Many roads to less congestion

Congestion has been something of a taboo subject in Edinburgh since the failure of the 2-a-day charging scheme referendum in 2005, but the problems haven't gone away.

My spell of driving to work coincided with the run-up to the congestion charge vote and every morning was a reminder of why the city desperately needed to act.

Traffic levels in the city are expected to increase by a quarter within ten years, with delays due to congestion predicted to double over the same period.

However, those who drive regularly in the city will have noticed something of a hiatus just now thanks to the school holidays. The next six weeks might be a nightmare for parents but they will be a welcome reprieve for motorists.

I recall shaving at least ten minutes off my journey through the city and over to Fife during the summer. It is important to understand the impact the school run has on the city's congestion problems.

A simple step would surely be to reintroduce school buses for both primary and secondary pupils. It could take hundreds of cars off the rush-hour roads.

It works in a number of local authorities across the UK, most notably in Yorkshire, where they have introduced American-style yellow school buses. It could work in Edinburgh.

A cheaper alternative would be giving children free travel on Lothian Buses, though I'm not sure that would go down too well with other bus users.

In January, News readers said the level of disruption on the city's roads was as bad as they could remember. The situation - as many of our ebullient website commentators pointed out at the time - is only likely to get worse.

Trams are coming but the route will serve only a fraction of the Capital's population, so other things need to be considered and making the most of what we have got is the aim of a new system about to be launched city-wide.

Over the next few weeks, the last few cameras which track car number plates will be in place across the city.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras - used in London to collect the congestion charge - will be positioned at 62 points around the Capital to track traffic flow.

The system takes images of vehicle number plates and works out what route a vehicle takes and how quickly, by reading the plate every time it passes a camera.

The information will allow transport chiefs to alter traffic lights according to where bottlenecks are at peak times, during special events, for example.

The 600,000 system will eventually feed messages on to signs to be placed by the main routes into Edinburgh which tell drivers how long a journey to key destinations in the city is expected to take.

Council chiefs are adamant the ANPR system was commissioned only for traffic flow purposes.

But the News obtained a copy of the contract the council signed to have the cameras installed and shared it with one of the country's leading ANPR experts.

He said the system could be easily scaled up to gather information for a congestion charge system similar to that used in London.

The spectre of congestion charging is not likely to go away, given the current government's stated agenda, although it is unlikely to resurface in Edinburgh for some time, if at all.

And it is interesting to note similar ANPR cameras are also in place across Scotland's motorway network, though used only by police at present.

Edinburgh's ANPR system remains benign for now but could come in handy if a future administration, or indeed central government, were to override the council's current position and decide to introduce congestion charging.

Cutting down on congestion would also have considerable health benefits for the city. We are just three years away from the council picking up hefty EU fines for poor air quality at a number of hotspots across the city. In truth, a mixed-bag approach is probably the best way forward for Edinburgh. Park and rides are probably the best example of this.

They recognise the fact that people want the convenience of driving from their home but don't want to be caught up in congestion in the city centre. The park and rides built across the city have proved successful, possibly with the exception of Newcraighall, but the slow rate at which new ones are being built is a concern.

Improved bus routes and better enforcement of the Greenways scheme would help, as would more cycle routes and expansion of the city car club, which also helps cut congestion.

And finally, there is still scope for sensible road building.

The upgrading of the A8000 link to the M9 is a good example of the type of tinkering required with the roads network and we will find out in around ten weeks, when it opens, how effective it is in alleviating congestion at one of Scotland's worst traffic pinch points.