Keith Irving
LightNews LightNews
banner
keithirving.bsky.social
Keith Irving
@keithirving.bsky.social
300 followers 150 following 59 posts
CEO of Cycling Scotland. Foundation of Hearts supporter. PACTS co-opted trustee. Personal views.
Posts Replies Media Videos
keithirving.bsky.social
🦓 Side road zebras used in Cardiff popular and still in place following trial.
🦓 Trials found no evidence that using a side road zebra crossing would have a significantly greater risk
🦓 Trial showed a significant increase in drivers giving way to pedestrians, in line with new Highway Code
👏👏👏
November 26, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
nutty.bsky.social
Some very striking points on flooding here.

“We need to see this flooding as our new normal, and not as singular events,” “We need to start – as a nation, not just as a county – thinking through how we deal with extreme weather events.“
www.thenerve.news/p/storm-clau...
Storm Claudia puts Wales under water – why did these record-breaking floods barely make the news?
On the frontline of a deluge on the Welsh borders, Jude Rogers heard local stories of devastation and heroism – but incredibly the disaster was hardly referred to in Westminster and the national press
www.thenerve.news
November 24, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
spokes.org.uk
🌲 If buying a #ChristmasTree
get it delivered by #CyclingGardeners 🚲 #CargoBike

--> www.tollcrosstreeworks.com

@edi.bike @edfoc.bsky.social @thecockburn.bsky.social @tollcross-cc-edin.bsky.social @finlaymcf.bsky.social @cllrcmiller.bsky.social @cllrbenparker.bsky.social @bjpaddy.bsky.social
Picture of xmas tree in Cycling Gardeners of Edinburgh Local Bike delivery £5.00 Description This service cost £5 and is available to anyone within 10 minutes cycle from our yard in Tollcross (Cycle time taken from google maps)
November 24, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
cyclingscotland.bsky.social
"I'm really glad we had this chance. I used to be the only one of my friends who couldn’t ride a bike, but now I can."

Dumfries and Galloway celebrates #BikeabilityScotland success, as one of latest Scottish local authorities to deliver on-road cycle training at all primary schools: buff.ly/8TiUBFo
School pupils check their bikes in the playground ahead of a Bikeability Scotland cycle training session. Pupils of Springholm Primary School in Dumfries and Galloway take to local roads on their bikes as part of a Level 2 on-road Bikeability Scotland cycle training session. School children can be seen smiling as they cycle towards the camera, on a rural road.
November 24, 2025 at 9:02 AM
keithirving.bsky.social
The number of people killed or seriously injured by a HGV while walking, cycling or motorcycling in London has fallen massively ⬇️
- 71 people per year in 2017-2019 on average
- 35 people in 2024
(Obviously still too high) #roadsafety #directvision

tfl-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/pedestr...
November 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
spokes.org.uk
#Tram consultation - Spokes submission

--> www.spokes.org.uk/wp-content/u...

🙋 You have till midnight Monday for your own response!
HERE--> consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/tram-nor...

