Cycling in London

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Utility cyclists during rush hour in the City.

Cycling in London is a popular mode of transport and leisure activity within the capital city of the United Kingdom. Following a national decline in the 1960s of levels of utility cycling, cycling as a mode of everyday transport within London began a slow regrowth in the 1970s. This continued until the beginning of the 21st century, when levels began to increase significantly - during the period from 2000 to 2012, the number of daily journeys made by bicycle in Greater London doubled to 580,000. The growth in cycling can partly be attributed to the launch in 2010 by Transport for London (TfL) of the Barclays Cycle Hire system throughout the city's centre, which by 2013 was attracting a monthly ridership of approximately 500,000, peaking at a million rides in July of that year.

Cycling conditions in the city have in recent years been found to be widely perceived as unsafe by cyclists. A spate of cycling deaths in London occurred in November 2013, drawing heavy criticism of TfL's cycle facilities and sparking protests and calls for rapid safety improvements from politicians, cycling organisations and the media.

History

London's first segregated cycle track was introduced in 1934, between Hanger Lane and Greenford. Although the facility was well-used for cycling, segregation was opposed by cycling organisations at the time, fearing loss of rights to ride on the highway.

Beginning in the 1960s, Britain experienced a decline in levels of utility cycling due to the increasing wealth of its populace and greater affordability of motor vehicles; this in turn led to the favouring of vehicular traffic over other options by transportation planners. In 1977, the Conservative Party won the Greater London Council (GLC) election, and enacted policies that deprioritised spending on public transport.

In 1980 Ken Livingstone, at the time the Labour Party's transport spokesperson, made a promise to the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) that should Labour take control of the GLC they would spend more on the needs of cyclists. In May 1981, Labour won the GLC election, with Livingstone becoming GLC leader shortly afterwards. The following month, Livingstone announced that the GLC would accede to the LCC's demands, creating a cycling planning unit and spending at least 1% of the yearly transport budget, £2m, on cycling.

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Barclays Cycle Hire docking station in Southwark Street

In 2000, Livingstone became the first elected Mayor of London, and in 2008 set a target of a 400% increase in cycling between 2008 and 2025. On 9 February 2008 Livingstone announced an estimated £400 million of initiatives to improve and increase cycling and walking, including thousands of new bike parking facilities at railway and tube stations. To be co-ordinated by the TfL and London boroughs the aims include having 1 in 10 Londoners making a round trip by bike each day and five per cent of all daily trips by bike by 2025.

In 2011 around 2.5 per cent of all commutes to work in London were by bike, though this jumps to 9% for Hackney. This compares to other cities in the United Kingdom such as Cardiff (4.3 per cent), York (18 per cent) and Cambridge (28 per cent of commutes) and to cities on the continent such as Berlin (13 per cent), Munich (15 per cent), Amsterdam (37 per cent of all journeys) and Groningen (57 per cent of all journeys). The amount of growth has varied between regions within the city; on some routes such as Cheapside cyclists have been reported to comprise over half of rush-hour traffic.

Plans to construct twelve "Cycle Superhighway" routes were announced by Livingstone in 2008, connecting inner and outer London, as well as providing cycle zones around urban centres. Livingstone lost the subsequent mayoral election to Conservative Boris Johnson in May 2008, and the new mayor promised to continue to support cycling.

Two pilot routes were implemented in July 2010, with Cycle Superhighway 3 (CS3) connecting Barking in East London with Tower Hill on the eastern perimeter of The City of London and Cycle Superhighway 7 (CS7) linking Colliers Wood in South London to Bank in the City. CS7 was criticised by rival cycling commentators and campaigners for relying on "blue paint" and bus lanes to protect cyclists from motor traffic, without using kerbed cycle tracks. CS3 was more popular, although critics argued that much of it had existed already, and had simply been rebranded as a Superhighway. Campaigners argued that the Mayor's rhetoric prior to launch had promised a much higher standard of cycling facility, yet the Superhighways encouraged cyclists on to busy main roads in conflict with buses and other motor traffic, with significant risk of being hit by left-turning vehicles at major junctions.

In July 2010, 6,000 bicycles became available for short-term rental from TfL under the Barclays Cycle Hire at 400 docking stations in nine central London boroughs. This was later expanded to 8,000 cycles from 570 stations. The scheme, run by Montreal-based BIXI, initially covered about 17 square miles (44 square kilometres) over nine central London boroughs, and included 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations. The docking stations were spaced by 300m and mainly at key destinations and tube stations in central London. There is a charge for hire but there was a period of free use to encourage the scheme. The scheme was designed based on a feasibility study produced by German Dector-Vega and Charles Snead in Nov 2008.

