Vote Bike on Thursday (Green 1st preference; Labour 2nd preference)

Polling day (5th May 2016) is coming up very soon, and we all want to make sure we have the most pro-cycling administration possible in City Hall post-Thursday.

Boris Johnson was a wet-fish for most of his Mayoralty, putting down lines of blue paint which, especially in East London, have led to the needless, tragic, and horrible deaths of many Londoners.

However, in 2012/3 Boris had what can only be described as a Damascene Conversion, and for the last three years he's become a real champion of safe cycling infrastructure; rolling out 38 miles of safe segregated TfL cycle track, most notably along the Embankment. I cycled many of these routes last Sunday, and they're brilliant.

The fantastic new Blackfriars Bridge cycle track. I think it's my favourite, because of it's typically Danish lack of trench-like kerbs separating cyclists and pedestrians. This lighter, but still clear, touch is more pleasant for everyone.

Blackfriars Bridge segregated cycling underpass. Building a genuine network at last.

The new East-West cycling superhighway outside Portcullis House working well for both cyclists and pedestrians. Massive improvement to the whole area.

Bicycle road adjacent to Upper Thames Street Tunnel

These gains have not been easily won. There was sustained and well-financed opposition from Canary Wharf and the City of London to the Embankment cycle track, as well as trenchant attacks from market traders in Tower Hamlets that mean part of CS2 on Whitechapel Road is still a death trap...

Cycle "Superhighway" 2 in Tower Hamlets even after millions of pounds of upgrade work. Dangerous, unpleasant, and often fatal.

The photo above shows the kind of cycling "infrastructure" we will be left with if our political leader(s) lack(s) the will to push through objectively safe plans, even in the face of local opposition.

Where genuinely top cycling facilities have been built, they're already incredibly busy. Even on a Sunday. Even when they're not even finished yet!

Cyclists waiting patiently at the lights at Embankment cycle lane. Red light jumping is far less frequent when cyclists are given safe facilities.

So we need a Mayor who will invest in safe cycling infrastructure, and will have the bravery to make sure that it is built to a high standard so that it isn't a death trap (like the recent photo of the CS2 above). If we want that I believe we need to vote:

1st preference: Sian Berry (Greens)
2nd preference: Sadiq Khan (Labour)

And for London Assembly Members, the orange ballot paper:

Vote Green

The reasons behind this are simple. The Greens have consistently backed cycling in the London Assembly for the last 8 years. Assembly Members (AMs) Darren Johnson and Baroness Jenny Jones have not only criticised Boris Johnson's 5 years of folly, when he put blue paint over dangerous, arterial roads. But, perhaps even more impressively, they have had the objectivity to praise Mr Johnson's genuinely brilliant cycling plans of the last 3 years, and the fruits they are already yielding.

Yay! I can guarantee that the next Green AMs will be as passionate as me and @DarrenJohnsonAM about #cycling. https://t.co/60v5XoWzzE

— Jenny Jones (@GreenJennyJones) 3 May 2016

The Green candidate for Mayor, Sian Berry, has similarly consistently championed cycling throughout her career, as well as clean air which I'm sure we all care about. She's been to many cycling and air pollution protests which every other mayoral candidate has ignored.

Great to have @sianberry Mayoral candidate and @highburyonfoot Assembly Member hopeful at the #PollutionProtest pic.twitter.com/ndNemwpnca

— StopKillingCyclists (@StopKillingCycl) 27 April 2016

However, it is unlikely the Greens will win the Mayoralty. The top two candidates will get put into a run-off, and all first preference votes for other candidates reallocated to their second preference vote. This diagram from a recent poll indicates how this would happen:

Recent poll for London Mayoral Election 2016

So, even if one was inclined to vote Green, we still need to be tactical with our second preference: essentially between Labour and Conservative in this two-horse race.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour candidate, hasn't been as bullishly supportive on cycling as Boris Johnson, but he has been significantly better than Zac Goldsmith, his Tory rival.

Sadiq met with Chris Boardman from British Cycling many weeks ago and committed to maintaining TfL's cycling budget. Zac initially fobbed this meeting off, and only met Chris Boardman very recently.

Similarly, Sadiq was the first mayor candidate to agree to the London Cycling Campaign's campaign pledges. Namely:

1. More space for cycling on main roads and at junctions

LCC secured a huge investment in cycling at the last election. But London urgently needs more high-quality, protected space on main roads and at junctions – these places force cyclists to mix with heavy or fast moving motor traffic, which can put people off cycling. Our next Mayor must triple the number of miles of protected cycle lanes on London’s roads, to help people of all ages and abilities access the road network by bike.