@edi.bike @edinreporter.bsky.social @edinburghminute.bsky.social @thecockburn.bsky.social @edfoc.bsky.social
Intro... Tram, Granton to Bioquarter consultation Spokes Planning Group response, November 2025 1. Introduction Spokes has the objective of promoting cycling as part of an overall sustainable transport and access strategy. As such, we support a growing tram system for Edinburgh, provided cycling is well catered for in the project design and operation. The aim of the tram is to reduce car traffic, and to head off potential traffic growth in development areas such as Granton and the Bioquarter. If successful, this is a huge benefit to walking and cycling, as well as its benefits in terms of congestion, public health and climate. However, the project should be accompanied by complementary measures to further encourage use of public transport and active travel, for example bus gates, traffic filters, and, notably, congestion charging. It is well established that traffic reduction is best achieved by a carrot/stick combination. The tram project must support and promote active travel as a whole, and cycling in particular, and must not introduce additional dangers without effective mitigation. The Council has ambitious targets to increase cycle use, much of which must come from novice and inexperienced cyclists, as well as visitors and locals using an expanding bike hire scheme. As such it is essential that there is a safe, comprehensive and connected bike network of segregated bike lanes and low-traffic areas, easy and safe to use by anybody, and with any kind of cycles - including cargobikes, adapted bikes, hire bikes, etc. Introducing the tram should be seen and planned from the outset as an integrated sustainable transport place making project, not a tram-only project into which cycling and walking have to be slotted in once all the tramline decisions are taken as happened with tramline 1 and to a considerable (though lesser) extent in the Newhaven extension. The Bridges corridor is hugely problematic.. 8. City Centre to Bioquarter Top issues ● The section through North and South Bridges is of extreme concern to Spokes, with no cycle provision, new tramlines and continued through traffic on a road where width is at a premium. This is making cycling provision far worse than in the current bus lanes. The project should include a bus gate / modal filter (as was planned, though never implemented, as part of the Spaces for People proposals ) potentially single track sections (like at Roseburn) and fully segregated cycle provision, or consideration to tram tracks on one side of the road and a bidirectional bike path on the other. For the reasons in the following two bullet points, many cyclists will continue to use this corridor - our above section on Bikes and Tramlines notes that Princes Street as a good example of this, with many choosing not to use the quieter George Street when it is less direct or lacks desired destinations. Thus cycling conditions must be safe. ● Whilst alternative north-south routes for cycles are proposed in the consultation, these would not suit all journeys, with many cyclists using the Bridges to travel between South Edinburgh and Leith given the more suitable gradient and directness than the Mound. And whilst there is a brief reference to the proposed Meadows to George Street route on the west side of the Bridges, there is no reference to the east side, where the Mobility Plan suggests a new active travel bridge connecting from the Old Town to Leith Walk. Such projects must be an integral part of the tram project provision including during the construction phase, also providing a permanent legacy of improved provision once finished. ● The Bridges corridor is a major residential, shopping and destinations location, and many cyclists use it for that reason; indeed many live along or just off the corridor. Routes via the Mound or Pleasance are irrelevant as alternatives for these categories of user.… linking the North Ed Network to the new canal path without descending and re-ascending - a transformative opportunity - diagram. ● Connecting Roseburn to the new Canal link path - The sketch below shows a possible layout for this crucial linkage. The yellow dotted line shows a ramp down to Russell Road, but this is possibly optional if it would cause engineering difficulties, given that most people will stay at high level, whilst those needing to descend or ascend could do so at Roseburn or at the nearby ramp to the new canal path. Finally, we understand that earlier discussions with Network Rail did not meet objections to a bridge provided that all necessary clearances are achieved. Picture of single-track shopping-street tram in Amsterdam
November 16, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
cyclingscotland.bsky.social
🏆 Congratulations to the 2025 #BikeabilityScotland Award winners!

In a year when more than 53,000 pupils took part in Bikeability Scotland cycle training, the annual awards celebrate the stories behind the statistics: cycling.scot/news/bikeabi...
Pupils from Bikeability Scotland 'School of the Year' for 2025, Williamston Primary in West Lothian, pictured with their bikes. Bikeability Scotland 'Instructor of the Year' for 2025, Lindsay Cameron, pictured with her bike at a local rail station. Bikeability Scotland 'Annual Achievement Award' winner for 2025, cycling instructor Kieran Power, pictured with his bike on a city street.
November 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
spokes.org.uk
Critical Safety Issues for 🚲👩‍🦼🚶

👍 Superb new Guidance from #govuk @ategov.bsky.social

--> www.gov.uk/government/p...

@edi.bike @stephenjenkinson.bsky.social @drscottarthurmp.bsky.social @sw20.info @alastairdalton.bsky.social @keithirving.bsky.social @edinpl.bsky.social @harryjwilliams.bsky.social
Cover page of the new Guidance Active Travel England Guidance Critical safety issues for walking, wheeling and cycling Published 6 November 2025 What is a critical safety issue? A critical safety issue is defined as a street layout or condition that is associated with an increased risk of collisions for people walking, wheeling or cycling. Active Travel England’s route check tool identifies 16 critical safety issues for walking, wheeling and cycling. This guidance explains each of the issues with illustrations and provides links to relevant guidance and key evidence. You can use this guidance with the route check tool to identify and remove these risks. This will help reduce the risks of collisions for people walking, wheeling or cycling. The recommendation to focus on identifying and removing critical issues was introduced nationally in Local Transport Note 1/20 for cycling and regionally through approaches such as London’s Healthy Streets check and Greater Manchester’s Streets for All check.
November 8, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
crisortunity.bsky.social
UK rail electrification in three graphs, for folks who prefer their information in graph format
Graph showing how little electrified railway the UK has compared to other European countries - 38% of our network vs 100% in Switzerland , 72% in Netherlands, 61% in Germany etc Bar Graph comparing rail electrification costs per kilometer for different countries and different UK rail electrification schemes. Swiss electrification costs per kilometer are around a fifth of those of the UK’s most expensive schemes (eg Manchester to Preston). Germany’s costs per km are only a tiny bit higher than Switzerland’s Line / bar graph showing kilometers of route electrification per year in Germany vs UK. Germany has been electrifying around 200km of railway every year for decades. The UK has long periods where it electrified nothing, then short bursts of activity where it electrified up to 500km per year. Then back to nothing again! Germany’s rolling programme of electrification vs the UK’s feast-or-famine approach is the number one reason why their per km costs are a tiny fraction of the UK’s.
November 8, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
rikefranke.bsky.social
😮
Norway finds out that its electric busses - produced by a Chinese firm - can be remotely controlled from China!

