Andy Cooke
@andycoooke.bsky.social
Cycling, coding, drumming, xylophoning, parenting, cooking, gardening, los chichanos, Gnawa trance fusion, in Edinburgh, Spain, Uganda, the planet... happy to have escaped X!
What's happening here? Maybe something changed part way through 2023 on urban/residential 30mph roads! I wonder if it could be that from Sep 17th 2023 95% of roads with a 30mph limit were changed to 20mph. #20splenty making your place an even better, safer, quieter, fairer place to be!
Thanks for tagging. Will include in the morning newsletter. And the words ‘both look set to remain dire’ really jump out. Do people vote for such lack of progress when they vote? I doubt it. Will also raise this situation a lot when election comes along. The city centre stagnation is embarrassing.
Another shocking case of everyday road violence. A driver of a double decker bus. 45 mph in a 30 zone. Scrolling through TikTok on his phone. Hit a man crossing the road and causes life changing injuries. Less than 3 years in jail and just a 3 yr ban www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...
Speeding bus driver was scrolling through phone before smashing into pedestrian
Liam Beamson was doing 45mph in a 30 zone while repeatedly looking at his phone and didn't see a man crossing the road in Byker until it was too late
chroniclelive.co.uk
I’ve just walked back down and almost every car has been here for over 2 hours, generating next to zero footfall over that period. Free parking 5 minutes from Waverley? Crazy stuff from the council.
Sat for a coffee at Elm Row and counted the traffic for 15 minutes: 343 pedestrians 52 cyclists 2 cars Remind me why we’ve turned this public square into a car park? This is probably the best connected retail location in Scotland - trams, buses, walkable, busy cycle lane. Why ruin it?
The broken paving on the continuous footway at Dalmeny St / Leith Walk has been repaired with tarmac, undermining the whole design. It now looks like pedestrians and cyclists are crossing a road, rather than drivers crossing a continuous footway.
Already highly flawed - pavement and bike lane not very raised, no Dutch kerb on the exit, Edinburgh’s insistence of not using proper colour for bike lanes AND left turn into traffic lights you can’t see - this is now even worse.
Leith Feeder Ride@leithfeederride.bsky.social · 3w agoThe broken paving on the continuous footway at Dalmeny St / Leith Walk has been repaired with tarmac, undermining the whole design. It now looks like pedestrians and cyclists are crossing a road, rather than drivers crossing a continuous footway.
Extreme weather during summer 2026 is estimated to have cost the EU 180 billion Euros But still governments refuse to acknowledge the scale of the threat and turn away from any serious, effective, action Hard to comprehend really www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ‘summer of truth’
Amid record-shattering heatwaves and popular demand for climate action, why are politicians often timid or in denial?
theguardian.com
🚲 NEWS: More bikes than cars on Leith Walk in morning rush hour; record cycle counts and record cycling modal share on multiple routes in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Delve into the latest data from Cycling Scotland traffic surveys and cycle counter analysis: buff.ly/IoWdSMB
#EdTravelCyc there must have been problems with the sequence of lights at the top of leith walk as more than 20 bikes were queued up yesterday (5:20pm-ish)
New York launching 100 policies for the next ten years. 👇
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 4w agoWe’re: — Redesigning our most dangerous streets. — Regulating delivery apps. — Lowering speed limits where children play. — Upgrading 1,000 intersections every year. — Cracking down on dangerous drivers and super speeders. — Improving our street lights. — Building safe, beautiful public spaces.
We will use an opposition debate on Wednesday to force a vote on strengthening the Scottish Government’s boycott of Israel greens.scot/news/greens-...
Greens force vote to close loopholes in Scottish Government Israel boycott
Greens force vote to close loopholes in Scottish Government Israel boycott - Scotland's parliament voted for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel
greens.scot
#EdTravCyc It is now possible to cycle south along Restalrig Road without having to dodge the same holes and ruts that have been there for at least sixteen years. Not sure what we're supposed to do with these daft wee lane markings, though.