2. A ‘Mini-Holland’ for every London borough

‘Mini-Holland’ schemes create cycle-friendly town-centres. They encourage people to make local journeys by bike or on foot, help regenerate communities, and bring more customers to local businesses. We’ve already secured new schemes in Waltham Forest, Enfield, and Kingston. Now we want every borough to get its very own Mini-Holland.

3. An end to lorry danger

Lorries are the largest vehicles on our streets and pose the greatest risk to cyclists - their design restricts the driver’s vision. London’s next Mayor must act to end lorry danger. This must include upgrading the Safer Lorry Scheme and using planning powers over major construction projects so that only the safest lorries, with ‘Direct Vision’ cabs and minimal ‘blind spots’, are allowed onto London’s streets.

To be fair to Zac, he has also now signed the same pledges. However, Mr Goldsmith decided to sign the day after Sadiq Khan did, which suggests he was more playing 'catch-up' with his rival, than being genuinely committed to a progressive cycling programme for London.

In terms of air quality - a crucial issues for cyclists that are so over-exposed to pollutants drivers create - Sadiq is also ahead of Zac. Mr Goldsmith won't bring in an 'Ultra Low Emission Zone' (ULEZ) - essentially extra taxing of super-polluting motor vehicles to discourage their use - until 2020 (that's FOUR YEARS!). Sadiq has said he will look at bringing in the ULEZ by 2018, and expand it's scope so it's not only Londoners in Zone 1 that can avoid adult-onset asthma, respiratory failure, and heart disease.

Tactics! If @SadiqKhan isn't your 1st or 2nd preference you're voting for @ZacGoldsmith ie diesel cars till 2020... pic.twitter.com/PlA6cZBllO

— Clean Air in London (@CleanAirLondon) May 2, 2016

Mr Goldsmith also threatened to 'rip up' London's new cycle lanes (which are so self-evidently brilliant) on LBC Radio, as well as to ignore the 6,000 respondents to the Cycle Superhighway 11 consultation which had majority support for proper cycling and walking improvements in Regent's Park and Swiss Cottage.

Since then Zac's recognised than some of the new cycle lanes do work for everyone, particularly the new TfL cycle track in Vauxhall (CS5), and that minority local opposition can stoke unrealistic fears, for example in terms of congestion, that never materialise.

Vauxhall Bridge Cycle Track (CS5) - new design, safe for all. Pic via I Bike London.

Vauxhall Cross Old Layout. Terrifying, incompetent, fatal. Pic via Cyclists in the City.

However, it's a case of too-little-too-late, and it's certainly not enough to challenge Sadiq's more consistent and caveat-free support of London's cycling programme.

Pic via London Cycling Campaign. A charity worth being a member of!

So vote bike on Thursday, vote for safer cycling, cleaner air, less congestion, less obesity, more happiness, and fewer road accident fatalities.

(and for your first-past-the-post local London Assembly Member you'll have to look at their personal record on cycling, but speaking generally the Labour Assembly Members have been far more pro-cycling than the Conservative ones, so if you don't have time to research then vote Labour.)

Also, if this was confusing, there's a handy explanation of how London voting system works here: https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/counting-votes

Consultations Galore! (Part 3)

Seasonal best wishes and even more consultations for us all to fill in!

Cheapside and Guildhall Enhancement Strategy - closes 31 December! (extended deadline)

It's great that the City are consulting on this but they are currently planning on building loads and loads and loads of pavement, and no #space4cycling. They should change their plans so that reclaimed road space is used to create dedicated and separated cycle lanes not just massive pavements. Otherwise they will have huge amounts of conflict between bicycles and cars, and bicycles and pedestrians, resulting in unnecessary injuries and deaths.

Two options being considered for the St Paul's gyratory..

Neither of which contains a shred of #space4cycling. This is atrocious and the design need a complete rethink and dedicated cycle lanes should be added.

The City are also consulting on changes to a number of adjoining streets, including Cannon Street (pictured here). Again, there are no cycle facilities on these streets at present and that means they are dangerous. Three people have been killed cycling in the Square Mile this year alone. The way to stop people being killed in the future is to provide dedicated cycling facilities, not try and use cyclists as human speed bumps (as the City currently attempts to do, particularly on Cheapside).


Transforming Vauxhall Cross

This is a rather large consultation on what TfL should do with the whole Vauxhall Cross area over the next few years, particularly with regard to removing the 1960s gyratory which they appear keen to do. Fortunately the powers that be at TfL have recognised that the CS5 cannot be postponed for another 3 years while gyratories are removed so that Cycle Superhighway will be built immediately, with overall Vauxhall Cross plans being integrated at a later stage into the cycle superhighway design.