The good news of this is that the Norwegians realised this because they did a cybersecurity test. We need to think about, and test, stuff like this more.
www.focus.de/panorama/wel...
Norweger stellen fest, dass China 850 ihrer Elektrobusse fernsteuern und sogar stoppen kann
Etwa 850 in Norwegen eingesetzte Elektrobusse können aus China vollständig kontrolliert werden. Das hat ein geheimer Test der öffentlichen Verkehrsbetriebe ergeben.
www.focus.de
November 6, 2025 at 10:43 AM
keithirving.bsky.social
This would be a good start:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government considering new tax on EV drivers in Budget
The BBC understands there have been
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 8:45 AM
keithirving.bsky.social
Swift roadside drug tests rolled out further by police: drug-driving offences have risen by 60% in the past three years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
weatherprof.bsky.social
2X increase in the most extreme hurrucanes!
Looking at every Cat 4 & 5 in the Atlantic since 1980 (reliable records/ data gathering) I broke the record into 2 equal parts.
1980-2002 and 2003-2025
The most recent period has more than double the number of most intense hurricanes in the Atlantic!…
1/
October 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
patrickdunleavy.bsky.social
Classic case of private capital privileging its consumers at huge cost to everyone else, while government fails to regulate. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night
Concern over the glare from brighter headlamps is prompting the government to review vehicle design.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
spokes.org.uk
#Drem-#Gullane campaign for station link path avoiding B1345

👍 Congrats to you & #FentonBarns ... looks like a big step forward!

--> dgcorepath.wixsite.com/website/post...

@edi.bike @lothianloop.bsky.social @shona-mcintosh.bsky.social @martinwhitfieldmsp.bsky.social @lizallan.bsky.social
email from Gullane-Drem campaign... Hi everyone, The landowner - D C Watson & Sons (Fenton Barns) Ltd - which owns Fenton Barns, a family-run farm with a commercial, leisure and retail village — has publicly announced its support for the Drem–Gullane path. This backing is especially significant: Fenton Barns controls a key stretch of the proposed route between the two villages. Momentum is building. The community is united behind a safe, climate-friendly path to keep children, families, commuters and visitors off the dangerous B1345.🚶‍♀️🚴‍♂️💚 News release: https://dgcorepath.wixsite.com/website/post/major-landowner-backs-path 📸 Keith Chalmers-Watson & Nicola Simpson of Fenton Barns flanked by path campaign supporters Robin Haynes & Chris Holme. Best wishes, Iain, Clare, Gail, Rosalind, Jonathan & Barry Drem-Gullane Path Campaign landowner statement... Nicola Simpson, managing director at Fenton Barns, said: "We at Fenton Barns strongly support the creation of a safe cycling and walking route between Drem railway station and Gullane, some of which would be over our land. We believe that responsible, managed access to parts of Fenton Barns will take cyclists off the dangerous B1345 and will encourage safer travel to our businesses. We stand ready to work with campaigners, neighbouring landowners, and East Lothian Council to agree on the most suitable route for this important and common-sense proposal." Picture of campaigners
October 28, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
cyclingscotland.bsky.social
🚲🩺 For the last two years, Kirsty - an NHS health visitor in Glasgow - has cycled to work and to appointments in the community.

