkinson, councillor for Pentland Hills ward. Cllr Jenkinson intends to continue chairing the Transport & Environment Committee [TEC] in the consensual way developed by his predecessor, but with greater emphasis on delivery – intentions which we very much welcome.

We asked Cllr Jenkinson for a quick comment on how he saw active travel, within the Council’s overall transport and sustainability policies, and he replied…

“Over the last few years much of the focus of the committee has been on developing, enhancing and refining plans and strategies of which active travel and cycling are key components. I see us moving into more of a delivery phase now which is quite exciting. Edinburgh is a congested city; to keep it moving we do need modal shift, we do need to reduce car usage especially in the City Centre, therefore we do need to focus on active travel and mass public transport alternatives if we are going to have a chance of meeting the targets we have set ourselves.”

There is much to welcome in this short statement, including confirmation of council targets, rapid policy delivery, reduced car usage, and a focus on active travel and mass public transport.

Also vital, however, is reducing the need to travel – for example by enhancing facilities and opportunities in local areas. And, to meet the Council’s incredibly taxing target of 30% car-km reduction, more emphasis on demand-management is essential, certainly including parking restraint, but also congestion charging (given that the Council has now rejected a levy on businesses for parking spaces at workplaces – and ideally at car-based retail and leisure).

Cllr Arthur moves on

Cllr Scott Arthur announced at the August Transport & Environment Committee [TEC] that he would be stepping down as Convener, due to his new responsibilties as an MP, and explained the background in a useful interview with the Edinburgh Reporter. Tributes were also paid by the Council Leader and Cllr Jenkinson.

Below are a few comments on Cllr Arthur’s time as Convener. Incidentally, we hope that as an MP he will continue his bike-borne video commentaries of local transport and other issues – a great way to see and illustrate local matters of interest or concern, and perhaps something for Cllr Jenkinson to consider!

Committee management

Whilst the Council has a Labour administration, it is easy to forget that it is far from being in full control. With only 2 Labour councillors out of 11 on TEC (and 11 out of 63 on the full council) chairing the Council’s perhaps highest profile committee is no easy task. However, Cllr Arthur impressed many with his consensual and effective approach, as in this fulsome tribute by Green councillor Kayleigh O’Neill.

Whilst the Labour administration has indeed been kept in power at budget time by Lib Dem and Conservative votes, the Transport Committee has been run very much on an issue-by-issue basis seeking agreement on policies. Discussion before and during the meeting addressed specific concerns from each party, usually (though not always!) resulting in successful composite motions which represented an environmentally positive solution, and won the vote, often opposed only by the Conservatives. This contrasts with one party (or a coalition) being in overall control, where the other parties are often treated as, and behave as, opposition, and have little influence on decisions.

The consensual approach was obvious throughout, from Scott Arthur’s very first TEC [see addendum here] where Labour, SNP and Greens voted together on extending parking controls, against Lib Dems and Conservatives, right through to the last, where Labour, SNP, Greens and Lib Dems voted together on modified motions supporting 7-7-7 bus lanes and retaining the St James pedestrian area. Nor have the modified motions been lowest common denominator – rather, they have usually added valuable insights, for example adding Labour bus and net-zero concerns to a then successful Green motion on the Covid cycle lane traffic orders.

Legacy

In terms of policies, the ban on pavement parking (and double-parking) was a highlight of Scott Arthur’s convenership. Once the Scottish Parliament put the law into effect, Edinburgh went ahead with a rapid but well thought-out and successful implementation [see ‘update’ para here], including a tough ‘no-exemptions’ approach, despite the predicted public backlash. Most Scottish councils were more fearful, and seemed to be waiting to see what happened in Edinburgh before implementing the ban in their own area. If only we could see similar speedy but effective action in other controversial Edinburgh transport policy areas!

Other positives (this is not an exhaustive list) include…

• Going ahead with the ETRO Orders which look set to retain the vast bulk of the ‘Travelling Safely’ covid active travel schemes. There was, of course, backsliding at Silverknowes and a crazy continuing saga (which will plague the new Convener) in the Braid Estate, threatening the Quiet Route to the Meadows; though threats to the Comiston Road scheme were rectified. We were also very disappointed that some of the schemes scrapped by the previous Council were not reinstated – e.g. the uphill Morningside Road cycle lane and many of the shopping-street footway extensions which had replaced kerbside parking
• Pushing forward a 7-7-7 bus lane trial on a major route, and resisting official and union pressure to allow private hire cars
• Getting government approval to increase bus lane infringment fines from £60 to £100
• Supporting officers firmly and publicly, in the face of highly vocal minority voices, on several issues, but notably on Corstorphine Connections low traffic scheme, including many visits to the area.

There are big disappointments too (and neither is this an exhaustive list) …

• The Council has an incredibly tough target (and targets have been reaffirmed by the new Convener) to reduce car-km 30% by 2030. Experts agree that even to get near such a target requires strong demand management, almost certainly involving some form of charging. However, proposals for an Edinburgh workplace parking levy were dropped (although Edinburgh Labour councillors largely supported the principle of a WPL when the act was going through Parliament). A congestion charge would anyway probably be more effective, and was spoken of positively by Cllr Arthur early in his convenership, but little seems to have happened since.
• At first sight, the excellent Future Streets policy, incorporating an innovative Circulation Plan and bold City Centre Transformation (see diagram) should deserve a place in the first list above. The Transformation would remove all private through-traffic from the city centre by use of multiple traffic filters and bus-gates. BUT, city centre implementation, which at one time was spoken of as hopefully in 2025 or 2026, now seems likely to be split into multiple stages, with ever-lengthening timescales. And North Bridge, which is slated to be bus/tram, taxi, cycle, walk-only in the Transformation policy, and has been closed to northbound traffic for 3 years for major refurbishment, has now been reopened to all 2-way traffic – a huge missed opportunity, rather than reopening to bus/taxi/cycle/walk-only.

• There has also been much poor cycleroute design (e.g. Leith Walk and Elm Row) largely associated with the tramline extension. To be fair, the designs largely pre-date the present council and were hard to fix by the time of construction, due to the tramline contract legalities.

In summary, Cllr Jenkinson, the new Convener, certainly has plenty on his plate, and we hope he will maintain his emphasise on delivery – hopefully with quality as well as the all-important timeousness!