By Summer 2011 two new Cycle Superhighways will be crossing through London. I wanted to see how they were coming along so I posed the question on Twitter..

• @suspectpackage cs8, painted the road blue a bit, wouldn’t call it progress though, just back from Holland http://yfrog.com/h87rnvrsj
• @ianbar33 CS8 getting on but surface not good between Vaux Bridge and Chelsea Bridge as I now have the blue over my frame and top!! Not happy
• @angus_fx there’s been blue paint on Battersea High St for a couple of months now. Don’t know if that counts as "progress" )
• @rokav enjoyed a cycle along a largely-complete section of CS8 on Grosvenor Road on Sunday

Armed with the knowledge there would at least be a few strips of blue paint to checkout (so exciting!) I went along with my camera to investigate.

“Oh no, we’ve run out of blue paint. Where’s the nearest B&Q?”

The above picture shows the previously dilapidated green cycle route. The new blue route is now located on the road. Not really an improvement. If anything a beginner cyclist, which is exactly who we need to encourage, would probably feel much safer on the previous route. Hopefully, if the planners have any sense, which we know they rarely do when it comes to cycling provision, they will build a barrier to keep cars out of the cycle lane.

This picture above is far more encouraging. A nice big wide blue lane that has plenty of room for cyclists to overtake. Full points for this part of Cycle Superhighway 8 go to TfL!

Unfortunately, the final picture was less encouraging. When I was asked what I thought about the motorbikes in the bus lanes trial I would of given a more favourable answer if motorbikes hadn’t translated the trial as permission to ride in all cycle lanes too.

I recognise it’s a little harsh to critique Cycle Superhighway 8 even before it’s finished so I’ll be revisiting when it is officially finished.

Note: Nicole is meant to be posting on Tuesday but she’s very busy at the moment with work so you are stuck with me!

See also:

• Is there anything super about the cycle superhighways?
• Two very different visions of the cycle superhighways
• Cycle superhighways latest let-down

During yesterdays tube strike the media inevitably turned their attention to cycling as a way of getting to work. This provided some great publicity for cycling and the BBC even invited me in to talk about it. To get there I cycled through the mayhem of rush hour. I thought it was pretty mad out there – buses, cars and people all tangled up in a huge mess trying to get home. Traffic signs were being ignored, cars were waiting in no stopping zones and cyclists were jumping red lights in droves.

This is also one of the first things the BBC reporter asked me about. As I sad down in one of those rooms with a green background, pulled the microphone under my shirt and decided between the background of Big Ben or London. I opted for London in the end. “Cyclists are quite famous for jumping red lights aren’t they?” My well rehearsed defence: “Actually, only a small minority of cyclists jump red lights, they are usually the ones you notice”. I was hoping they would ask me about how to cycle safely as new cycling commuters often don’t know the tricks of the trade. But no such luck.

I asked on Twitter yesterday what London Cyclist’s thought of the tube strike and if they spotted any new cyclists:

sweek0 @londoncyclist it was bloody busy. More cyclists than I’ve ever/seen more cars too. Many were clearly inexperienced and rode close to curb

sukeyyy @londoncyclist More (smug) cyclists for sure! And I saw one guy in a suit sprinting to get the last Boris bike in the rack.

phototropy @londoncyclist Lots more cyclists! I ended up escorting a lawyer on a Borisbike, simply because he didn’t have a clue how to get to work.

nicobobinus @londoncyclist probably double the usual number coming in through Holloway and Camden Town. Seemed to be more red lights jumped than usual!

mculmer @londoncyclist yes, lots of new cyclists on hire bikes to close to pavement. Too many cars jostling for that extra inch & lots of motorbikes using bike lanes more than usual

OxfordSpring @londoncyclist More folk on mountain bikes, wide sweeping turns and a distinct lack of proper rain kit.

suspectpackage @londoncyclist closest i’ve come to blows with another cyclist this morning but looked like he was a regular

petermeanwell @thefinalform @londoncyclist mainly mega traffic but a few more wobblers, and lots more people trying to jump lights – but didn’t know how!