"I've found cycling is much quicker than driving... it gives you the headspace you need and time to reflect and think about how best I can support the families."
Kirsty, an NHS health visitor in Glasgow, smiles as she stands with her bike outside the health centre where she works.
October 27, 2025 at 8:02 AM
keithirving.bsky.social
Football fans have good days and bad days. Today was a good day. #hmfc
October 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
transportenvironment.org
EU vehicle safety regulations have supported a 36% reduction in European road deaths since 2010, while road deaths in the US over the same period increased 30%.

Aligning EU standards with laxer US rules would undermine the EU’s global leadership in road safety.

Read the letter 👇
Accepting US car standards would risk European lives, warn cities and…
European cities and civil society groups have warned that accepting lower US car standards will see more dangerous vehicles flood into Europe
bit.ly
October 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
markjmcintyre.bsky.social
Let this be the inspiration for cities everywhere.
Photo of a school street in Paris (Rue de l'Arbelete), Christophe Belin / Ville de Paris. A woman can be seen pushing a child's scooter along a street outside a school building in central Paris, newly lined with trees, greenery and abundant street space for children to play and move safely, which has been reclaimed from vehicles. A young girl playing on newly renovated school street in central Paris. Trees and brand new pedestrian-focused paving can be seen in the background. Josephine Brueder / Ville de Paris Photo of children walking down a school street in central Paris. The entire street has been transformed into a fully pedestrianised space, with new planting, bushes, and space for children to walk safely and easily to school. Christophe Belin / Ville de Paris. A woman cycles down a new school street in Paris, as children gather outside the school's doors. Abundant new planting can be seen in the centre of the new pedestrianised street. Christophe Belin / Ville de Paris.
October 14, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
wwctrustscot.bsky.social
Did someone say highland coo?

Last Friday we were in stunning Glen Coe to officially open the new Glencoe Greenway 🎉

The 5km traffic-free path finally makes it possible to safely walk, wheel and cycle into the heart of the iconic glen 💚

Find out more: walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/glencoegreenway
Local MSP Kate Forbes and representatives from project partners National Trust for Scotland, VisitScotland and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust post for a photograph on the new Glencoe Greenway, with the hills of Glencoe in the background. A National Trust for Scotland employee petting one of the Highland cows that lives on site in the Glencoe national nature reserve. A couple walking in the distance on the new Glencoe Greenway path, with trees in the foreground and the hills of Glencoe in the background in beautiful morning light.
October 15, 2025 at 2:45 PM
keithirving.bsky.social
Today's update from @thecccuk.bsky.social:
-Strengthening UK’s adaptation essential & urgent
-Prepare the UK for the weather extremes if global warming levels reach 2°C above preindustrial levels 🔥❄️🌦
-Reaching 4°C above preindustrial levels cannot yet be ruled out 🔥🔥🔥
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050
The Climate Change Committee said the UK should make climate change adaptions beyond the Paris Agreement.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 15, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Keith Irving
thebikestation.bsky.social
In 2024, our mechanics repaired 800+ bikes — keeping more wheels spinning and less waste in landfill. 🌍
Repairing isn’t just fixing bikes. It’s looking after ourplanet.
buff.ly/BdXYLXU

#CircularEconomy #RepairCulture #Sustainability
Repairs & Servicing | The Bike Station | Scotland
We offer a huge variety of repair services for your bike. If you need your bike repaired, please complete the Edinburgh contact form below if you intend to bring your bike to our Edinburgh branch, or…
buff.ly
October 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Keith Irving
gavincorbett.bsky.social
Outdoor recreation won’t change the world or solve all society’s ills. But a wee bit of investment will be highly visible, will bring joy and better health to a lot of people and will boost the rural economy. What’s not to love?
ramblersscotland.bsky.social Ramblers Scotland @ramblersscotland.bsky.social · Oct 8
🌳Scotland needs Paths Into Nature!🚶

We’ve launched an ambitious joint manifesto ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, backed by 7 partner orgs in Scottish Outdoor Recreation Alliance.

Our goal? ✅ Make Scotland’s world-class access rights an everyday reality for all!

ramblers.org.uk/scotmanifesto
October 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM
keithirving.bsky.social
'With power comes responsibility' - the ⚽️ player who cycles 🚲 to work

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
'With power comes responsibility' - Hector Bellerin wins BBC Green Sports Award
Former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin talks about his attempts to live a more sustainable life as he wins the BBC Green Sports Award.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM