Letters: Cyclists shouldn't be allowed on to our new trams

Why should cyclists be allowed to take their bikes on board trams?

When the tram network gets up and running it is not going to be an extensive network and will only go a few miles in any one given direction.

Surely if you take your cycle on the tram that then defeats the purpose of having a cycle? And proves that it is not an efficient mode of transport.

If we see large volumes of cyclists taking their cycles on the trams rather than using the existing cycle paths and lanes then I hope Edinburgh City Council will cut spending in this area and give the road space back to the general motorist.

I also question if allowing cycles on to trams is the correct use of space, particularly at a time when there is a large debate going on between mothers using prams and disabled wheelchair users being allowed access to other forms of public transport throughout Edinburgh.

In my opinion, cyclists are generally fit and healthy people and should be using their chosen mode of transport in the way it was designed to be used.

Mr Alastair Macintyre, Webster Place, Rosyth

2m bus lane plan is like a bad dream

I READ your article "Strife in the slow lane for cars as 2m bus lanes plan unveiled" (News, November 27). Am I hallucinating?

So, 2 million to paint the roads green, all to aid Lothian Buses.

What is this taxpayers' money if not a subsidy along within the millions already poured into the public transport infrastructure raised kerbs, bus stops, greenways and bus priority lights, all done at our expense

Whilst Edinburgh's children run the gauntlet of traffic unable to get crossings outside their substandard schools these idiots pour more money down the drain all to simply make the life of those who do not or cannot use buses more difficult. Most of these buses are only on the routes shown in the article to get to Princes Street, so they can then fight their way out the other side of the city.

Why are bus companies not contributing to the cost of these infrastructure "improvements", and just how much has been spent on this work?

What cost the speeding up of passenger journey times especially when weighed against the loss to other road users?

Very soon the building site formally known as Edinburgh will be left with unfinished works for months when the contractors go belly up.

John Byrn, Seventh Street, Newtongrange

Exciting to have a brand new chance

IT seems my statement to your reporter: "Final decisions are still to be made but the idea of a tartan or gold tram was just to get creative juices flowing for possible ideas of how they could look" was ignored in favour of a cheap headline 'Design chiefs set to tartan up tram fleet' (26 November).

Branding the trams is a really exciting opportunity.

While the majority will look part of the same family as Lothian Buses and the Inspiring Capital brand, we also have an opportunity to have two sponsored trams and two which can perhaps be used to promote council or city messages.

The city has a real chance to ensure our transport provision reflects the profile of a modern 21st century transport system, and not be used as a cheap promotional tool which can be denigrated by your paper.

Phil Wheeler, convener: transport, infrastructure & environment committee

Terrorists are not fazed by ID cards

ANDREW MURPHY writes that he will have no problem carrying an ID card if it will help in the fight against terrorism (Letters, November 26). To be blunt, it won't. Terrorists do not care about Mr Murphy's identity.

Nor do terrorists appear to have much concern for any effect of ID cards on their activities. Basque separatists and al-Qaida have both managed to maim and kill many people in Spain, despite Franco's legacy of universal identity cards in that country.

Likewise, the identity documents carried by the 9/11 hijackers did not enhance security one iota for the victims massacred.

But Mr Murphy goes on to suggest that the government has to show that it can look after data securely if the ID card is to be successful. I agree. Let us put ID cards on ice until such a time; long after hell has frozen over.

Dr Geraint Bevan Grovepark Gardens, Glasgow

Pour a coffee for battle of the bland

I JUST had a look at the winners of the battle of the bands competition and I must say I'm dismayed to find that all three of the bands that have been picked so far play the same sort of music.

I was under the impression that the competition was to find the best upcoming bands Edinburgh has to offer, not the best bands to put on a CD and have on as background music at Starbucks.

I hope the fourth band picked will be slightly more innovative and interesting than the other three insipid acts already picked.

I bought my ticket hoping to see the cream of the Edinburgh music scene but so far it seems all I'll be seeing is the curd. Finally, what is the deal with Rieser? Is Gary Flockhart actually in the band? I can see no other reason for his continual championing of them.

Gary Shandling, Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh

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