chthonicionic @londoncyclist Lots of cyclists + nice bikes/lycra but with no experience of riding in heavy traffic – undertaking lorries + on pavement

meincken @londoncyclist a few near misses which scared even me, and lack of respect for other road users! Tube strike can’t end quick enough!

tobycastle @londoncyclist Even at 7am definitely more bikes. Some rusty & definitely more wobbly. Also many more rucksack runners panting along.

my1minuterant @londoncyclist Seemed a few more people up for a race (Lycra Warriors), maybe not woked it all out of their system.

commentisfree @londoncyclist loads more nOObies. "Experienced" commuters can be just as much as a pain in the a$$ though, so I kept quiet…

And so as another tube strike comes to and end hopefully we will have some more cyclists join us on London road’s. Be nice to them guys!

Read more:

• 7 mistakes new cyclists make
• The Skyride in pictures
• Waterproof cycling jackets
• Bike lights guide

Boris Johnson was on top form as he arrived by bike looking tired and tieless. He told us that along his 35 minute journey from Islington to Clapham Common it was him versus a boy racer and he only narrowly won thanks to the superhighways. An entertaining story although a quick check on the map confirms the majority of the route is not covered by a superhighway.

Speeches were given and many laughs were received from the gathered members of the press. Boris went on to explain that the blue of the superhighways was meant to represent freedom and be an international sign of how serious London is about cycling. He finished his speech by stressing the importance of London competing against other cities in order to receive investment. By growing cycling he hopes to prove that London has what it takes.

We were also given some figures about the superhighways. The money will fund 5,000 new parking spaces for bikes, over 17,000 hours of cycle training and 3,000 hours of cycle maintenance classes. Boris also told us that any rumours that the cycle superhighways would be less than 1.5 metres in length at certain points were not true.

Everyone seemed rather wooed by the speeches and was happy to walk away thinking how good us cyclists have it. This is highly arguable but you can’t help but agree that the visible nature of the superhighways is a positive thing.

When the opportunity came along to grab some questions with Boris I knew he was not really going to answer anything. However, it was worth trying anyway. I wanted to find out about his vision for the cycle superhighways compared to the reality. What I really wanted to know is how someone can look at the superhighways and think to themselves “yes, this truly is a superhighway, this will be great for new cyclists”. Boris simply said that of course his initial vision would not be possible due to the big range of stakeholders. However, he would like to see the blue tarmac all throughout London.

I also asked about the reductions in cycle lanes along certain points. He told me that of course there would be some problems at the start. What about the policing of the cycle superhighways? A lot of people on Twitter wanted to know what would be done to keep vehicles out of the lanes. He quoted the TfL research that suggests the visual nature of the lanes will be enough to help drivers recognise the sheer volume of cyclists passing through and thus they will stay out of the lane.

Our interview was cut short by a cyclist riding on the pavement. Boris approached him and shouted “why did we build the superhighways if you’re not going to use them?” I’m sure we could give him a number of reasons.

There are many questions still to ask – the congestion zone extension scrap, how fast the cycle hire scheme will be rolled out to wider London, prohibition of trucks at peak times and why London doesn’t have more bike boulevards.

They will have to wait for another time. However, there was one final question I wanted to ask. I managed to grab Kulveen Ranger, the Mayors Transport Advisor, who is pro-cycling. I asked him if he’d heard of the idea before of privatising car parking in-order to capture the true cost of parking. It was an interesting idea I’ve not heard before suggested to me by Paul Battley. It caught Kulveen unaware and he wasn’t able to answer. This is definitely an idea worth exploring more and I’ll see if I can chase him up on it.

Whilst I didn’t get to ask Boris all the questions I wanted, especially “who does your hair?”, it was an interesting launch and its good to see the first stage of one of the big cycling projects finally delivered. Now on to the Cycle Hire Scheme.

Thanks to my fellow cycling blogger Rob Ainsley for the picture. Also make sure you read his take on the launch.

