Living Car Free - In London, bike commuters now the majority in some places

Found this article on grist.org. http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-06-21-in-london-bike-commuters-are-the-majority-in-some-pla-outnumbers

Two things: 1) in some cases the reported percentage of bicycle commuters is as high as 42% of street traffic


On Cheapside, a street in the City of London, cycles make up more than 50 percent of the commuter traffic, according to official data, and account for up to 42 percent of traffic on Southwark Bridge across the Thames. In one Bristol suburb more than one in four people cycle to work. ...


2) But this also brings out the same kind of car-centric backlash that we are currently seeing in New York.


In London, bicycles are gaining ground as a mode of transportation. And as in New York, the uptick in cyclists is exposing some uncomfortable divisions, stereotypes, and backlash.

If there is a transportation sea change happening here -- and it looks like there might be -- it is not going to come without some angst. Bike riders, drivers, and pedestrians are all going to have to adjust both their attitudes and their behavior.

According to the blog Cyclists in the City (that's "The City," as in London's version of Wall Street), the latest figures from London's transportation department show a huge boom in the number of two-wheeled commuters. This runs counter to the constant hectoring of people like high-profile journalist Jeremy Clarkson, who has made sport of ridiculing people who don't burn fossil fuels to get where they're going, and who recently referred to cycling in The Sunday Times of London (paywall) as "a frontline propaganda weapon in the war on capitalism."
But an article from the same edition of the Times (excerpted on the Cyclists in the City blog) paints a picture that explains why anti-cycling polemecists like Clarkson are feeling uncomfortable:

Cyclists have for the first time outnumbered motorists on some of the country's busiest commuter routes during the rush hour.

On Cheapside, a street in the City of London, cycles make up more than 50 percent of the commuter traffic, according to official data, and account for up to 42 percent of traffic on Southwark Bridge across the Thames. In one Bristol suburb more than one in four people cycle to work. ...

The surge in the number of people switching to two wheels is likely to be even greater than the new figures suggest.

Most of the data was compiled before July 2010, when 5,500 rental bikes were introduced and the first two "cycle-superhighways" -- distinctive blue cycle lanes -- were opened by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.



One thing about this uptick that isn't factored in this article is the increase in bicycle infrastructure that London has seen recently. We posted here a while back about how silly the notion of a Bicycle Superhighway seemed and how silly those blue bike lanes were. Perhaps now we can eat our words.

I always felt that cycling will "catch on" with the masses when they are ready to do so and demand more safe cycling (i.e. in the form of safer passage on streets plus real honest-to-God live security guards and/or enclosed bike security cages/lockers (not useless open air bike stands). It has come together in first world places like The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and soon over to New York City. This article assures me the need of average people is working quite well.

Thanks for the great article. I guess London has reached a tipping point.

Looking forward to that happening here.:)

I have to admit I have my doubts to this being the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have looked for some official numbers and could find none to support that London had surpassed Copenhagen and some of the other better know cycling cities. Unless ther have been some drastic changes most commuting is done by Train, Tube and Bus.

"Cycling in London has enjoyed a renaissance, particularly since the turn of the millennium. Cyclists find that they enjoy a much cheaper, and often quicker, way around town than those travelling by public transport or car.
Over one million Londoners own bicycles but as of 2008[update] (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Transport_in_London&action=edit) only around 2 per cent of all journeys in London are made by bike: this compares poorly to other major European cities such as Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Berlin) (5 per cent), Munich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich) (12 per cent), and Amsterdam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Amsterdam) (28 per cent)[17] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_London#cite_note-16) and Copenhagen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen) (36 per cent).[18] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_London#cite_note-visitcopenhagen1-17) Nevertheless this is an 83 per cent increase compared to that in 2000.[19] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_London#cite_note-18) There are currently an estimated 480,000 cycle journeys each day in the capital."

I don't know that the numbers regarding cyclists as percentage of street traffic can be taken as evidence if it only looks at one street. I'll bet the streets with the greatest uptick are those where riding a bike is easiest/safest and thus attracts a higher number of commuters.

Still a nice trend though.

Found this article on grist.org. http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-06-21-in-london-bike-commuters-are-the-majority-in-some-pla-outnumbers

Two things: 1) in some cases the reported percentage of bicycle commuters is as high as 42% of street traffic


2) But this also brings out the same kind of car-centric backlash that we are currently seeing in New York.


