Pedalling on Parliament to call for a cycle-friendly Scotland

POP through the ages

As the Scottish Parliament settles back into Holyrood for a new session, MSPs received a different kind of welcome this year – a colourful chorus of bikes riding through the capital, with a simple message; we want a cycle-friendly Scotland!

Campaigners travelled from across Scotland to meet in the Meadows and ride down the Royal Mile. Feeder rides joined from across Edinburgh while other campaigners travelled from Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen to show their support.

Pedal on Parliament, or PoP, began in 2012 as a protest ride calling for safer streets for walking, cycling and wheeling. Since then, it has become an almost annual fixture in Edinburgh, with people riding together through the city to demand better conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling across Scotland. You can view Pedal on Parliament’s manifesto here.

PoP 2026 brought together people from across Scotland, of all ages and backgrounds, on a huge variety of cycles to speak up for cycling together. Everything from family bikes and cargo bikes to adapted cycles, unicycles and trikes gave people a unified voice. Cycling should be the easy choice for everyone.

While PoP has its roots in protest, it is also meant as a celebration of everything cycling makes possible: better physical and mental health, lower everyday costs, access to jobs, stronger communities and, importantly, plenty of fun.

CAN do …

I caught up with Kathryn Hardacre from Aberdeen Cycle Forum after the event. Kathryn travelled down from Aberdeen after hearing about PoP through the Cycle Advocacy Network. She described arriving to “a lovely welcoming atmosphere” and said the day felt notably positive.

“Some marches for political objectives can feel quite tense,” Kathryn said. “This didn’t have that feeling. Maybe it was the broad range of people who were on bikes.”

That range of people made the ride powerful. “You had everyone from people who brought their puppies, people who had brought their kids, through to disability cycling groups and folks who’d been on bikes for 50 years,” she said. “It was a really nice mix.”

“I think it is an opportunity to be visible in front of the folks who actually make the decisions, the MSPs,” she added. “To speak as one voice, almost, to say what needs to change and quickly if our country is going to meet its targets.”

Cycle Advocacy Network is a place for people to speak up for cycling year-round, share what is happening locally and work together for better cycling conditions. Campaigning doesn’t end when the ride finishes so join up today to hear about more campaigning where you live. You can read more about Kathryn’s journey to Pedal on Parliament.

Election cycles

This year’s Pedal on Parliament took place after the election for the first time, rather than before it, making sure that the new Parliament takes early notice of the widespread desire for improved cycling in Scotland.

Politicians from the Scottish Greens, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Labour and SNP attended on the day – with politicians from every political party having been invited beforehand. The ride culminated with speeches outside Parliament, firstly from PoP organisers before guests and MSPs were invited to speak.

Former Minister for Active Travel Patrick Harvie MSP, a long-standing supporter of PoP and one of the longest-serving members of the new Parliament, spoke about how cycling is both efficient and second nature for him.

“I am privileged to be invited back to speak to Pedal on Parliament again, and I am one of those people who’s always treated cycling as normal everyday transport. I think one of the things that, for me in my job, I find most frequently is that I’m the one that arrives to meetings on time, while the people desperately trying to find a parking space, they’re the ones who are late.”

It was encouraging to hear supportive speeches from new MSPs Kate Campbell MSP (SNP) and Sanne Dijkstra-Downie MSP (Liberal Democrats). With support coming from across the floor in Holyrood, making cycling the easy choice should clearly be a priority for this parliamentary term.

We’ll be making sure all parties, not just individual politicians, see the benefits of more cycling in Scotland. We’ll be reminding MSPs, new and returning, that with the new Parliament there is a new opportunity for action.

Action over inaction

Finally, there was poignant notice of the consequences of unsafe roads, and inaction, by Rose Marie-Burke, who spoke movingly in remembrance of her daughter, Emma Burke-Newman. Emma was tragically killed by the driver of an HGV entering an Advanced Stop Zone in Glasgow in 2023.

“Emma had a different vision. She dreamed of having a big family, three children to be exact, cycling them to school on a cargo bike. She saw herself living in a community where cycling is the norm, instead she had to cope with a world of unadapted infrastructure, distracted, careless and dangerous drivers, as well as outdated lorries with huge blind spots.”

Rose now runs Association EBN which, as well as offering support for female architects working in road safety, promotes cycling for women and children. You can Cycling UK’s calls for need for safer, more welcoming routes for women and children by supporting our ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign.

Demand that women and children can ride without fear by writing to your local politician.

Pedal on Parliament showed that people across Scotland want streets where walking, wheeling and cycling are safe, welcoming and normal. PoP 2026 was big, visible and joyful – but the message behind it was urgent.