See also:

• Cycle hire application for your iPhone
• Are people for or against the cycle hire scheme?
• Is there anything super about the cycle superhighways?
• Two visions for the cycle superhighways

Lately London Cycle Cafes have been getting a lot of exposure. Whether that be the Evening Standard, Time Magazine, Timeout, Bike Hugger or the Financial Times. Therefore, I thought now may be a good time to actually take a better look at some of them.

Look Mum No Hands Cycle Cafe

Where? 49 Old Street, EC1V 9HX www.lookmumnohands.com

Quickly becoming London’s most popular meeting point for cyclists this great cafe provides a workshop where you can work on your bike yourself or hand it over to a mechanic, delicious meals and a great place to relax with a coffee. Closes at 10pm.

MiCycle

Where? 47 Barnsbury Street, N1 1TP www.micycle.org.uk

MiCycle is a very recent addition to London and it provides far more than a bike shop. It is also a place to borrow tools to work on your bike, grab a coffee and take part in cycling classes.

CycleLab Juice Bar

Where? 18A Pitfield Street, N1 6EY www.cyclelab.co.uk

London Cycle Chic recently highly recommended the service she had on her bike at CycleLab. The juice bar is a great addition.

Ralpha Cycle Club

Where? 146 Clerkenwell Road, EC1 5DG www.rapha.cc/london

Only open until the 31st of July the Ralpha Cycle Club provides a gallery, shop and cafe.

Lock 7 Cycle Cafe

Where? 129 Pritchards Road, E2 9AP

Perhaps London’s oldest “cycle cafe” Lock 7 provides everything you would expect from a cycle cafe. It is a great place to get your bike tuned up, find a second hand bike and rent a bike or a tandem.

FullCity Cycle Cafe

Where? 72 Leather Lane, E1

Petite cycle cafe and workshop down Leather Lane. Serves up £1 cups of Monmouth coffee!

See also:

• Foodnetwork.co.uk takes a thorough look at London cycle cafes
• 10 London Cycling Events you shouldn’t miss
• Hackney bicycle film society
• Why I love my local bike shop

Vincent was kind enough to send me some pictures of the Cycle Superhighways along Narrow Street leading to Canary Wharf. This route has long been one I believe TfL need to really focus on. This is due to the lack of good cycling routes leading to Canary Wharf where so many people work.

The first two routes were due for completion in May 2010. We are now in June and 31 days from now, on the 19th of July, the two superhighways will officially be open.

Of course the criticism has been pouring in with plenty of videos appearing on YouTube such as this one:

My main concern with the superhighways is how much they will actually improve safety and provide a more enjoyable ride. If London cyclists are still having to go around drivers in the cycle lane then not a lot has changed.

I’m also concerned that the superhighways will signal to people that cyclists require a special lane in order to be safe. I strongly believe this is not the case. If you take cycle training then you learn that using a narrow cycle lane is more dangerous than staying in the middle of the road. Research into cycle lanes suggests that only very wide cycle lanes provide extra safety for the rider.

I’m due to ride one of the superhighways with TfL on July 1st. I definitely want to forward any of your concerns to them so please do let me know your thoughts.

Have you tried one of the cycle superhighways? If so, what did you think?

See also:

• Two visions for London’s cycle superhighways
• What the 12 cycle superhighways will mean for London Cyclists
• Cycle Superhighways latest letdown
• Barclays cycle hire

Other “Comment Fridays”:

• What do you wear to cycle into work?
• What’s in your bag?

London Cycle Hire Scheme

A very clear cut winner here! Eight out of ten cyclists think the Cycle Hire Scheme is overall a good idea for London. Whilst there is overwhelming support the main concerns raised by people were around theft, the huge cost of the project and how that money could have been spent on more bike facilities such as cycle parking.

On the positives, Jolyon talked about how this may prove to be a critical point when cycling in London gains more traction. Vrinda commented it will also be useful to regular cyclists when they happen to be away from their bike and want to get from A-to-B quickly.