One thing about this uptick that isn't factored in this article is the increase in bicycle infrastructure that London has seen recently. We posted here a while back about how silly the notion of a Bicycle Superhighway seemed and how silly those blue bike lanes were. Perhaps now we can eat our words.I was in London in March including in "the City" - the financial district - and as mentioned there were lots of bikes, but I didn't see a lot of separate facilities. They were just on the street, and since they drive on the left and thus appear from the "wrong" direction, they scared me quite a few times!

Don't know if the article covers it - I will read it - but another factor is that car access to the city is subject to restrictions. So bikes have taken up a bigger percentage both because the car numbers have dropped, and because of increased bikes.

I have to admit I have my doubts to this being the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have looked for some official numbers and could find none to support that London had surpassed Copenhagen and some of the other better know cycling cities.
There weren't any claims like that in the OP or linked article. It said the bike commuter traffic on certain streets was high and gave specific examples.

There weren't any claims like that in the OP or linked article. It said the bike commuter traffic on certain streets was high and gave specific examples.

When they start tossing out numbers like 50 percent and 40+ percent you start to think someone was counting. :lol: But it turns out that was nothing more than a reporter seeing more bikes in one place. I was looking for a trend or a transportation shift.:rolleyes: The article is a bit like saying that there are more bikes than cars on the streets of Palm Springs on february 14th. But then not mentioning July, August, September and October. If it doesn't change the percentages of people commuting then it is simply fluff news. I admit I have posted fluff news myself but I thought it was a shift and that doesn't seem to be the case. Still the Train, Tube and Bus are the three most popular ways of commuting in London and still are from everything I have read.

I have also read that Londoners have a longer average commute time than the average person in the UK.

it turns out that was nothing more than a reporter seeing more bikes in one place.
I can't access the Times article, but both the blogger and this second hand report in the Globe and Mail say the Times reporter cited "official data".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/social-studies/rush-hour-cyclists-outnumber-drivers-on-some-uk-roads/article2071171/

I always felt that cycling will "catch on" with the masses when they are ready to do so and demand more safe cycling (i.e. in the form of safer passage on streets plus real honest-to-God live security guards and/or enclosed bike security cages/lockers (not useless open air bike stands). It has come together in first world places like The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and soon over to New York City. This article assures me the need of average people is working quite well.

The shift always happens primarily through a very deliberate and concerted effort from government "first". A political consensus is reached with a vision for a cycling future, and the money is then put into cycling infrastructure, etc. As time passes with these towns, cycling looks so natural that it has the appearance to have just evolved by demand. But look at video documentaries or read up on the history in most of these successful cycling towns, and all of them began with a political movement at its core.

TREK president, John Burke, gave a great speech concerning the next frontier in the industry for bicycle companies, and it is not competing against each other with the latest model bikes, but rather it's becoming advocates and influencing the politics for cycling infrastructure.

Click Here----.John Burke - The Al Gore Of Cycling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfRiFylmiS0)

I can't access the Times article, but both the blogger and this second hand report in the Globe and Mail say the Times reporter cited "official data".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/social-studies/rush-hour-cyclists-outnumber-drivers-on-some-uk-roads/article2071171/

From your blog, it was reported in the Sunday Times. Again not sure if a Times reporter did the counting.

I was kind of dubious about the numbers too because if you look on the many London cams, there aren't that many bikes. But the article did state that in one section that is part of a bike superhighway. So the data is about one small section.

The shift always happens primarily through a very deliberate and concerted effort from government "first". A political consensus is reached with a vision for a cycling future, and the money is then put into cycling infrastructure, etc. As time passes with these towns, cycling looks so natural that it has the appearance to have just evolved by demand. But look at video documentaries or read up on the history in most of these successful cycling towns, and all of them began with a political movement at its core.

Cycling is about the only form of transportation that looks likely to grow any. So if governments want to support growth, they aren't going to build any more parking garages, I would think.

Then there's the savings from all the infrastructure that does NOT need to be built if you can simply re-stripe existing streets and get more cyclists out. Suddenly, you city center supports more people moving around successfully... isn't that a no-brainer? You would have to be a pretty hard-headed not to get behind this type of initiative.