Over the next few years, pressure from campaign groups, bloggers and everyday cyclists using social media and on-street demonstrations brought the state of London's roads for cycling to the attention of the media. Evenutally, this led to significant new investment in safer cycle infrastructure for London. In March 2013, City Hall announced £1 billion of improvements to make cycling safer and easier in London, as well as to improve air pollution and inner city congestion in the capital. Boris Johnson, Livingstone's replacement as Mayor of London, planned to build a 15-mile "Crossrail for bikes" running from the West London suburbs across the Westway, through Hyde Park, the Mall and along the Victoria Embankment past Canary Wharf and into East London.

In March 2013 "The Mayor's Vision for Cycling in London" was announced, a plan which includes a "Crossrail for bikes" running a fully segregated route from east to west across London to be in place by 2016. The statement also announced a Central London "bike grid" which would join-up and improve existing cycle routes in Zone 1, as well as a network of "Quietways" in outer London, and E-Bikes for rents in hilly areas of the city. The London Cycle Hire Scheme has been described by the deputy mayor as "oozing" out over London with expansion in 2014 in Hackney, Notting Hill, Hammersmith, Fulham and Wandsworth.

In December 2013, TfL published a draft map of a "Central London Grid" of new cycle routes.

Facilities

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An advanced stop line allows cyclists to get a head start on stationary traffic.

Cycle lanes and paths

Main article: List of cycle routes in London

On-road cycle lanes vary. Some have raised concrete kerbs that separate people cycling from other traffic, whilst others are defined by lines painted on the road surface. The Cycle Superhighways went into use in May 2010.

Cycle paths include routes through the royal parks (St. James's Park, Hyde Park, Regent's Park and Green Park), along the Thames Path and London's canals and waterways. There is a behavioural code for considerate riding on London's towpaths.

On public transport

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A bike rack on a Thames Clipper commuter catamaran on the River Thames.

Folding bicycles may be carried on almost all public transport in London. Full-size bicycles may be carried on some sections of the transport network during certain hours of the day. Bicycle parking facilities, generally cycle stands, but in some cases more secure facilities, are available at many stations.

	Full-size bicycles	Folded bicycles
During morning (07:30-09:30) and evening (16:00-19:00) rush hours	Prohibited on All London Underground (LU) lines All Docklands Light Railway (DLR) lines All Tramlink lines Most National Rail (NR) lines Some London Overground (LO) lines	Permitted on All LU, NR and Tramlink lines All river boat services Buses, at driver's discretion
At other times	Permitted on LU surface lines All LO and NR lines All DLR lines, except at Bank station
	Prohibited on Deep-level LU lines All Tramlink lines

Safety

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A segment of guardrail in Camden marked as being due for removal in June 2014.

Many roads in London are lined with guardrail, and cyclist deaths have occurred when motor vehicles crushed people against the rail as they cycled. In 2007, TfL set a policy of the use of guardrail only in locations where it has been proven to be a requirement for safety, and began a programme of removing it where possible. By 2010, 60 kilometres (37 mi) of the 204 kilometres (127 mi) of guardrail on the Transport for London Road Network had been removed.

In 2008 Ken Livingstone announced that councils would be able to set borough-wide 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) limits without a requirement for special enforcement measures. Islington and Southwark subsequently imposed borough-wide 20 mph zones, with Camden announcing plans to introduce the same system in 2012. The City of London will impose a borough-wide 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) limit in July 2014. Such zones are backed by cycling groups, who support traffic speed restrictions for both encouraging walking and cycling and making them safer.

In January 2013 Boris Johnson appointed London's first Cycling Commissioner, tasked with making it a safer and more popular mode of transport in the capital, and announced that segregated cycle facilities would be built across London as part of a package of measures designed to improve cyclist safety.

In June 2013 TfL announced the creation of a "Safe Streets for London" plan for new road safety measures. The plan aims to cut road deaths by 40% by 2020 via a range of measures, including redesigning "critical" major junctions and streets, installing more and upgrading existing traffic enforcement cameras, working with London boroughs to implement more 20 mph speed limit zones, modifying heavy goods vehicles with safety equipment, and offering cycle training to every school pupil in London.

Statistics

The number of daily bicycle journeys in London has roughly doubled since the 1990s, from 300,000 daily journeys in 1993 to 570,000 in 2011.

Daily journeys by bicycle in Greater London and cyclist fatalities and serious injuries to cyclists in Central London

Year	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Million daily journeys	0.27	0.27	0.27	0.27	0.27	0.27	0.27	0.29	0.32	0.32	0.37	0.38	0.41	0.47	0.47	0.49	0.51	0.54	0.57	0.58	0.59	0.61
Killed	18	15	15	20	12	12	10	14	21	20	19	8	21	19	15	15	13	10	16	14	14	13
Seriously injured	485	480	521	571	560	595	469	399	434	387	414	332	351	373	446	430	420	457	555	657	475	419

A study of deaths of cyclists in London published in 2010 in the research journal BMC Public Health stated that "the biggest threat [to cyclists] remains freight vehicles, involved in more than 4 out of 10 incidents, with over half turning left at the time of the crash." TfL stated in June 2013 that "Excessive or inappropriate speed was a contributory factor in nine per cent of all collisions on London’s roads in 2011, and 22 per cent of all fatal collisions."