With high hopes for the cycle hire scheme let’s see if it performs. Overall I too am positive about the scheme and would like to see it be a big success. With that kind of money invested, it has to be!

Harsher fines for cyclists

With an incredible total of 147 votes this was a hot topic. I didn’t know which was it would swing because some people showed real anger towards so called anti-social cycling behaviour. Overall however 74% of people decided this was not the right way to go about promoting safe cycling.

Some of the comments hinted towards the negative image skipping red lights creates for cyclists. Tim talked about how this is one of those laws that it is very tough to enforce so the fine is not as important as the difficult enforcement process. Craig agreed about the difficulty of enforcing which again rendered the fine amount as unimportant.

Adam made a good point by comparing the amount of rule breaking by motorists such as talking on phones. Of course the detriment to someone doing this is likely to be far greater to anyone in the cars path rather than in the path of the bike. Murray also compared it to pedestrians. Saying how similar enforcement should be in place for pedestrians walking carelessly in cycle paths.

Mark thinks that the government is completely missing the point. They should instead be focusing on why people are jumping red lights and whether this argument for improved safety actually adds up. In one bit of research that never saw the light of day it was proven cyclists who jump red lights are safer. Though the causes behind this are uncertain.

There were plenty more very interesting comments which you can follow here.

Share the road

This poll really split the vote. There was much uncertainty around the kind of benefits this brings. Phil argued for sharing the road because it will encourage motorists to always be looking out for cyclists. He discussed how separate cycle paths may have a negative effect by creating no-go areas for cyclists on roads without them.

There was also the argument by thereverent who talked about the poor upkeep of cycle paths and how the existence of a cycle path makes it very hard for a cyclist who decides to stay on the road. Adam raised the point that we should be taking away space from motorists as it is an unsustainable mode of transport.

I think the poll shows support for separate cycle paths when they are well maintain and they are genuinely useful. However, in most cases it is best to just learn to share the road.

Conclusion

Overall I really enjoyed this week of polls. I think as a once a month thing it could work really well on London Cyclist Blog. If you had any thoughts let me know in the comments below.

In this final poll I wanted to take a look at cycle paths versus cycle lanes. Though it’s tough to come across an exact definition, a cycle lane is one that is attached to the side of the road but not separated by any physical means where as a cycle path is separated somehow from the road.

The above picture is an example of a cycle path.

For separated cycle paths: The separation provides more safety and a more pleasurable ride. It means that there is less danger of getting doored or having a car parked up in the cycle lane thus rendering it useless. It encourages more people to take up cycling as they feel protected from the main traffic on the road.

Against separated cycle paths: The problem with separate cycle paths is they often end up sending you away from the route you want to take and a long way around. It should be more about sharing the road and teaching drivers and cyclists how to do that.

I’ll be interested to see how this poll goes because at face value it would seem separated cycle paths are a great idea. But usually when they are implemented they are in locations that people don’t often use and often go through quiet areas that end up being less safe to use in the evening.

The post back then raised a lot of debate with a total of 37 comments left.

Those for the harsher fines: Will argue that cyclists are not above the law and they are governed by the highway code in the same way as any motorist. The harsher fine may help to discourage those that keep flouting the laws. The cyclists for the higher fines will talk about how those that do skip red lights are painting a less positive picture of cycling and likely to cause less people to want to start cycling. Many people will also talk about the anger people seem to express at pavement cycling and the dangers that poses for pedestrians.

Those against the harsher fines: Will argue that the road system in the UK was designed around cars and not bikes. This often leaves cyclists in less than safe positions and the occasional bit of red light skipping actually helps to prevent danger. Whilst they don’t encourage flouting all the laws they acknowledge a bit of rule bending is necessary to stay safe. They will point out that the number of accidents caused by cyclists is extremely low and deaths even lower to none existent. The harsher fines will only serve to discourage new cyclists to join as they keep hearing stories about people receiving big fines. They may also argue that a harsh fine is not the correct way to discourage people and instead better cycling facilities should be built.

