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#bikethestrike: extra Santander Cycles hubs as Londoners take to two wheelsSantander Cycles hub Waterloo_ Pic courtesy of Martyn Thomas-large

#bikethestrike: extra Santander Cycles hubs as Londoners take to two wheels

Santander Cycles lay on extra hubs as tube strikes and clement weather put Londoners on bikes in their thousands
by Laura Laker
Thu, Aug 06, 2015 13:42
10

How is the tube strike for you? Don't ask? Or is it business as usual?

With all of London using the city's roads to get around today - apart from journeys by Overground and mainline rail, which are still operational - as the tube strikes rule out subterranean travel, hire bikes are in even greater demand than normal.

Santander Cycles are being stacked on the street like dominos in makeshift hubs where demand is greatest, in a bid to ease pressure on the city's groaning roads.

Meanwhile the #bikethestrike Twitter hashtag has revealed the scale of cycle commuting across Central London, as the London Cycling Campaign offers tips for newbie cycle commuters.

Transport for London have laid on extra cycle hubs at the following locations:

•           Abbey Orchard Street (Victoria)
•           Soho Square (Soho)
•           Houghton Street (Strand)
•           Finsbury Square (Moorgate)
•           Waterloo Place (St James)
•           Chapel Place (Marylebone)
•           Concert Hall Approach (Waterloo)

While existing hubs at Waterloo, Stonecutter Street (near Holborn and the City), Newgate Street (Bank/Cheapside/St Pauls) and Belgrove Street (Kings Cross) will have more cycles than usual.

During the last tube strike less than a month ago, on Thursday 8 July, 73,000 people used the cycle hire scheme - more than double the normal weekday usage of 35,000, and 24,000 more than the previous record set in April 2014.

The Santander Cycles app has seen a spike in downloads to more than 70,000 as desperate commuters search for a ride home.

Those who would normally have crammed into tube trains today are squeezed cheek by jowl on buses, or filling every remaining inch of road on two wheels.

While the Metropolitan Police's Cycle Safety Team have cancelled their other engagements to assist the "larger than normal amount of commuters".

And are nicking some bad drivers while they're at it.

There's a silver lining to the strikes, of course. Evans Cycles is offering free bike check- ups, and the London Cycling Campaign is giving away a prize for the best #bikethestrike photo on Twitter.

London cyclists are also being asked to post their near misses.

While for some people, it's just business (commute) as normal.

Tube Strike
transport for london
London Cycling Campaign
London
Laura Laker

Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.

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10 comments

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fancynancy | 9 years ago
0 likes

I almost had someone crash into me, so please don't assume I am not encouraging cycling. I would just prefer the majority of new riders respected the rules of the road & other riders around them.

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ianrobo | 9 years ago
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seems great to me and maybe if it encourages the odd person to do it regular it is a good thing ?

Interesting all these other people now get their bikes out, what stops them at other times ?

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congokid | 9 years ago
0 likes

I had a couple of lovely journeys round town on my trusty Brompton - aka the Strikebuster. Seemed a bit quieter than usual.

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cdamian | 9 years ago
0 likes

We should have more tube strikes in Barcelona!

Wait ... we do have more tube (metro) strikes and still nobody switches to bicycles, they just their cars and scooters.

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flathunt | 9 years ago
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I've lost count of the number of comment section comments on how people have ridden to work ***AS USUAL!***

Good... No, GREAT! to know.

PS, I rode in as usual, it was fine.

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fancynancy | 9 years ago
0 likes

Same as last time, too many novice cyclists doing silly things. Cycling every day to work the tube strike doesn't effect me, until they all come from underground onto the roads on their old rusty bikes that haven't been serviced in god knows how long 102

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jollygoodvelo replied to fancynancy | 9 years ago
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fancynancy wrote:

Same as last time, too many novice cyclists doing silly things. Cycling every day to work the tube strike doesn't effect me, until they all come from underground onto the roads on their old rusty bikes that haven't been serviced in god knows how long 102

Be charitable - would you rather they were on their crappy old bikes, or driving their cars?

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Olionabike replied to fancynancy | 9 years ago
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fancynancy wrote:

Same as last time, too many novice cyclists doing silly things. Cycling every day to work the tube strike doesn't effect me, until they all come from underground onto the roads on their old rusty bikes that haven't been serviced in god knows how long 102

This is definitely the attitude we need to get more people cycling.

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Leeroy_Silk replied to fancynancy | 9 years ago
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fancynancy wrote:

Same as last time, too many novice cyclists doing silly things. Cycling every day to work the tube strike doesn't effect me, until they all come from underground onto the roads on their old rusty bikes that haven't been serviced in god knows how long 102

Tut! Them bloody novice cyclist! I remember when I (and everybody else) was in their shoes, learning to ride, wobbling around on a squeaky old bike, being a nuisance to all the 'real' cyclists...

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JudahLow | 9 years ago
0 likes

Love the picture of the number 8 bus with the guy at the top of the stairs looking out longingly as his body is crushed against the wall

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