Pedal on Parliament

Pedal on Parliament is a grassroots campaign group that wants Scotland to be a place where active travel is safe and enjoyable. Set up in 2012, it seeks improvements to make conditions on Scotland's roads suitable for those aged from 8 to 80. Events have been held annually, which for the first seven years centred around people cycling through Edinburgh to the Parliament. A simultaneous ride in Aberdeen was introduced in 2015. In 2018, events took place over two days in Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen. In 2019, there was a switch to local events being organised, with 20 events planned between the Friday and Sunday.

Manifesto

The campaign has an eight-point manifesto of areas for improvement towards making Scotland a cycle-friendly nation:[1]

  1. Proper funding for cycling
  2. Design cycling into Scotland’s roads
  3. Safer speeds where people live, work and play
  4. Integrate cycling into local transport strategies
  5. Sensible road traffic law and enforcement
  6. Reduce the risk of HGVs to cyclists and pedestrians
  7. A strategic and joined-up programme of road user training
  8. Solid research on cycling to support policy-making

Pedal on Parliament ride

Each year, a ride has followed a route from The Meadows to the Scottish Parliament. The main ride gathers at Middle Meadow Walk, and then travels via George IV Bridge and the Royal Mile. The ride down to the parliament is carried out at a leisurely pace as there are many children, some on balance bikes, and also people walking alongside that are not able to cycle for whatever reason. It is policed mainly by Edinburgh-based Police on bikes, who also ride in with some of the local feeder rides. This can exceed 200 cyclists, and takes around 30 minutes for the end of the ride to leave the Meadows. During the ride, road in the area are closed to traffic.[2]

Participants in the main riders assemble at the parliament where speeches are then given by activists, politicians and others.

A minute's silence has been held at these rides, to remember those unfortunate cyclists who have been killed on the roads.[3] In contrast, ringing of bike bells has also been used to celebrate cycling, and to signal agreement with speakers.[4]

Feeder rides

A series of "feeder rides" are organised from various locations around Edinburgh and Scotland. These allow people to cycle to the event in a group, with the benefit of safety in numbers as well as being a sociable occasion. The feeder rides are often joined by people en route to the Meadows, either at pre-defined points, or ad-hoc. There was also a guided ride back to the Meadows along quiet streets after the event was over.

History

Pedal on Parliament is a grassroots campaign which first organised a protest ride in 2012 in response to the death of McNicoll and the lack of investment in cycling.[5] Before the group was formed, there was no national cycling campaign for Scotland.[6] After the large turnout in 2012, the group realised that their work would need to continue.[7] The group are now one of the organisations that take part in Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party group on cycling.[8]

Inaugural 2012 event

The first event took place on Saturday 28 April 2012, with between 2500-3000 people in attendance.[9] After gathering at the Meadows, a two minute science was held, before the ride was lead off by Mark Beaumont and people cycled down to the parliament where they delivered a petition that had been signed by over 3000 people.[10] This rally had followed several meetings between Government and road safety professionals and safety campaigners.[11]

2013 event

The second event was held on Sunday 19 May 2013. The procession of 4000 cyclists were led by the families of Audrey Fyfe and Andrew McNicoll who were both killed while cycling in Edinburgh,[12] as well as the athlete Graeme Obree.[13] Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, received the campaign's eight-point manifesto.[13]

2014 event

The third Pedal on Parliament was held on 26 April 2014, and was the largest yet, with estimates of over 4500 people attending.[14] The event had started at midday due to allow for the football match traffic later that day and the Great Edinburgh Run being held the following day.

Speeches were introduced by David Brennan, one of the organisers,[15] and began with the views from three children, who were followed by a number of MSPs and campaign leaders:

Several other MSPs and councillors were at the event, primarily from Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.[16][17]

2015 event

The fourth event was held on Saturday 25 April 2015. Transport Minister Derek Mackay attended the event along with representatives of all the main political parties.[2]

Speeches were again held outside the Parliament, following a minute's silence for those who have been killed on the roads.[18]

Pedal on Marischal, Aberdeen

A simultaneous ride was also held in Aberdeen, from Hazlehead Park to Marischal College, to increase the profile of cycling in the city.[19] Around 150 people gathered at the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council and were met by councilors from a range of parties.[20]

2016 event

A fifth mass ride event was held on 23 April 2016, during the run up to the Scottish elections, with a main ride in Edinburgh and a simultaneous ride in Aberdeen.[21] The Edinburgh ride was attended by the leaders of three political parties- Kezia Dugdale, Willie Rennie and Patrick Harvie.[22] It was the second year that Derek Mackay, Scotland's Minister for Transport, took part.[23]