I can't access the Times article, but both the blogger and this second hand report in the Globe and Mail say the Times reporter cited "official data".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/social-studies/rush-hour-cyclists-outnumber-drivers-on-some-uk-roads/article2071171/

Transit for London, which is the body that controls the Tube, the buses, the congestion charge, licenses taxis, manages the bike-share contract, and probably licenses dog-walkers, does, in fact, count traffic. Not every vehicle, every day (though they'd like to at the entries into the congestion zone, I'm sure), but by statistical methods and censuses (they count all traffic past a certain point for some period of time.). They, and their predecessor agencies, have done it for some time. They've got a pretty good handle on what traffic the places they care about (And bridges are certainly in that set!). That's pretty standard traffic management, for a well-run system. So it's not at all surprising that they can tell you that whatever percentage of the traffic over the bridge in the morning busy period is whatever it is.

I have no access to the data, at least beyond what any random non-londoner has, so I can't judge what the blogger claims, but I don't find it terribly surprising.

Then there's the savings from all the infrastructure that does NOT need to be built if you can simply re-stripe existing streets and get more cyclists out. Suddenly, you city center supports more people moving around successfully... isn't that a no-brainer? You would have to be a pretty hard-headed not to get behind this type of initiative.

Seattle businesses caught on to this years ago. Many places will not provide free parking for employees, but they'll gladly provide free bus passes; one hospital even offered to buy employees bikes a couple of years ago. It's a no-brainer: you can claim to be a "green" business, and bus passes are a whole lot less expensive to provide than parking garage space. (Of course, there is a class divide here: managers still get free parking spaces, while the workers get the opportunity to help the environment....)

Seattle businesses caught on to this years ago. Many places will not provide free parking for employees, but they'll gladly provide free bus passes; one hospital even offered to buy employees bikes a couple of years ago. It's a no-brainer: you can claim to be a "green" business, and bus passes are a whole lot less expensive to provide than parking garage space. (Of course, there is a class divide here: managers still get free parking spaces, while the workers get the opportunity to help the environment....)

I don't know how your government agancies work but down here School Distrct Managers not only get a parking space, they get a car and gas. The directors, Assistant Superintendants and Superintendant also have a district credit card. :eek:

High Schools have to be designed with student parking. They get to call themselves green if they recycle plastic and paper. :lol:

Cycling is about the only form of transportation that looks likely to grow any. So if governments want to support growth, they aren't going to build any more parking garages, I would think.

Then there's the savings from all the infrastructure that does NOT need to be built if you can simply re-stripe existing streets and get more cyclists out. Suddenly, you city center supports more people moving around successfully... isn't that a no-brainer? You would have to be a pretty hard-headed not to get behind this type of initiative.


Seattle businesses caught on to this years ago. Many places will not provide free parking for employees, but they'll gladly provide free bus passes; one hospital even offered to buy employees bikes a couple of years ago. It's a no-brainer: you can claim to be a "green" business, and bus passes are a whole lot less expensive to provide than parking garage space. (Of course, there is a class divide here: managers still get free parking spaces, while the workers get the opportunity to help the environment....)

Not uncommon in larger cities on the east coast either. My son works for a non profit, if he drove he would have to pay ~$175 a month for parking at work. But because he uses mass transit they provide him with a free unlimited transit pass that is probably worth ~$275 a month. That $175 rate is probably only about half of what a monthly parking spot costs his company. Factor in that he would have to pay money to park at his apartment and he has a helluva win-win situation going on. No car expenses and his biggest transit costs are covered.

Aaron :)

Dublin is a much smaller city (about 1 million) so isn't comparable to London.

Here about 4% of commuters into the city centre do so by bike. Still very low but this represents a 30% increase over 5 years.

http://www.dublincycling.com/node/558

Dublin is a much smaller city (about 1 million) so isn't comparable to London.

Here about 4% of commuters into the city centre do so by bike. Still very low but this represents a 30% increase over 5 years.

http://www.dublincycling.com/node/558

Is it just me or does anyone else find it sad the accepted solution to bike theft is a POS bike and a good lock?

Is it just me or does anyone else find it sad the accepted solution to bike theft is a POS bike and a good lock?

Honestly, it will get better as bike use gets more common. I don't have the numbers, but I don't think bike theft is near the issue it is in the States in Denmark, Sweden, or Holland. Europe in general, really. When I was in France, people had a frame mounted lock, and that was it. Many people didn't even cable the bike to a pole or object.

I don't have the numbers, but I don't think bike theft is near the issue it is in the States in Denmark, Sweden, or Holland. Europe in general, really. When I was in France...
You obviously have NOT been in Amsterdam.

You obviously have NOT been in Amsterdam.

