Reposted by Martin McD
#GeorgeStreet #PrincesStreet
🙋 Spokes #TrafficCount
! 🚲 are 1 in 3 of all traffic
! #VoiBikes success
! #CCWEL #MissingLink vital
--> www.spokes.org.uk/2026/10/city...
@edi.bike @chdot.bsky.social @edfoc.bsky.social @edtiss.bsky.social @davidfkey.bsky.social @chasbooth.bsky.social @sw20.info
![From the spokes article...
[also artist impression of Richard Murphy proposals, showing much widened footways, tram/bus lanes and bike lanes]
The Ambitious Pragmatism content and rationale were laid out in an overall presentation and a more specific briefing on transport aspects. As can be seen from the above slide, the Princes Street element of this basically comprises repaving footways, some widening to the south footway, improved seating and garden accesses.
The Complete Rethink was exemplified by a presentation from Richard Murphy, expanding on his earlier material as in our 25 Feb article. Since his presentation is 36MB, and includes a lot on Princes Street gardens, we have not uploaded it, but have extracted relevant slides around Princes Street itself.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2ood4k4wojq5jku2zl3myqco/bafkreigcgcdv6xvsrxb6esa5feclhqqrw2cb6zo3d27uoe4rlbbz7d2gna)
![Spokes input
Although the only presentations at the workshop were by officers and professionals, points made by Spokes during discussions included…
Whilst George Street is important for many bike journeys, for many others there is no sensible alternative to Princes Street. For example, to use George Street when travelling from Waverley station/ Waverley Bridge to the West End would entail turning right off Princes Street whilst crossing tramlines [see section 1 of our February article]
We believe that cycling is at least as prevalent on Princes Street as on George Street, and is likely to grow with the increasing use of the Voi bikes in the city centre. The Council has not published any figures on this, and Spokes hopes to organise a count after the Festival
The dangers of bike/tramline crashes on Princes Street are real, not imagined, and we are not convinced that this, and the resulting injuries, are being taken seriously enough. For example, this is not mentioned in the above transport-issues paper. Yet, see this BBC Scotland report detailing crashes, injuries, the death of Zhi Min Soh, and compensation paid by the Council following early successful court cases brought by victims. Here is a more recent example, from January 2026. Fortunately, the rate of crashes appears to have declined since the early years, as the Council has tackled known blackspots. However, analysis of tramline crashes reported to Spokes suggests, perhaps unexpectedly, that roughly 50% occur not at crossing-point blackspots, but at random locations when the cyclist is travelling in the same direction as the tramlines, not needing to cross them, but is forced into them by traffic, or encounters them for other reasons. The only realistic safety solution is physical separation from the tramlines.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2ood4k4wojq5jku2zl3myqco/bafkreiavlhooti26qcdeoytdgtyamcb34aba4vmlxssqhvusd5nf4dwch4)