Do you think cyclists should receive harsher fines for breaking the rules?

Also don’t forget to vote in yesterdays poll on the London Cycle Hire scheme which is just 2 people short of 100!

Design of the cycle highways

The artists impression (showcasing some excellent Photoshop skills) from the TfL website basically looks like a normal cycle lane painted blue. In fact taking a closer look at this picture you realise its a bit of a marketing disaster. Not only does it show a scared individual cycling in the gutter but also it shows a London bus driving in the cycling lane. Not exactly dream conditions.

The limited information that has been given so far suggests that the cycle lanes will be:

• Separate from motor traffic wherever possible
• Painted blue
• Following the route of main roads

Definitely nothing too “revolutionary” there. The description on the TfL website is slightly more positive:

Direct and continuous – The routes will be clearly marked from start to finish so you’ll have no trouble following them. You’ll also see information along the way about journey time and links to other cycling routes.

Comfortable – We’ll be improving road surfaces along the route so you can pedal more comfortably.

Easy to find – Each highway will have a clear and unique identity.

Safe – Signals, road markings and continuous cycle lanes at junctions will help you keep safe.

Suggested routes

The first two routes that are currently under development are very direct and a decent cycling length. However, they have limited space to develop larger cycling lanes to accommodate the suggested threefold increase in cycling users that the scheme aims to achieve. If the lanes did eat further into car users space then there would be a highly negative effect on rush hour traffic. Perhaps the standstill would be enough to encourage motorists to switch to pedal power as they watch even the slowest cyclist beat them to their destination.

(Find out if there is anything ‘super’ about the cycle superhighways)

Route 3

• Barking to Tower Hill via the A13 and Cable Street
• Opening: May 2010
• 9.8 miles (estimated) so roughly 39 minutes bike ride (riding at 15 mph)
• View map

Route 7

• South Wimbledon to Bank via A24, A3 and Southwark Bridge Road
• Opening: May 2010
• Follows Northern Line to Bank
• 8.9 miles (estimated) so roughly 35 minutes bike ride (riding at 15 mph)
• View map

Remaining routes

• There are also 10 more routes that will be developed after the 2 pilot routes are completed.
• TfL appear to be aiming for completion of all 12 routes before the end of 2012. However, considering the length of time taken to develop just 2 routes I can’t see that happening.


Image source: TfL

Marketing gimmick or positive step forward?

If Boris’ big blue bike lanes catch on then the outcome can only be positive. After all, any cyclist would be crazy to wish away good cycling lanes along major routes. It is important however not to have the wool pulled over our eyes. The new mayor of London famously cut spending to the London Cycle Network which resulted in 400 new cycle lanes been scrapped.

(See all cycle superhighway coverage)

There are three measures of success here. The first is weighing up the quality of the cycling highways compared to traditional cycling lanes. If the superhighways delivered the promised improvements such as greater road comfort, more room to cycle and priority over traffic then they may raise the bar of what is expected from a cycling lane thus prompting improvements across the network of cycle routes. Conversely if the cycle superhighways end up being just a glorified cycle lane then the benefit will be marginal to cyclists.

The second measure of success is the completion of all 12 cycle lanes. In a positive scenario all 12 would be completed by the end of 2012 as promised. This would have a strong impact to the London cycling scene. If however the scheme is scrapped before completion, which may well happen depending on the feedback from the first two cycle routes and a negative backlash from motorists, then a lot of time will have been wasted.

The final measure of success is the positive impact it has on the number of cyclists and on the awareness of cyclists as fellow road users. If drivers end up paying more attention to cyclists then maybe less accidents will occur.

What would be nice to see in future initiatives is a more united front between the mayor of London and London Cycling Campaign rather than arguments over who is right as this does not portray a positive image to us cyclists. I look forward to May 2010 and giving the first cycle superhighways a test run.

See also:

• Quick interview with Boris Johnson about the cycle superhighways
• 25 amazing London Cycling Routes
• Is there anything super about the cycle superhighways?
• London Cycle Cafe’s. Who? Where? What?