+1

After all of the posts we have waded through on Denmark complaining about bike theft I thought the same thing. And the article on Dublin was an eye opener. My solution to bike theft is simple. My best bike never leaves my sight. My next best bike hardly ever leaves my sight or is parked and locked where lots of people can see it. My utility bike is locked as best as I can and left for as short of a period of time as I can leave it.

Until they invent a lock that will electrify my bike with about 750,000 volts I guess that is as good as it gets.

You obviously have NOT been in Amsterdam.

+1! IIRC the theft rate is something ungodly, like every person has their bike stolen twice a year. However they do have insurance available, and from what I gather it works pretty well. They also haul thousands of bikes a year out of the canals as part of their annual dredging process.

Aaron :)

Honestly, it will get better as bike use gets more common. I don't have the numbers, but I don't think bike theft is near the issue it is in the States in Denmark, Sweden, or Holland. Europe in general, really. When I was in France, people had a frame mounted lock, and that was it. Many people didn't even cable the bike to a pole or object.


I think that the main thing that protects most of us here in North America from bike theft is the perception among most criminally-minded people that bicycles just aren't worth stealing. As bicycles become more common here, that will change.

In the meantime, if a thief really wants your bike, it's gone. No lock will protect your bike from an organized, somewhat intelligent person with battery-operated power tools. Fortunately, most thieves are not so well prepared. Bike theft is more often than not a crime of opportunity. I personally think that bike theft is a big problem in Europe in part because many people there use absolutely ridiculous locks. If you use a really good, short U-lock, lock it up in well-traveled areas, don't leave the bike out over night, and avoid college campuses like the plague, your bike is a lot less likely to be stolen. In my entire life, I've had three bikes stolen. One was stolen in Bremen, Germany, and it had one of those stupid frame locks that prevent the wheel from turning, but it wasn't actually locked to anything. The other two bikes were stolen from front porches, and were not locked up at all. I have never had a bike stolen that was locked using a decent U-lock, nor have I known anyone who has. I'm sure it happens, but a good lock and some common sense will vastly improve your odds.

You obviously have NOT been in Amsterdam.

I've been to Amsterdam(Netherlands) twice in the past 5 years and also to
The Hague(Netherlands) a couple of times, most recently 2 weeks ago.
Most of the bikes in Holland
are the standard step thru(Dutch) bikes, it's rare to see a high end bike parked
on the street. Most bike aren't locked to anything, just a lock mounted in the
rear triangle.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/5871320831_01e29cb48d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5871320831/)
DSCN0771 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5871320831/) by 1nterceptor (http://www.flickr.com/people/44332608@N03/), on Flickr

Most of the bikes in Holland are the standard step thru(Dutch) bikes, it's rare to see a high end bike parked
on the street. Most bike aren't locked to anything, just a lock mounted in the
rear triangle.
No one is discussing the quality, style, or price of the bicycles in Holland or anywhere else. The issue is bike theft.

You must have been looking through rose colored glasses at the bike locks that are considered necessary by the cyclists of Amsterdam. Yes, most bikes have built-in frame locks but most cyclists are also carrying and using humongous chains as well due to the theft problem

Seattle businesses caught on to this years ago. Many places will not provide free parking for employees, but they'll gladly provide free bus passes; one hospital even offered to buy employees bikes a couple of years ago. It's a no-brainer: you can claim to be a "green" business, and bus passes are a whole lot less expensive to provide than parking garage space. (Of course, there is a class divide here: managers still get free parking spaces, while the workers get the opportunity to help the environment....)

Your businesses are at least paying lip service to the notion. In Des Moines, this would be quite rare. Where parking is more costly, workers themselves often go for the businesses or even bicycles. But I work in the 'burbs where there's lots of free parking. There a commuters rate of less than 1% by my reckoning... even though where I work there are showers and lockers.

I'm in my 20th season of commuting to the same site and we finally got a secure bike parking compound last year. Before that I parked in the open, and over 18 years thieves stole 1 seat, 1 wheel, and 1 complete bike.

Oh yeah, and a handful of cheap lights when I occasionally forgot to remove them.

Seattle businesses caught on to this years ago. Many places will not provide free parking for employees, but they'll gladly provide free bus passes; one hospital even offered to buy employees bikes a couple of years ago. It's a no-brainer: you can claim to be a "green" business, and bus passes are a whole lot less expensive to provide than parking garage space. (Of course, there is a class divide here: managers still get free parking spaces, while the workers get the opportunity to help the environment....)