Here is the current layout of the area, complete with some very poor (or either non-existent) cycling facilities:

And here are the proposed improvements:

And a rather inspiring TfL artist's impression of what the new layout will look like, complete with a lovely wide separated bike track and a woman cycling on it who isn't wearing a helmet, and even looks quite normal!

Is this London or Copenhagen?

The plans are definitely an improvement but still contain many flaws. More could be done to make the area appealing for cycling and walking,  such as making the whole area 20 MPH (like the Waterloo IMAX Roundabout now is) or by building dedicated cycle tracks on both sides of Parry Street and making these segregated cycling facilities run continuously through the junction onto Nine Elms Lane (using special cycle-only traffic signals if necessary; as is done in Denmark).


And a final thought... Why does TfL never consider the convenience of changing between cycle and bus/rail/underground transport connections? (especially when deciding the location of cycle hire docking stations?!)

A survey on the Vauxhall Cross consultation asks Londoners to rate the importance of "Convenience of changing between bus, rail and underground". Cycling isn't included. It should be. The ease of interchange from cycling to another mode of transport can be the factor which determines if someone decides to cycle at all for their journeys around London.

Consultations Galore! (Part 2) - CS5, Oval, Regents Row, Crystal Palace

Here are some more very important consultations that are closing soon and worth responding to if you haven't already:

Revised proposals for Barclays Cycle Superhighway Route 5 between Vauxhall and Oval - Closes in 3 days!!!

This route is largely an improvement on the first plans that TfL presented. What is especially nice to note is that TfL have abandoned their previous idea of creating a 'shared island' area with people both cycling and walking in the same area, and are instead creating a dedicated cycle route and a dedicated walking route through Vauxhall, which is a much better solution for both those walking and cycling.

The cycle track also has a usual width of 4m which is good, although given that it's two-way and a big commuter route, it could be wider; perhaps 5-6m.

Another issue is that there should be a bus-stop bypass at Oval instead of the cycle track suddenly petering out and stopping. That is dangerous and could lead to conflict with bus drivers. Much better to continue cycle track behind the bus stop as is the norm in Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

If there isn't enough space for a bus-stop by-pass it would be better to do what Camden Council did on Royal College Street and install a cycle lane which bus passengers can also enter and use to alight to and from the bus with. I've seen this used in Copenhagen very regularly and it results in negligible conflict between bus users and cyclists and is much, much safer and more pleasant for those on bikes.


Oval Triangle - Consultation on potential measures to reduce through traffic on local roads

TfL are trying to reduce through-traffic from local roads around Oval which is a fantastic idea. They've offered two different options. In my opinion, Option 2 is much the better one. It involves closing one end of Ravensdon Street to through-traffic which is in line with best practice from Denmark and Holland where many local roads are closed at one end.

Hackney Council have also closed off one end of many local roads to motor traffic in recent years and the result has been to create much safer and more pleasant back-streets cycling in the borough.

Regents Row Improvement Scheme

Monitoring by the Council has shown that Regents Row is being used as a rat run resulting in an unsafe and unpleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists so Hackney Council are proposing introducing a road closure at Marlborough Avenue to stop vehicles using Regents Row as a rat-run and help create a more pedestrian and cycle friendly environment. This will also help ease congestion on the nearby towpath by providing an attractive alternative.

It's very well worth responding to this consultation and supporting the proposals.

Crystal Palace Parade junction improvement scheme

Southwark Council are proposing installing fully segregated cycle tracks adjacent to the roundabouts. The cycle tracks will allow cyclists to bypass interaction with general traffic at the roundabouts and will directly access the proposed parallel priority crossings.  These measures will ensure that cyclists can negotiate both roundabouts separated from general traffic, which will greatly improve safety and accessibility, particularly for less confident cyclists.

It's worth supporting the Dutch and Danish roundabout design which separates bikes from motor traffic. However, I want to see segregated cycle lanes continuing in the roads leading to and from the roundabouts so that those cycling are not suddenly dumped into the path of dangerous motor traffic when they leave the junctions.

The area should also be made 20 MPH to help save the lives of those cycling, walking, and driving.

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It's amazing that all these changes are being proposed all over London, and together they could add up to a real transformation of the British capital, especially if Crossrail for Bikes is built. Marginal gains and all that...

Thoughts on TfL's Cycle Superhighway 5 (CS5) 'Response to Consultation'

TfL recently published the responses to the consultation they held on the new, improved Cycle Superhighway 5 (CS5), they will build running from Victoria to New Cross Gate. It's a fairly long document (download here), so I thought it might be worth picking out some of the more pertinent details for those interested in cycling:

The poorly designed CS3. Much of the new CS5 route will be physically segregated 'using cats’ eyes, rumble strips, traffic wands or similar' , leading (among other benefits) to less of the above occurring.

