St Andrews Space for Cycling (SASC) was one of the organisers of the successful Car Free day in September last year which brought large numbers of people out to enjoy Market Street without having to dodge motor traffic. Hence we are disappointed by the findings of the Playfair study whilst recognising the weight of public opinion against pedestrianisation, at the present time.
Our perspective, which we think is shared by many people locally, is that St Andrews needs to move to a much lower reliance on the car as a means of transport within our beautiful and ancient city.
Whilst being very convenient for individuals to get around, and essential for a minority of road users, motor cars bring huge problems to the community as a whole.
We face a climate emergency: cars are one of the biggest contributors to global warming
Air pollution affects all cities and St Andrews is not immune: levels of asthma are on the up particularly among children, largely as a result of motor vehicle exhausts.
Obesity is climbing owing to the lack of exercise and child pedestrian accidents are one of the main causes of deaths in the UK.
Pedestrianisation provides a simple solution to all these problems, and a look at cities of comparable size to St Andrews across Europe shows many very successful examples, with increased levels of economic activity.
SASC is developing a cycling plan for St Andrews which should make it much easier and safer for those on two wheels to carry out their daily commute or get from home to school. We’d like to hear from anyone who feels the same and would like to join the journey.
Tony Waterston
Chair of SASC
