Edinburgh plans to be 'leading European city' - Your views online

Edinburgh will be one of the leading cities in Europe for clean, green, efficient travel within a decade, transport convener Scott Arthur claimed as he unveiled the latest parts of the council’s vision for the Capital.

Gus Stewart: I stopped cycling when I left school over 50 years ago. I like walking but that’s sadly curtailed nowadays due to an incurable lung condition, a heart defect and general poor health. My wife is disabled. Where do we fit into your vision or you hoping we pop our clogs before never-never land is a reality?

Callum Hardy: What you are doing is punishing people, not incentivising. Look at The Hague or Rotterdam – they incentivise cycling, walking and public transport, they don’t punish and tax. If something is cheaper and faster people will lap it up, if it’s not, they won’t.

Sam Smith: When was this mythical time motorists keep quoting that “traffic flowed freely through Edinburgh’s expansive boulevards”? Complete nonsense. Edinburgh suffered gridlock in the ’70s and ’80s. Since then car ownership in Scotland has doubled from 1.5 million then to more than three million now. And of course everyone thinks they have the right to drive and park in our cities. Never going to work.

The plan includes key corridors into the city where public transport, walking and cycling would be given priority

Warren Burrows: Ask Scott Arthur to look at the mess his department oversees in the city centre and he isn’t interested and that’s because it’s the basics – something that entire department is not interested in. If it’s not some great scheme they dont want to know.

Claire AA Eadie: You need to get the foundations in a decent state before the titivation!

John Hewit: I could probably live with it if they were to run the trams 24 hours. I am one of the lucky few close to a tram stop. I work shifts and can start very early and finish very late. Public transport isn’t an option when you are public transport!

Morag Smith: How on Earth do the Edinburgh residents keep voting in people like this? Edinburgh wasn't “congested” until the traffic planners shut off roads, narrowed roads, put in chicanes, one-way roads, advanced cycle lanes, bus lanes, speed bumps, 20mph zones etc.

Ken Jobling: I think it became “congested” because of the number of cars.

Stephan Malloy: If he could bring a Southern European climate to go with his plans then I’m happy to oblige. Though most of the time I'm happy with a roof, AC and heated seats of my car.

Jackie Wright: Here we go again. How can Edinburgh become greener when there are so many roads that are now only single lane with massive congestion and engines running? Sort that outal – aong with the potholes and the state of the pavements – first.

Eilidh Lawrence: Another way for car owners to be disadvantaged. So much money is being spent on the wrong aspects of the city’s transport systems. Filling in potholes would be a good place to start

Karl Olifant: Oh yes, fill in the potholes so driver can sail right past the shops they didn’t use when the same roads were open, like Leith Walk.

Jenny Pirie: Potholes, endless roadworks, graffiti, rubbish, shops closing everywhere, scaffolding and building works abound, general neglect, squalor and decay – but giving cyclists etc priority will definitely make us a top European city. Please give your head a wobble.

Craig Jones: Let’s start off with the council… let’s see them all go car-free for a month and see how they get on.

Vincent van Rockatansky: What the is Edinburgh actually aiming for? some kind of public transport student/tourist utopia? Billions spent on hare-brained schemes and the council have been at the trams for about 20 years and they are still not finished. Great – net zero by 2030 but nothing to cycle round except student accommodation and hotels. But never mind, you’ll be the best in Europe at it and that’s all that matters.

Andrew MacDonald: People want an integrated transport system with safe spaces to walk and cycle. Look at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Ljubljana etc. They did it and we can too. Just try and rely on the car a bit less.

Tam Bruce: The city is run by idiots in the High Street with their pet projects. Most probably they don’t even come from Edinburgh.

Paul Wilson: If they tamper any more with traffic signals they’ll all be on red permanently.