Lotsa bikes in London

acr
acr Posts: 53
edited October 2009 in Commuting chat
Okay, you all know this (those of you in London). However it's been 10 years since I worked in London before escaping back to the North. I was down with the missus + 3 kids to be a tourist for the week, couldn't belive how many cyclists there were commuting to work.

Is this all down to congestion charging then ? Good to see. However I'd not do it, looks chaotic with all the buses and taxis etc around. Also what's the deal with red lights ? As a cyclist I can see the attraction of "there's no cars here, I'll just go through 'em". However as a parent with 3 young kids in tow it's no fun crossing on the green man when a cyclist comes charging through.

Comments

  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Not just the congestion charge, but a fair few people got scared off the subways after the bombs.

    ...then there were the fuel costs. That probably has been the biggest contributer to getting people on two wheels.
  • amnezia
    amnezia Posts: 590
    I think cycle2work scheme has had a big effect.

    The thing about London traffic is that it does look chaotic but when you're used to it its actually not that bad. The traffic rarely gets above 25mph so most of the time you're traveling at the same speed as every other vehicle.
  • mtb-idle
    mtb-idle Posts: 2,179
    I agree, it started to change in 2003/2004 when congestion charging was introduced then accelereated following the tube bombings in 2005 and the C2W or R2W scheme has blowin the lid off it.

    This summer I could easily see between 150 to 200 other riders each way during my 18 mile commute from the Epsom/Ewell area up to Canary Wharf via Elephant & Castle (the linked video was shot during mid-April so they were all still hibernating like little tortoises at that stage).
    FCN = 4
  • pastryboy
    pastryboy Posts: 1,385
    surely in London it's the ever increasing cost of rail/tube and the overcrowding that's got people out in bikes rather than fuel/congestion charge.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    It's increased out on the edge here as well, and out of range of tube, train can be good if your lucky with where it's going but can fail with the number of changes one has to make.

    buses get caught in traffic as do cars as there isn't room for good bus lanes.

    but the number going though the parks etc has risen thougb drops off sharply once weather arrives.

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