Not to mention that US businesses can get federal tax credits for providing employees with transit passes and bicyclie expenses. But your main point is excellent. Bikes are good for business, and so are buses. A main reason that transit tax increases and Complete Streets both passes in my city is that many local business leaders understood that alteernative infrastructure is good for their bottom lines, and donated money to help pass these measures.

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/ This is a really nice blog with tons of data and statistics about bicycling in the Netherlands. He lives not far from where I do in northern Groningen area.

I'm glad to see more communities embracing bicycling, but it will be a major transition. Groningen and the Netherlands did it long ago under a special program to end child deaths associated with getting hit by cars. They started making bike paths to keep children safe. It's crazy too... because bikes were popular early in the century then the Dutch stressed automobiles and ripped up all the streets, then they went back to stressing bicycles and repaving bicycle paths.

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/ This is a really nice blog with tons of data and statistics about bicycling in the Netherlands. He lives not far from where I do in northern Groningen area.

I'm glad to see more communities embracing bicycling, but it will be a major transition. Groningen and the Netherlands did it long ago under a special program to end child deaths associated with getting hit by cars. They started making bike paths to keep children safe. It's crazy too... because bikes were popular early in the century then the Dutch stressed automobiles and ripped up all the streets, then they went back to stressing bicycles and repaving bicycle paths.

I follow David Hembrow, great blog. I wasn't aware that they went back to cycle infrastructure for the children. I know when I was growing up that a bicycle and the library were my best friends. I have long felt that proper cycling infrastructure would go a long ways towards getting children active as well as independent.

I have several acquaintances that cycle with their children regularly and that seems to be there main concern, is that they cannot let the youngsters ride very far alone, due to the lack of safe passage between places.

Aaron :)

A main reason that transit tax increases and Complete Streets both passes in my city is that many local business leaders understood that alteernative infrastructure is good for their bottom lines, and donated money to help pass these measures.

I think this notion could be explored. If you realize that enticing a bicycle into your neighbourhood generally means that the bicycle will be parked for a while and probably spending on something other than gasoline (which actually does very little for the neighbourhood economy).

Here's a little discussion about how introducing bicycle tourism is great for a small town economy:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFa3UKnFJmo&feature=related

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder.html The article on the "Stop de Kindermoord" (stop child murder) political movement is here. The stress on separate bike paths came out of a high number of child deaths for such a small country. He quotes in 1973, it was 400+ children that died. Since the Netherlands is a small place that would be like 420 kids dying in Tennessee, or Indiana. That's a lot of kids.

And now of course, we have little tikes on bikes everywhere and it's great. Occasionally they are rather unsafe (I've had a few cut across my path without looking and I nearly crash into them.. but hey... they're young and I'm not mad at them. I'm glad they're out biking. They'll learn and be very safe cyclists later on.

The bike revolution continues here. I've lived in London for 12 years and in the last 3 I would say the number of bikes is up by 300%. That is just my gut estimate. Obviously that is a summer figure.

With Team GB dominating in the Velodrome I expect this to continue.

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder.html The article on the "Stop de Kindermoord" (stop child murder) political movement is here. The stress on separate bike paths came out of a high number of child deaths for such a small country. He quotes in 1973, it was 400+ children that died. Since the Netherlands is a small place that would be like 420 kids dying in Tennessee, or Indiana. That's a lot of kids.

And now of course, we have little tikes on bikes everywhere and it's great. Occasionally they are rather unsafe (I've had a few cut across my path without looking and I nearly crash into them.. but hey... they're young and I'm not mad at them. I'm glad they're out biking. They'll learn and be very safe cyclists later on.

Correct me if I'm wrong: In the Netherlands, if you hit one of those kid cyclists swerving in front of you with your car, you would be legally liable. In the US. the child would legally be to blame. Isn't this another reason (besides the infrastructure) that cycling is much safer in Holland?

Groningen and the Netherlands did it long ago under a special program to end child deaths associated with getting hit by cars.

That is such a strong argument for building physically-separated bike lanes. It's a wonder it isn't used more often outside of the Netherlands.

That is such a strong argument for building physically-separated bike lanes. It's a wonder it isn't used more often outside of the Netherlands.
Seriously, I think the comparable argument here is that the way to lower deaths is to have children not walk or bike anywhere. Most American communities wouldn't accept safer infrastructure if it resulted in motor traffic having to slow down.

"They also haul thousands of bikes a year out of the canals"
Talk about he ultimate USED BIKE setup....that would be AWSOME!!