THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH DRIVERS

IN SCOTLAND

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With all this talk about congestion charges, road pricing, trams in Edinburgh and the like I thought you might like this photograph for the ABD website to dispel a few myths about how efficient public transport will be when they reintroduce the trams to Edinburgh. I recall as a young lad aged 15-16 standing in bus queues night after night with over fifty people at a time in the freezing cold weather and after a long hard day at work, watched as bus after bus drove right past full to the gunnels.

With the de-regulation of the buses and the closure of St Andrews Street Bus Station we see the same chaos in the City that there has always been and re-routing the traffic away from Princes Street and other parts of Edinburgh hasn't helped as buses double park in front of the Scott Monument, cause jams at the West End, The Bridges, Leith Street etc.

I am sure if you were to visit the Edinburgh Room in the Central Library you will find similar pictures of traffic jams in all these places back in the days of the horse and cart.

I hope this photograph will help you illustrate what a stupid idea it would be to reintroduce the tramcar to Edinburgh. The tramcar is a very good means of public transport and it is put to great use in cities such as Dortmund and Melbourne where these cities have been designed post WW2 with a public transport system in mind.

Our Area Co-ordinator Bruce Young comments:-

Of course it wouldn't look like this nowadays -

1/ There is to be only one line, so trams will meet only in passing. The buses may have jams like this, though, having lost part of the roadway to the trams.
2/ They will be singledecked three unit trains so shall take up much more road space.
3/ These crowds don't come into Princes Street any more - the ubiquitous parking attendants discourage city centre shopping.

 

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