A) Some politicians are getting it (very) right:

Caroline Pidgeon, London Assembly AM (Lib Dem, twitter) gave a fantastic response:

I had the pleasure of briefly conversing with Caroline Pidgeon via email last September, as one of many people she spoke to when investigating cycling in London. She clearly 'gets cycling' now. This is fantastic to see since it's this kind of political support that's needed if we want segregated lanes to be built in London.

B) Some politicians are getting it (very) wrong:

The responses from Westminster City Council by Cllr Edward Argar (Conservative) and Cllr Alan Bradley (Conservative) were, frankly, awful:

1) Countless scientific studies have shown that motor traffic levels expand and contract to match capacity. Thus, Los Angeles has one of the world's largest road systems, but also many of the world's worst traffic jams:

Los Angeles' freeways: a case study in why more roads doesn't mean less congestion.

And on the flip-side, when London's motor traffic capacity was drastically cut by up to 33% (source: RAC) for the 2012 Olympics, was there increased congestion? No, in fact in many places there was less congestion. Did London grind to a halt? No, we delivered a great Olympic Games, while the City and everything else continued running very smoothly.

Edward Argar's and Alan Bradley's 'serious concerns' about 'increased congestion' are therefore simply not grounded in reality. This is what gets my goat. Edward Argar is 'Cabinet Member for City Management & Transport'. He also studied History at Oriel College, Oxford. He's clearly an intelligent person. Yet, he's not looking at the data (even though that's what he's paid to do) about how traffic congestion is and isn't caused. Westminster Cyclists seem much better informed:

It's surely Edward Argar's job to note that 'a similar approach on Grosvenor Road and Millbank has led to a large increase in cyclists without seeming to significantly increase traffic congestion'. Disappointingly, he hasn't; yet.

2) Both councillors also expressed concerns about 'increased rat-running'. This is perhaps even more frustrating since it is blatantly hypocritical. Westminster Council are actually currently opposing measures to curb rat-running such as 20mph limits and blocking motor traffic through-routes:

Warren Street, Camden: through-route closed to motor traffic. This is what Westminster Council would be doing if they were actually concerned about rat-running.

If Westminster Council wants to discourage rat-running there are many easier (and more effectual) ways to do it than by blocking the CS5.

C) TfL are (broadly) trying their best:

1) Bizarrely, the Department for Transport seems to be against any cycle stop boxes larger than 7.5m:

It's clear that 2m segregated cycle lanes are better than advance stop lines (ASLs), but if I've got a truck behind me, I'd rather have 10m than 7.5m space between me and a vehicle that can easily kill. This is where The Times's #cyclesafe petition to get the Coalition to actively support cycling comes in. There's a limit to how much TfL can do if their efforts are being actively retarded by central government. 

Cameron needs to get behind cycling, or face the political consequences at the next election.

TfL should not have to 'win' support from the DfT to make infrastructure safer for cyclists. The DfT should be pushing TfL to make these changes. That the impetus is coming from TfL, under direct control of the Mayor, says a lot about the drastically different stances on cycling of Boris Johnson and David Cameron respectively....

2) TfL are having safer cycling infrastructure blocked by local residents and businesses:

This is an unusual instance where the proposed improvements have actually worsened following consultation. I believe we need to pay attention to examples like this because it doesn't make sense to beat up TfL on everything, if (occasionally) the real opposition lies elsewhere. If TfL's attitude to cycling is changing this should be welcomed and embraced, even if it can't always yield results.

How to get past resident and business opposition is a more difficult matter. For starters, I'd propose two ways:

• When TfL does build infrastructure properly (as we hope for the CS2 2013 Stratford extension) its our job to help publicise and make crystal clear the benefits that accompany 'doing it right'. That way TfL have more political firepower to convince residents and businesses they need to 'do it right' elsewhere in London, even if this means banning certain left turns.
• Further publicising the public realm and commercial benefits that greater cycling brings. E.g. (from Mark Treasure at AsEasyAsRidingABike) 'Street in Horsham got pedestrianised (during the day) last year. Footfall up 6%, 90% of traders in favour now'

If anyone else has any ideas, comments are most welcomed. I suppose I feel that in 2013 though TfL is very far from perfect, they're not always the key interested party that needs convincing. Cycle campaigners should, perhaps, be supporting TfL (in certain cases) and trying to win around these resistant groups instead.