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RNZ News
7 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Buses replace trains all long weekend in Wellington
Passengers in Wellington should expect more travel time this weekend as busses replace trains across all rail lines. Greater Wellington Transport Committee Thomas Nash spoke to Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Scotsman
23-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Don't let them get away with stifling our city by stealth
Ask any car or van driver and they will confirm that Edinburgh City Council will do all it can to make it as hard as possible to get around. It often seems like our buses are deliberately caught up in the created gridlock too as daft traffic schemes have knock-on effects. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Yet it is often hard to see how the council does this because the individual schemes involved are considered one by one with no clear layout to show the combined effect. This week's Transport Committee changed that with a map hidden away in a minor report about Holyrood Park where the council is working with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to close the roads. Any car driver in Edinburgh will confirm that the council will do all it can to make it as hard as possible to get around, says Iain Whyte This is a key issue for the residents I represent in Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward as the weekend park road closures regularly bring long queues on Duddingston Road West. The current closure of Duddingston Low Road for rock falls is making this all-week long. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The map exposed the very limited network of main roads that the council thinks should be available to 'general traffic' – cars and vans to me and you – in the east of Edinburgh. The four are Seafield Road, London Road/Willowbrae Road, Holyrood Park through to Holyrood Road and Niddrie Mains Road. What is obvious is that if the eco-zealots get their way and close the roads in Holyrood Park there will be no main east-west route between Queen Street and Craigmillar. The map is part of the council's Circulation Plan which it hides under the name 'Our Future Streets'. This works in tandem with another council strategy called the City Mobility Plan. It is very rare for the council to admit what the combined impact of the many individual projects in these will be. What about the remaining main roads? Niddrie Mains Road is to become a '20-minute neighbourhood' with bus and cycle lanes, narrowing and even 'raised tables' – speed bumps in plain terms. The Seafield route is planned to have road narrowing and cycle lanes at Salamander Street, a big reduction in traffic lanes at the Harry Lauder junction and a 'vision' of a local high street feel if the council's plan for housing at Seafield ever happens. If one route closes and two are narrowed and clogged only one is left. That means displaced traffic to local residential streets and no way to get about for individuals and businesses who need a vehicle. I represent the east, but it will be the same in the south and the west. Don't let them get away with stifling our city by stealth. Let your councillors know what you think. Iain Whyte is Conservative Councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston ward and Leader of the Conservative Group on Edinburgh City Council
BreakingNews.ie
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- BreakingNews.ie
TD calls for RSA to appear in front of Transport Committee over wait for driving tests
A Fine Gael TD has called for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to come before the Transport Committee on the significant increase in waiting times for driving tests. Michael Murphy, the Chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, has urged the RSA to outline plans to address the issue of waiting times when they come before the Transport Committee. Advertisement This comes as new centres, more testers and extended opening hours are the ways the RSA plans on cutting wait times for driving tests. Tallaght in Dublin and Navan in Meath are among the centres with the longest lists however, wait times have already begun to come down. The RSA aims to have average wait times for a test at 10 weeks, down from 25 weeks last month and the current wait time of 22 weeks. In a statement, Mr Murphy said: 'I welcome that the RSA has today released an action plan on how they will cut waiting times, but we need to examine how we got into this position in the first place with an average waiting time of 27 weeks. Advertisement 'The RSA has accepted my invitation to come before the committee and I hope they will address questions on the timeline of how this plan will be rolled out. We need details of when these changes will be put in place. 'Plans for accelerating training for new testers, expanding testing hours, and updating the booking system are all welcome, but we need a guarantee that these actions work. 'A 10-week target is very welcome, but we need to see how realistic it is to have this in place by September. 'People waiting for a test are beyond frustrated with these delays. The waiting times to undergo a driving test are really proving to be a barrier to people trying to take up work or education. Advertisement 'We want to see waiting times back to an average of 10 weeks and I welcome any proposals to do this, but we also need to hear from the RSA how they will prevent this backlog from happening again. It's completely unacceptable that waiting times ever reached that level. 'I look forward to working with the RSA and speaking with them directly when they appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on how they can implement their plans to cut waiting times',
Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Major change to driving tests announced in new roads trial
The DVSA has launched a new rural road trial that will see driving tests updated across 20 test centres in the UK, with thousands of learner drivers expected to be impacted The DVSA has launched a new three-month trial to revamp practical driving tests across the UK, with a focus on giving learner drivers a better handle on rural roads. This move is in reaction to alarming safety statistics showing that nearly half (48%) of all young driver casualties happen on these roads – these are the most perilous high-speed areas for those who are new behind the wheel. The trial is set to bridge this safety gap by introducing more realistic testing conditions that mirror "real-world" driving situations. Set to continue until August 2025, the trial will involve 20 driving test centres around the country, including spots like Cardiff, Cambridge, Oxford and Middlesbrough, potentially affecting thousands of learners. Despite these changes, the DVSA has assured that the length and content of the driving test will stay unchanged, but learners can expect three significant updates to the test route structure. According to the DVSA, these alterations aim to emulate "real-world" driving conditions more accurately and equip learners for the challenges they'll face after passing their test. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has recently spoken out about the importance of rural road safety for new drivers as part of the Government's wider road safety strategies. When grilled by the Transport Committee on possible restrictions for novice motorists, Alexander made things clear: "We're not currently considering a Graduated Driving Licence, which would restrict new drivers from driving with additional passengers in the car. "More broadly, your question about things like night driving, rural collisions and the experience of rural driving that's part of the work that is underway at the moment." With findings expected to be finalised by early August 2025, the DVSA will discuss outcomes and subsequent actions with the industry, reports the Manchester Evening News. The organisation is also taking on the challenge of historically high waiting periods for driving examinations. Given that over half of the UK's test locations are now experiencing hold-ups stretching six months or longer, fresh strategies to implement an extra 10,000 test appointments every month have been set out. The agency has committed to hiring scores of new inspectors and reintroducing overtime remuneration to eliminate the build-up.
Edinburgh Reporter
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Edinburgh Reporter
A peaceful protest on Ashley Terrace – but with a serious message
On Wednesday evening locals took to the streets in a peaceful protest drawing attention to the amount of traffic, the speed of the traffic and the lack of pedestrian crossings. An 80-year-old woman was seriously injured at the junction of Ashley Terrace on 28 April. Cllr Christopher Cowdy said to The Edinburgh Reporter: 'The biggest problem is lack of resources in the council. So when I came here in 2022 there was already a pedestrian crossing programme. There were hundreds of crossings being promised. But within a year, when I was on the Transport Committee that had already run over two years late, because they had bitten off more than they could chew, they said, and they were lacking in resources. 'So I know that the city council is short of money, and it's running on a budget deficit about £50 million a year, and trying and trying to make that up, and trying to get the resources to provide all of the crossings for all of the schools across the entire city is very difficult.' David Hunter of Living Streets said: 'I think it's fantastic to see. I think pedestrians often don't kick up as much of a fuss as maybe other groups do, so it's great to see it mobilised. 'There must be quite a strength of feeling to have this amount of support. 'But of course there has been a really serious injury to an old lady here. You can see the speed, some of this traffic's going at. I think we really need a strategy for the whole city. I would like to see more money going into these kind of routine improvements, particularly around schools, and I think it would get a lot of public support.' Despite the council promising crossings three years ago nothing has happened, although Cllr Stephen Jenkinson the Transport Convener has said that 'Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, Transport and Environment 'pedestrian safety across the city is a priority' He said: 'I fully understand the safety concerns raised by the community in relation to the junction at Ashley Terrace and Harrison Gardens, particularly given the recent road traffic accident which took place there. 'As outlined in the Road Safety Delivery Plan, there are plans in place for two footpath build-outs on Ashley Terrace. Unfortunately, we have experienced some delays due to necessary design revisions and coordination with other services. 'In relation to Ashley Terrace, the installation of a build-out directly in front of the school entrance requires the relocation of a nearby bin hub. This is being progressed through a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) by the Waste team, and we are awaiting further updates from them.' Like this: Like Related
