The draft City Mobility Plan was published this Friday (10/01/2020) and sets out the city's plan for becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The Plan seeks to create a bold, new, strategic framework for the safe and effective movement of people, goods and services around Edinburgh whilst seeking to address the associated environmental and health impacts. It is intended that the draft Plan will go to consultation for an 8-week period from 31 January 2020 to 27 March 2020. 

The public and stakeholder consultation will focus on the draft Plan’s vision and actions, objectives, the new policy measures and themes and the approach to the development of a future monitoring framework. The Plan sets out three key milestone years 2022, 2025 and 2030 by when a number of actions will have to be completed by. These include: 

2022

• Tram route to Newhaven will be complete
• A comprehensive review of bus routes in the city will have taken place
• The Low Emissions Zone will be in place

2025

• A comprehensive mass rapid transit plan for the city and region will be completed.
• The business case for a north south tram line will be agreed, linking Granton to the Bio Quarter and beyond
• A new bus strategy will be agreed, including stops, routes, and public transport interchanges.
• George Street will be transformed
• Air pollution levels will have been significantly reduced following the introduction of a low emission cordon around the city centre and the city boundary
• Income from a workplace parking levy will have been invested in public transport.

2030

• The mass transit network, including tram routes, will have been extended west to Newbridge - connecting the Waterfront to the Royal Infirmary
• The city's seven park and rides will be upgraded
• Arterial routes will be being used for "mass commuting by bike"
• The city centre will be largely car-free
• Iconic streets will be pedestrianised
• Seamless ticketing will allow passengers to move between different forms of transport. 

The draft Plan also puts forward a strategic approach to planning new developments to ensure the creation of dense mixed-use developments that enables sustainable transport. In 2019 CIHT published the advice Better Planning, Better Transport, Better Places which focuses on the critical practical steps that can be taken by planning professionals, developers, advisers, and local communities to deliver more sustainable transport through integration of planning and transport. 

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Source: www.democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk