Trams, trams everywhere

We need a new bridge across the Forth and it does not matter who delivers it, it just needs to be delivered. That means that the meeting this week with interested parties which appears to be at least hosted by the Scottish office is vital, not for who gets credit for sending the invites making the coffee but so that the bridge gets built.

That being said, we don't need any old bridge, we need to use this opportunity for grasping at the nettle of radical thinking on transport. A new bridge should be so designed create the capacity to massively increase public transport, including the potential of trams from Edinburgh connecting with all of Fife. It should include even more park and ride and dedicated bus lanes and not actually increase overall car capacity. Infact, if we do this right, the new bridge could actually decrease car use, not increase it.

Properly grasped, this nettle could be an opportunity to make the kind of regional connectivity for the Edinburgh City region that is vital for its survival and in some parts, regeneration, but in a very different way. A new bridge yes, but not for cars, now there's a plan worth breaking out the Governmental hobnobs for.