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Glasgow and Edinburgh are among least car-friendly

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Published Date: 26 June 2009
By ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
SCOTLAND'S two main cities are among the UK's least "car-friendly", according to a survey to be published today.
Glasgow and Edinburgh are ranked fourth and fifth worst respectively for drivers among the 65 towns and cities assessed – after London, Cardiff and Birmingham. The placings are based on factors such as fuel prices, parking costs and car crime.

Ho
wever, Dundee is named 11th best overall, with its attributes including cheap fuel. Aberdeen is top overall for parking, based on the number of car parks per 1,000 people. The city also has cheap fuel, and is placed 30th best overall.

The survey, by a car insurer, found drivers in Glasgow are also among those most likely to struggle to find a parking space and be at risk of car crime.

Edinburgh has among the most expensive parking and is also among the worst for car crime. However, the city is praised for also having among the cheapest fuel.

The most car-friendly towns and cities in the survey are headed by Telford, St Helens and Southend. The rankings are based on fuel prices, two-hour parking costs, congestion alerts, vehicle crime figures, council car park numbers and speed cameras on main access routes.

Motoring organisations said better provision must be made for cars but pedestrians said people should come first.

Edmund King, the AA president, said: "It is no great surprise it is harder to park in major cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is basically a question of supply and demand. However, if these major Scottish cities are rightly to remain as top international tourist attractions then some more attention should be given to improving parking facilities."

Philip Gomm, a spokesman for the Royal Automobile Club Foundation, said: "Ancient cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow are always going to struggle to accommodate motorists and their cars. However, elected representatives must recognise people usually drive not because they enjoy it, but because they have to.

"No-one wants to see Scotland's great cities gridlocked with vehicles, but there has to be an acceptance that the car is a legitimate form of transport and has to be accommodated alongside other modes of travel."

However, Keith Irving, manager of Living Streets Scotland, said:

"In our city centres especially we should be encouraging people to choose walking, cycling or public transport, and leave the car in the driveway. A city centre designed for cars would be a pretty bleak place.

"Our towns and cities should be rated on how we can live our lives there, rather than how they appear from behind a steering wheel."

A spokesman for Edinburgh city council said: "We remain committed to making journeys into and around the city as quick, easy, cost effective and environmentally friendly as possible through offering a broad range of travel options for residents, businesses and visitors alike."





The full article contains 482 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 25 June 2009 11:14 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Padraig,

26/06/2009 01:27:58
The spokesman for Edinburgh City Council did a good job of not answering the question. It's interesting that Edinburgh's cheap fuel put it ahead of Glasgow - a factor that the local authority has absolutely no control over!

Of course he can't say Edinburgh is car-friendly - the City Council has been working hard for years to drive cars off its roads!

I find Glasgow much better to get around by car and to park in - off street car parks are close to everywhere I want to go! In Edinburgh, on the other hand, we can't even get near what car parks there are because of road works, road closures and "temporary" diversions.

I even saw a double decker Lothian bus doing a six point turn in Hanover Street a couple of weeks ago because the driver had realised that the road was barricaded at the George Street junction - strange thing that - no one can find the restriction order permitting the closure.

Edinburgh City Council isn't such a bunch of cowboys that they would illegally close roads, is it? Or is it?
2

Andrew Morton,

Berkshire 26/06/2009 08:06:53
Cities built before cars are not car friendly? Hmmmmm
3

Jambo-ree,

26/06/2009 09:32:49
"We remain committed to making journeys into and around the city as quick, easy, cost effective and environmentally friendly as possible through offering a broad range of travel options for residents, businesses and visitors alike."

All he forget to add was "just long as it is not by car." There is nothing quick, easy, cost effective or environmentally friendly about the extra miles travellers around Edinburgh have to undertake to work their way around road closures and lengthy diversions caused by you-know-what.

Cooncil is still in huff over the good people of Edinburgh throwing out their idea for a congestion charge.
4

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 26/06/2009 09:50:45
Edinburgh would be in far better shape now if it hadn't been for the ridiculous Begg/Lazarowicz experiment some time ago.

Why did subsequent councils carry on with that madness? A child of five could tell you that blocking off half the roads in a city would cause chaos.

Most of the congestion in Edinburgh is artificially caused and is exacerbated by drivers who don't think ahead and refuse to get a move on. I can generally be across the city centre in half the time it takes most drivers because I think about what I'm doing and keep alert.

I remember driving in Paris a while back when all drivers drove properly. What a difference it made! Traffic flowed a lot better.
5

,

26/06/2009 09:59:30
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
6

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 26/06/2009 10:08:30
#5:

YES THEY DO!!!

With them not being car friendly, the resultant congestion slows down ALL modes of transport, including your beloved buses.

Why should people leave the car at home? The car is often the quickest and most convenient mode of transport.
7

Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties,

Edinburgh 26/06/2009 10:24:19
Alternatively, "Glasgow and Edinburgh are among most people-friendly"
8

El Franko,

26/06/2009 11:11:50
Cars are one of the most marvellous inventions of the 20th century, and while they still look much the same - a wheel at each corner, 4 or so seats facing forward in the middel - there has been superb engineering progress in every component. The exhaust fumes from internal combustion engines have been dramatically cleaned up but still remain a nuisance or even a hazard when there is congestion and/or still weather. Further progress with other fuels, and the potential for electric engines for use in built-up areas keep the star of progress shining. Meanwhile, the drongos of Edinburgh council continue to do whatever they can to hamper and hinder these fantastic vehicles that have become so important. Better to think ahead. How can we preserve the marvellous streets of Edinburgh, and encourage more pedestrian enjoyment of them. Not by barricades, not by digging them up for archaic transport systems soon to be rendered obsolete by electric buses, not by making parking difficult to impossible, not by talking the corrupt talk of the greenies, not by damaging the bus service, not by demonising the car driver. We need more imagination, more careful thought to make the best use of cars. They are not the enemy.
9

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 26/06/2009 11:44:37
#7:

And how are they supposed to be people friendly if they are not friendly to one of the major modes of transport used by people to GET to the city?

In case you hadn't noticed, cars carry people in them. If you are unfriendly to cars, you are unfriendly to people.

Or did you mean "freindly to SELFISH people"?
10

Plodjfriss, Hammer of the Numpties,

Edinburgh 26/06/2009 11:51:58
You never cease to amaze me.
11

Padraig,

26/06/2009 12:17:18
Alternative #4 said "Why did subsequent councils carry on with that madness? A child of five could tell you that blocking off half the roads in a city would cause chaos."

The reason is that young recruits to the City "Development" Department are atually TAUGHT that that is how to "manage" traffic at Napier's David Begg School of Traffic Management - so we have ongoing staff thinking that that is what to do - talk about dumbing down city officials!

So there are now three problems - how to get rid of these numbskulls, how to reeducate the ones that are left and, finally, how to get traffic flowing freely again.

The replacement of roundabouts at enormous cost by often complex traffic light junctions is just a step along the road to creating congestion - traffic lights can be phased to create tailbacks and create congestion.

Sadly, the LibDems seem to be no better than the old, sacked, Labour administration on that subject.
12

TheColourOfUpsideDown,

26/06/2009 17:21:03
Is it not about time the centre of town was made a no go area for cars - from the meadows to stockbridge and top of leith walk to haymarket should be totally car free. There is no need for a car in an urban setting and getting rid of them would vastly increase the efficiency of public transport.
13

McBill,

St.Thomas 26/06/2009 21:31:51
Unfortunately I do not live in Scotland but visit as often as I can. I am in car-friendly Canada, a pathetically bleak corner of the world where traveling on foot is an ordeal of dodging traffic and crossing acres of hot paved lots to go shopping. The nearest city is one of 35,000 people some 15 km from another city with a population of over 350,000 yet there is no public transportation between the two centres.
I cringe when I read of people advocating "car-friendliness" or dedicated yellow school bus systems for Scotland. You have a public transportation system which is truly world-class and makes Scotland a great place to live. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
It seems a bit of a contradiction to read reports in this paper about Scotland's world leading example in reducing emissions along side cries for ways to make car use easier.
I hope to move to Scotland one day and I would be most disappointed to find it had been turned into just another Canada or USA.
14

Sssirhc,

South Edinburgh 20/07/2009 14:49:13
#5 actually made me quite angry, they either do not drive, or actually have never even been to Edinburgh!

Why should I take a bus that:
-isnt immediately there when I want it
-does not drop me off where I need to go
-doesn't have my choice of music
-throws you around and brakes and accelerates heavily
-takes funny routes
-makes a 20 minute car journey last anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half?

Did anyone notice how easy it was to drive around Edinburgh when the last bus strike was on? No stupid bus lanes, less parking rerstrictions, etc!?

 

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