Edinburgh’s Pedal on Parliament is back again this weekend, where hundreds of cyclists will cycle to Holyrood this weekend to protest the accessibility of the city to cyclists.
The protest is planned to take place this Saturday, April 23. The mass cycle is designed to highlight the challenges faced by cyclists in Edinburgh and encourage the government to do more to make Scotland more cycle friendly.
The event has been running since 2012, so this year's cycle will mark a decade of action by the group Pedal on Parliament.
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Normally, the event begins on the Meadows. However, this year cyclists will be taking an alternative route.
Starting outside the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, cyclists will travel along George IV bridge, down High Street, along Market street to the Canongate, then along Canongate before finishing their route outside the parliament building.
The grassroots movement have published their manifesto to the government, laying out their ideas to make Scotland more accessible to cyclists.
They’re asking politicians to agree to allocate 10% of the transport budget to active travel issues, including cycling, and increase that to 20% by the end of the parliamentary term.
They also want the government to implement and enforce stricter speed limits in areas where people live and work, to encourage people to cycle more.
Posting on their website, the group said:
“The majority of Scots don’t cycle, largely because they feel it is too risky. Well-designed, joined-up cycle routes that keep people away from fast and heavy traffic both enable and encourage people to cycle who might not otherwise take the risk.
“ Cycling also benefits others – cutting congestion and pollution by reducing traffic. And yet, even as the Scottish Government makes ambitious plans to cut private car use over the next decade, cycling and active travel still don’t seem to be taken seriously as a part of the solution.
“We call on all Scotland’s politicians, of all parties, to sign up to the following three key policies in order to make cycling a realistic choice for everyone, of all ages and abilities, and show the rest of the UK that cycling doesn’t just belong on continental Europe, but in the country where it all began.”
