Scotland’s first mobility hub has been unveiled at the new Calderwood village near East Calder.
Stirling Developments, the planners and developer behind the new village, introduced the hub to the community at an open day event last Wednesday (June 23).
This latest amenity locates shared and public transport modes together, providing the community with sustainable transport options.
The Calderwood Mobility Hub hosts a community car club with EV charging connections, e-bike hire for journeys within the village and beyond and two bus stops, for buses to key destinations.
The open day coincided with the start of Lothian Buses X27 service through the Calderwood development.
The X27 will operate a regular service every 30 minutes connecting Calderwood with Edinburgh, as well providing services to Livingston and other local towns.
The hub is home to the Calderwood Car Club vehicle (affectionately named “Woody” by local residents) – an electric BMW i3 gifted to the community from the developers.
The car club can also accommodate residents cars for hire, with the aim of reducing car dependence within Calderwood.
Peter Stirling, managing director of Stirling Developments, said: “Delivering this mobility hub was not a requirement of our planning consent, but our business recognises the important of sustainable growth and assisting the region to achieve climate change objectives. Stirling Developments is proud Calderwood has delivered Scotland’s first mobility hub as part of our aim to create an exemplar development.”
As a key infrastructure project to support major development at Calderwood, the proposal accords with the key aims of the region’s Local Development Plan.
Calderwood’s mobility hub will support more sustainable travel choices for local residents and the wider community.
Mobility hubs have an important contribution to make to the growth of sustainable mobility in Scotland insofar as they encourage people to consider alternative means of travel to the private car which contributes to a reduction in carbon emissions.
The event was attended by a number of key stakeholders, regional authorities, housebuilders community members.
Councillor Tom Conn, executive councillor for the environment at West Lothian Council, was also in attendance and opened the event by cutting the ribbon.
Calderwood is a new village adjoining East Calder. It is one of the largest major developments in West Lothian and one of the fastest selling sites in Scotland.
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