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N-S cycle superhighway (still from @Lakerlikes Instagram)1,200 cyclists PER HOUR using new cycle superhighway
Cyclists now outnumber all other vehicles on London’s new East-West and North-South Cycle Superhighway routes, just weeks after their opening, according to initial observations.
Ahead of formal counts, around 1,200 cyclists have been observed using the brand new East-West Cycle Superhighway in the morning and evening peaks, just three weeks after it opened – more than using the same roads by motor vehicle, according to Transport for London. On the North-South route cycles also outnumber other vehicles crossing Blackfriars Bridge.
The news comes a week after Sadiq Khan’s office confirmed the Western extension of the E-W route is under review where it is proposed to cross the Westway flyover, reportedly in response to concerns raised by Westfield Shopping Centre about shoppers in cars potentially suffering delays in traffic jams.
.@miroirdufou Nigel: We're yet to complete formal counts, but initial observations show 1200 cyclists per hour during am/pm peaks on E/W.
— TfL TPH (@TfLTPH) May 25, 2016
At the London Cycling Awards on Friday London’s Cycling Commissioner said the routes are already proving they were worth the at times tough battle against opponents concerned about journey times for motor traffic.
He said: “Already there are more people using the East-West Cycle Superhighway in rush hour than there are [motor] vehicles. It’s already making a case and showing objections to be unfounded.”
“Don’t underestimate for a moment just how difficult it has been,” he said, urging Sadiq Khan to keep going with the cycling programme and not to pause, saying "time is your enemy" where cycling infrastructure was concerned.
Nigel: In the morning peak, cyclists now make up the majority of vehicles travelling across Blackfriars Bridge.
— TfL TPH (@TfLTPH) May 25, 2016
The new three mile East-West Cycle Superhighway runs from Tower Hill to Parliament Square, while the North-South route runs from St George’s Circus to Farringdon, via Blackfriars Bridge, where the two routes meet. The N-S route will also be extended, North to Kings Cross St Pancras station.
In response to complaints on Twitter some cyclists were riding on the carriageway, TfL said: “Initial observations on new Cycle Superhighway routes show good compliance from all road users: cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles.”
road.cc is awaiting more detailed count figures from Transport for London.
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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27 comments
It's all just a bit of unscientific Top Gear-style fun to promote a camera.
As I don't live in London, and I've never used the London Cycle Superhighways, yet, it is quite understandable, to me, that Fin took a wrong turn at Elephant & Castle, despite him claiming to "know the route like the back of his hand".
Not being perfect, I have taken the wrong turn, a few times, too.
[[[[[[ Terrific.
Some of the light timings seem to be out of sync. E.g. When travelling northbound on the bridge there's a red light at a pedestrian crossing that stays that way for ages but the light coming the other way is green. Also as it is two way some pedestrians don't realise they have to look both ways. I guess this'll get better with time. Apart from those gripes it's a well laid out route.
The new lane is great. I have used it a couple of times to head west (before swinging north) to add a few miles to my ride home from the City. The glorious weather we have enjoyed these last two weeks has been a bonus too!
Obv's I feel terribly sorry for wherever the coaches that used to fill this space have been displaced to... but I would not change it back.
The offending word used by TfL, "compliance", is presented in this article as meaning "cyclists using the cycle lane".
HOWEVER...!
I've just had a good look at the TfL Twitter feed. From what I can see, the above tweet was NOT in response to complaints about some cyclists riding on the road. It was a tweet in its own right, not a reply to anyone else. So "compliance" in this tweet is NOT related to the proportion of cyclists using the lane.
It's true that the feed is full of cabbies whingeing about cyclists continuing to ride on the road. In response, TfL Nigel tweeted:
Clearly, this is a much better response than the one incorrectly reported in this article.
So we can all calm down a bit
Thanks for the clarification. That is indeed a different kettle of fish and much more reasonable. Someone should edit the article for accuracy's sake.
I spotted Andrew Gilligan doing a count on the day after opening, and 1,200 was the number he had come up with - on a fairly wet day too, so not likely to be unrepresentatively high. That may be the number they are citing.
There are a couple of quirks to the route. Getting onto it eastbound involves a non-intuitive jaunt in right hand lane round Parliament Square, and, as AST1986 observes above, some very long delays at the bike-specific lights there, with the consequence that most bikes I saw opted to leave the bike lane at that point. I'd have to say this is compensated for in time terms by the scarcity of lights on the run between Westminster Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. Second quirk is that if you want to carry on eastbound past Blackfriars Bridge there is a jink to the other side of the road, also non-intuitive, to join the continuation of the bike lane.
I am not sure we need to be too paranoid about the "compliance" language: the biggest issue I have observed so far is pedestrians wandering across the path of some pretty rapid bicycles without looking (indeed, there was an ambulance treating someone on the floor on the very first day, though I did not see the incident and have no idea happened). I'd guess that will lead TFL to conclude that the speed bumps should stay. I have also seen reports of cars wandering into the bike lane, though I struggle to see how - "non-compliance" can cut more than one way.