2017 events

In 2017, local elections were being held and organisers planned to have rides over two days, initially announcing rides in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.[24] A ride in Inverness was announced later.[25][26]

In Aberdeen there were around 100 people on the ride,[27] while there were around 120 people on the Inverness ride.[28]

2018 events

In 2018, the main ride in Edinburgh took place leaving from the Meadows at midday on April 28.[29] A ride was held in Inverness the same day.[30] On the following day, a ride in Aberdeen went from Hazlehead Park to Union Street.[31] A decision was made by organizers not to hold a ride in Glasgow in 2018.[32]

2019 events

In 2019 there was no main ride to the Scottish Parliament, with a switch to local events being organised and 20 events were planned between the Friday and Sunday.[33] For the first time there was an event in Dundee.[34] In Glasgow there was an event calling for a safe pedestrian crossing area at Victoria Park.[35] An event at Bearsden was intended to raise pressure towards completion of the "Bears Way" cycle route.[36]

References
  1. "The Manifesto Making Scotland a cycle-friendly nation". Pedal on Parliament. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  2. Miller, David (25 April 2015). "Thousands take part in Pedal on Parliament in Edinburgh". BBC News.
  3. Clarke, Stuart (27 April 2015). "Thousands take part in Pedal on Parliament in Edinburgh". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  4. Moyes, Vonny (25 April 2016). "Let's face it - cycling has an image problem". The National. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  5. Hinchcliffe, Sally (24 May 2013). "Why we pedalled on the Scottish parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  6. Hinchcliffe, Sally (16 April 2014). "Pedal on Parliament: the stakes are high ahead of Scottish referendum". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  7. Hinchcliffe, Sally (23 April 2015). "The other political campaign in Scotland – for better cycling". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  8. "MSPs: Cross-Party Groups: Cycling". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  9. "Pedal on Parliament: Introducing the campaign for safer cycling". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. Swarbrick, Susan (28 April 2012). "Hoy and Obree back bid for safer cycling". The Herald. Newsquest. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  11. Scott, Kirsty (21 March 2012). "Safe cycling campaign pedals to Scottish parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  12. Swarbrick, Susan (20 May 2013). "Pedal power lobby team calls for safer roads for cyclists". The Herald. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  13. "Graeme Obree leads 4000-strong Holyrood cycle campaign". Sunday Herald. Newsquest. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  14. BBC Scotland News report about Pedal on Parliament 2014. www.youtube.com. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  15. "Thousands take part in Pedal on Parliament event in Edinburgh". BBC News. 26 April 2014.
  16. "Meet the MSPs". Pedal on Parliament. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  17. "Pedal on Parliament, 2014 Popliticians". SPOKES. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  18. "Minister pledges record spending at fourth Pedal on Parliament". Pedal on Parliament. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  19. "Pedal on Parliament – PoP Aberdeen". Aberdeen Cycle Forum. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  20. Ewen, David (27 April 2015). "Aberdeen ride highlights safety for cyclists". Evening Express. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  21. "Cyclists' join 'pedal on parliament' demo in Edinburgh". BBC News. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  22. "VIDEO: Thousands of cyclists demonstrate outside Scottish Parliament". The Herald. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  23. Dalton, Alastair (21 April 2016). "Record turnout expected for Pedal on Parliament". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  24. "POP Goes Large – save the dates: 22nd and 23rd April" (Press release). Pedal on Parliament. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  25. Munro, Alistair (23 March 2017). "Campaign launched to make Inverness a cycle-friendly city". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  26. Aird, Helen (20 April 2017). "Pedal power call for cycle support". Inverness Courier. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  27. "Cyclists across Scotland turn to pedal power to demand a better deal". Evening Express. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  28. Ramage, Iain (24 April 2017). "Inverness cyclists call for more pedestrian routes". Press and Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  29. "Thousands of cyclists descend on Parliament to call for safer roads". The Herald. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  30. Munro, Alastair (30 April 2018). "Highland Green MSP gets on his bike to campaign for lower speed limits". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  31. Paton, Craig (30 April 2018). "Cyclists in push for better infrastructure in Aberdeen". Evening Express. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  32. "Why Glasgow won't be going to PoP" (Press release). Pedal on Parliament. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  33. Dalton, Alastair (25 April 2019). "Pedal on Parliament protests planned across Scotland this weekend to boost cycle safety". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  34. Asquith, Mark (28 April 2019). "IN PICTURES: Cyclists transform Slessor Gardens". The Courier. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  35. "Glasgow campaigners to hold protest for safe crossing at Victoria Park". Evening Times. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  36. "Bid to complete "Bears Way"". Kirkintilloch Herald. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
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