2013 deaths

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Over 1,000 cyclists participated in a die-in protest outside TfL's headquarters after six cyclists died in a fortnight.

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The Space for Cycling campaign's Big Ride approaching the Houses of Parliament.

In November 2013, six cyclists were killed on London streets within a two-week period, bringing the number of cyclists killed in London in the year to 14, nine of which involved a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). In response, the Metropolitan Police announced an initiative called Operation Safeway, in which 2,500 traffic police were stationed at major junctions throughout the city to issue fixed penalty notices to road users breaking road traffic laws and offer advice to vulnerable road users. Following the deaths, Boris Johnson stated in an interview on BBC Radio that cyclists were endangering their lives when not following road traffic laws, making it "very difficult for the traffic engineers to second-guess [their actions]". The comments were immediately condemned as "deflecting blame onto cyclists [and] grossly insensitive" by Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy director of the Cyclists' Touring Club, and as "dodging responsibility" and "an insult to the dead and injured" by Darren Johnson, the Green Party member of the London Assembly. Former Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman, policy director for British Cycling, the national governing body for cycle racing in Great Britain, called on Johnson to ban HGVs from some London roads during peak hours, saying that Johnson had made a verbal promise to him "to look at the successful experiences of Paris and many other cities in restricting the movements of heavy vehicles during peak hours". Johnson stated in a radio interview that he was unconvinced by the idea, but was however considering banning cyclists from wearing headphones while riding. However, the traffic division of the Metropolitan Police were unable to identify any serious cycling incidents in which headphone use could be identified as a contributing factor.

Two weeks after the sixth death, a protest campaign organised via social media held a die-in - modelled on the Dutch "Stop de Kindermoord" pro-cycling demonstrations of the 1970s — outside the headquarters of TfL, in which over 1,000 cyclists lay silently in the road and held a vigil for cyclists and pedestrians killed by road traffic.

A BBC poll taken in December 2013 found that one fifth of regular cycle commuters had stopped cycling to work as a result of the recent spate of deaths. A fifth of the survey respondents had also been involved in a collision, and 68% believed that London's roads were not safe to cycle on.

Regular events

London Freewheel 2008

• Mayor of London's Sky Ride: an annual event launched as London Freewheel in September 2007, for which certain roads in central London are closed to motor vehicles for several hours on a Sunday. On 10 August 2012 it was announced that the 2013 Skyride would be re-branded as 'RideLondon', a two-day 'World-class festival of cycling'. The event will incorporate an 8-mile 'Freecycle' event, 'Aimed at cyclists of all ages and abilities' on closed roads, as well as a 100-mile ride and a 'Grand Prix' event for professional cyclists.
• Critical Mass, which leaves the National Film Theatre on the South Bank around 7.00pm on the last Friday of each month

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The 2013 World Naked Bike Ride on The Mall

• World Naked Bike Ride, held annually in 70 cities in 20 countries, including London every June since 2004,
• Bike Week, an annual UK celebration of cycling with many local events in June
• London to Brighton ride for charity each summer; about 30,000 cyclists take part
• London to Paris rides for various charities
• Dunwich Dynamo, annual midsummer overnight ride to Suffolk since 1993
• London Cycling Awards: the London Cycling Campaign celebrates some of the best improvements for cyclists each year with the London Cycling Awards. 2008 winners included cycle parking at Frampton Park Estate in Hackney and at Shadwell DLR station; Kingston Council and Metropolitan Police for the Recycling Bikes Back Into The Community scheme; Newham University Hospital NHS Trust for the Well at Work project; STA Bikes and Hackney Council for Family Cycle Clubs; and Jenny Jones for services to cycling.
• The Tweed Run, an annual ride inaugurated in 2009 where the participants recreate the early years of British cycling by wearing tweed and other period clothing and by riding vintage bicycles.

External links

General information on London cycling:

• The Mayor's Vision for Cycling in London (March 2013)
• Transport for London's cycling pages
  • Cycle guides and maps
  • Cycle journey planner
• London CycleStreets map and journey planner
• London Cycle Network

Organisations:

• London Cycling Campaign
• Central London CTC, the local branch of Cyclists' Touring Club, a charitable membership organization supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use

Safety information:

• Driving and cycling safety tips from Transport for London
• Road safety fact sheets, reports and data from Transport for London's London Road Safety Unit
• Cycling in London: Severe crashes 2006-2014 (Google Maps custom map)
• Cycling in London: Severe crashes 2006-2014 (Google Docs spreadsheet)

History:

• Cycling for London (on YouTube; 24 minutes), a film produced by the Greater London Council in 1984 to show improvements made by their Cycling Unit to cycling facilities in London