Overall, I am a big fan. I have switched from my previous, slightly shorter commuting route because the straight run between Blackfriars and Parliament Square is so much more pleasant.
Has anyone else found the lights sequence at Parliament Square when travelling eastbound to be rather frustrating? You get held at the north east corner for an age, then again at the south east before getting stuck at the next set of lights at the north end of Westminster Bridge.
I was chatting to a chap this morning who said that he has just been jumping the lights or joining the road to avoid the hold-up. I did say that it was only 3/4mins but I doubt that he's the only one that has taken such action which will add to the number of 'non-compliants'.
In the last couple of weeks I've found myself on the road rather than the cycle-highway due to confusion and instinctively following old per-highway habits. I wouldn't be surprised if this accounts for most of the riders who haven't "complied" and as there is a constant stream of new cyclists that this won't continue to happen.
10 cyclists per minute in both directions during rush hour is pretty unremarkable for a busy area like Blackfriars.
Still, early days. With a decent summer maybe those slightly disappointing numbers will rise.
That's 1200 people per hour, whose opinions matter more than yours.
There you go, munching goats again...
Well it's 18 completely full double decker buses an hour or at least 600 cars - and that's assuming an average occupancy of 2 (which is probably too high) and that is in addition to the existing Bus & Car traffic.
Not sure any other transport solution could have delivered that additional capacity
https://cycleoffutility.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/behind-the-stats-how-tf...
"The average per km travelled figure between 7-10am for cars is 1.37, and for LGVs is 1.23" so too high by a large margin.
On the positive side this is the first dedicated cycle infrastructure in the UK I would consider fit for purpose. I've been riding in London about 7 years on and off.
Last week I hired a Boris bike and rode from Tower Bridge to Westminster entirely on segregated paths.
More to do yes, but credit where it's due to visible usable progress.
Yep I agree with that. And I expect and hope for a reduction in cyclist casualties in London, and an increase in people deciding to bike it to work.
An unfortunate (but predictable) consequence is the "gerronthefackincyclepath" attitude that comes with it.
OMG, just think of all those women who will be arriving for work with helmet hair!
Jesus.
Build it and they will come.
And judging by the last paragraph, anyone who doesn't use it will be retrained appropriately
Any evidence that the number of cyclists commuting is going up overall, or is it just that cyclists are being forced off more direct routes? Certainly the evidence from the Dublin cordon counts a few years ago was that this was the case: same approximate volume of cyclists, but now instead of being spread about they were mostly using the painted paths. (Whether this was because said paths were better or they were feeling more harrassed on on-road routes is unknown).
I think the last paragraph about "compliance" is telling.
Probably not - these are informal counts at the moment. You'd need data points from a lot of different roads with prior year to assess that. Anecdata from me is that there will be some substitution - I go to various locations in London and the new Cycleways are *so* pleasant to use I'm going out of my way slightly to use them. However, it's also opening up new journeys - getting to Brick Lane area used to be a hellish trip. I can now use the entire lenght of the EW CSH and it's a breeze. I'll go there more often by bike rather than tube because of it.
Compliance works 3 ways
- there are some issues with motor vehicles turning into cycle lanes (some accidental, some dubious - would have been much better if they'd used coloured tarmac),
- pedestrians keeping out of the lanes/adjusting to floating bus stops
- cyclists getting used to the access points. Really this new infra is good enough there's no reason not to use it but there do seem to be some perverse people out there. I saw someone riding under the north Blackfriars junction in a narrow lane with traffic rather than using the parallel lane in the same direction. Since the lights are optimised for the cycleway (travelling east west you surf a green wave on the bike) we caught him up and passed him.
Good to have that perspective. It sounds very positive and useful. I shall have to give them a try some day
Good news.
As the routes are on one side of the road, it's not always obvious how to join it, if you're on the other side of the road.
Also, I don't think the road signs nearby have been altered to show that they even exist!
[/quote]
As the routes are on one side of the road, it's not always obvious how to join it, if you're on the other side of the road.
[/quote]
The optimist in me suggests that the (sub-optimal but chaper) bidirectional on one side of the road design has been used because the ultimate goal is to have a mono-directional path on each side that is the width of the current track. It presents an ideal opportunity for expansion when the day comes.
I was very dubious at the design stage when the bidirectional were announced but in use there are actually a few advantages I'd not appreciated
- particularly on the EW you avoid a number of light controlled junctions that stop motorised traffic (becasue only the river is on the other side).
- the capacity is actually larger than uni-directional tracks. Since the flows are very tidal (inbound in the mornings/out in the evenings) the flow is often 3/1 rather than 2/2 and there's more space to overtake slower riders. Note that there is no 'centre line' - I think this is intentional.
- as you say, there's an easy and obvious upgrade in future to wide tracks on both sides.