Commuting cyclists outnumber motorists

[MikeF]

For "technical reasons" the Beeb weren't able to transmit SE News tonight so gave us London News instead.
However one item of interest was this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35475318 How they define commuting numbers of cyclists and motorists I don't know, but anyway apparently there are now more cyclists than motorists. The taxi driver thought there should be segregated cycling, but seemingly on other roads he didn't use. All the cyclists interviewed favoured what was being done; not being a cyclist in London I can't comment.

[AndyBSG]

Going to have to watch that at lunch, I caught about 30 seconds of it where the LDTA rep was saying that cycling lanes should be somewhere else... i.e. somewhere out of the way that will add time and mileage to our rides because his black money/pollution box is more important than us!

[jan19]

Hope you enjoyed the London news Mike!

I saw the piece, and thought it was nice the cyclists were all positive, and didn't start saying "yes, but....." and left it to the narrative to say there is plenty more that can be done. It was a shame maybe that they didn't emphasise a few of the general positives such as less pollution, congestion, healthier people etc, but that's for another time. It does make the argument for continuing works to help cyclists if it can be shown that they WILL be used and other places can use the statistics to follow suit.

The objections of the LDTA were boringly predictable - you just KNEW who it was going to be when at the start of the piece the narrator said "there have been some objections...". They'll never be happy until London is banned to all traffic except taxis!

Jan

[kwackers]

The objections of the LDTA were boringly predictable - you just KNEW who it was going to be when at the start of the piece the narrator said "there have been some objections...". They'll never be happy until London is banned to all traffic except taxis!

Jan

Not quite, that last bit is wrong. Should be a full stop after "happy" and the text after that removed.
Miserable is a prerequisite for London cabbies. Don't think I've ever been in one yet were the driver wasn't giving it loads about something or other...

[Bmblbzzz]

Well, not quite. It's a prediction not a statement of current fact. Nevertheless, going on the trends in the figures they give, things are going in a very good direction in London.

Cyclists will outnumber car drivers entering central London in rush hour in the next few years, according to figures from Transport for London (TfL).
The number of car drivers fell from 137,000 in 2000 to 64,000 in 2014, while those of cyclists trebled from 12,000 to 36,000 over the same period.
TfL says the shift away from private cars to public transport and walking and cycling is "a feat unprecedented in any major city".

I think that last sentence probably deserves more attention. There probably are comparable shifts – I've heard of eg a couple of large Spanish cities making similar movements – but the fact that it is a shift, rather than the maintenance of or return to a tradition, means London is in some ways "out-biking" Amsterdam or Copenhagen.

[[XAP]Bob]

It just means politicians can't remember things that happen need 40 years ago...

[Ron]

Going to have to watch that at lunch, I caught about 30 seconds of it where the LDTA rep was saying that cycling lanes should be somewhere else... i.e. somewhere out of the way that will add time and mileage to our rides because his black money/pollution box is more important than us!

I had a trip in a London taxi last December and was amused as we approached the Tavistock area when the driver, who had remained silent up to that point, informed me that the congestion in that area was caused by the recent provision of cycle infrastructure even although the congestion seemed no worse to me than that encountered anywhere else in the journey. I had heard of the controversy before arriving in London but decided not to engage in discussion for fear the driver would take a longer route which would result in an increased fare .