Careful of the bike racks at Morrisons on Ferry Rd, Edinburgh - a couple of them can be lifted right out of the paving. #EdTravCyc 🚲 🔐
Larger cars are not just wise for the environment They are objectively less safe for pedestrians We need tax on cars by weight and size And a ban on advertising www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Britain’s cars and SUVs are growing bigger – but there is a way to stop this deadly ‘carspreading’ | Christian Wolmar
Larger vehicles crowd our roads and are far more dangerous to pedestrians. Let’s curb them before they do even more damage, says says transport commentator Christian Wolmar
theguardian.com
@sw20.info coaches on double yellows (with blips), Charlotte Sq. Parking lady said she only moves them on when there are no passengers on board (yellow bus, snapped later, only had a driver onboard). These are carrying tourists visiting Bute House & its museum. strange arrangement...
Ghost sign! (The paint has washed off, Picardy Place). Recently a cyclist in front of me braked suddenly when she saw it, and I nearly ran in to her.
Hey, Edinburgh: paint is not protection.
Jon Owen@anotherjon.bsky.social · last mo.Research undertaken here in the UK (see below) found that unprotected 'paint-only' cycle lanes are actually worse than nothing at all, so their only purpose is for a local authority to be seen to be delivering some cycle provision. road.cc/content/news...
This is such drivel that I have to post it again Spending on HS2 - a couple of hundred miles of railway between London to Birmingham - £100 BILLION + Spending to tackle wildfires and extreme weather - 'almost a £100 million' It just beggars belief www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A Britain of wildfires and flood risks: be sure, the climate crisis is real, and we will deal with it | Angela Eagle
Reform and the Conservatives are willing to mislead the public, but as environment secretary, I believe we must be honest – and act boldly, says Angela Eagle
theguardian.com
What are you supposed to do when you arrive at one end of George St with your children… …expecting there to be a continuous and safe *link* across the city? “Link” being the L part of CCWEL
Professor Peter Matthews@urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 2mo agoCycling west on George Street, when you get to Charlotte Square, what are you supposed to do?! The four of us waiting at the lights* tonight did four completely different things. * 50% of them involved not waiting for the lights to go green!
We're being dragged into a future we didn't ask for and don't want, and the response of the Westminster political class is a mixture of cowardice, indifference, and outright support for the Silicon Valley technofascists who want to steal our jobs and destroy our democracies.
No. We need to enable more walking and cycling, not just encourage. Swapping car trips for active travel reduces emissions & is healthier. The UK isn't doing enough. With a lot of councils being Reform controlled there is a real risk of backsliding. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Heatwaves show UK must do more to promote cycling and walking, campaigners say
Civil society groups argue climate crisis means transport sector needs to urgently reduce its carbon emissions
theguardian.com
Drilling for more oil in the north sea would have far more negative consequences than any benefits. We need to leave it in the ground. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Climate damage would obliterate any economic benefits of new North Sea fields, analysis shows
Exclusive: Economic harm of CO2 pollution from Rosebank and Jackdaw forecast to far outweigh any boost to UK
theguardian.com
Streets come alive when cars are removed Cowgate, Edinburgh (also noting that far too many private hires were being allowed through, spoiling the ambiance & putting people on edge)
2040 - Limits to Growth 2020 update predicts start of societal collapse assuming business as usual 2042 - @andyburnham.bsky.social wants World Cup back in UK Parallel worlds www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Andy Burnham says he wants to bring men’s World Cup back to UK in 2042
PM tells regional mayors he is keen for tournament to be hosted in UK for first time since 1966
theguardian.com
This newly re-done junction at Summerhall puts cyclists at serious risk of left-hooks The desireline for people on bikes is straight on, but for cars it’s turning left Suitable for ages 8 to 80 ??? - We think not Edinburgh’s roads designers are morally bankrupt!
