Approaching critical mass?
iPete
Posts: 6,076
Looking around London town you get the feeling it could soon reach critical mass.
When the clocks change and the sun shines we might see an explosion of cyclist in the city like never before with boris bikes boosting numbers even more this year, to the point where cyclist outnumber all other modes of transport on many routes.
Madness or in the realms of possibility?
The Day After Nodderpocalypse looms!
This thread has nothing to do with the Critical mass bike movement.
When the clocks change and the sun shines we might see an explosion of cyclist in the city like never before with boris bikes boosting numbers even more this year, to the point where cyclist outnumber all other modes of transport on many routes.
Madness or in the realms of possibility?
The Day After Nodderpocalypse looms!
This thread has nothing to do with the Critical mass bike movement.
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Just don't get too close to the bicycle event horizon - you'll never escape.0
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But may lead to some cyclists getting a new kind of BrazillianiPete wrote:
This thread has nothing to do with the Critical mass bike movement.I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.0 -
On certain streets in London, definitely. I've seen cyclists outnumber drivers on Clerkenwell Road at rush hour a couple times. There seem to be enough of them to make the other traffic give them more respect. Less so along its of my commute like Embankment/NKR where there are plenty of cyclists, but we're quite often held up just as much by the congestion and are forced to either stay put with the drivers or filter clumsily. Would be great to have a cycle lane like the one near Blackfriars extended along the whole red route.0
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Good for London, I see perhaps one or two other bikes on my daily 13mile commute on the Fylde coast. Stating the obvious but unfortunately the overwhelming vast majority of people drive to work outside the capital.0
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to be honest im not suprised, i put petrol in my car last night, £20 an the fuel guage hardly moved....i can see the furture an it has two wheels!
i think it was £1.35 per ltr here :shock:Keeping it classy since '830 -
Initialised wrote:
You should be ashamed of that post.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
I'm sure I read somewhere that cyclists outnumber motorists through the City at peak times these days.... Or did I imagine that? I find that along OKR there are still relatively few cyclists, however if I take the route past Surrey Quays and Bermondsey Tube stations there are a lot more and once you hit central London, either through the City or south of the river, there are hundreds of cyclists.... Even now when it's cold and cloudy!Do not write below this line. Office use only.0
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Headhuunter wrote:I'm sure I read somewhere that cyclists outnumber motorists through the City at peak times these days.... Or did I imagine that? I find that along OKR there are still relatively few cyclists, however if I take the route past Surrey Quays and Bermondsey Tube stations there are a lot more and once you hit central London, either through the City or south of the river, there are hundreds of cyclists.... Even now when it's cold and cloudy!
The stats for the north end of Blackdfriars Bridge showed more than a third of vehicles were bikes - more than cars and taxis combined. I'm sure TfL have a database somewhere with figures for wider areas.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Headhuunter wrote:I'm sure I read somewhere that cyclists outnumber motorists through the City at peak times these days.... Or did I imagine that? I find that along OKR there are still relatively few cyclists, however if I take the route past Surrey Quays and Bermondsey Tube stations there are a lot more and once you hit central London, either through the City or south of the river, there are hundreds of cyclists.... Even now when it's cold and cloudy!
Agreed the Jamaica Rd/Tooley St route is busy already. The lights just past Bermondsey station regularly have 10-20 cyclists waiting for them to go green and they spread right across the 2 lanes in the ASL which must upset the drivers somewhat.
A couple more degrees and a little more daylight and I think it is going to get seriously busy.0 -
Yes, but I have none (and have been known, years ago to partake of CM events).TailWindHome wrote:Initialised wrote:
You should be ashamed of that post.
As I'm not in Nodderland any more I see mabe 5 other cyclists a day. Could use more. Long may the fuel prices rise...I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.0 -
It may just have been me & the time I was driving but drove in OKR this morning and there were only a handful of cyclists along the route & up over Tower Bridge. Novelty wearing off? Cold?1997 Gary Fisher Big Sur
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I need to get out on the bike more before I reach critical mass
Bring on spring!None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
I was chatting to someone on route yesterday about this. I ahd a freak occurance last year in summer one morning at PS, I got stuck in queue of around 100 bikes at a set of traffic lights. It took 2 changes of the lights to get through :shock:
Come lighter nights and warmer weather I'm expecting a real surge this year, what with Borris bikes being available on demand now this should make for interesting summer.
I do not think it will be long before the motorists and motoring groups start complaining about the number of cylists on the roads in London, hopefully this will lead them to start campaigning for better cycling facilities rather than the usual durge about RLJ, pavements, helmets, insurance and licensing.
One downside I can see is that more cylists may lead to longer commute times. But I can be relaxed about that.--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
Can't imagine getting caught up in a 100 bike peleton! :shock:
I remember the start of embankment becoming 1 lane for cars during times last year as there were so many cyclists making progress up the inside, expect it to be a regular occurrence this year.0 -
To be honest I'm guessing at the figure it may not of been that high, but not about it taking 2 changes to get through lights.
In front of me cyclists were 2 abreast from the lights all the way down the inside of the traffic, plus another lane down the middle and more to the right for about 250 yards or so from the lights. Plus traffic was not moving which didn't help. I remember just looking at it and thinking that I was not going anywhere fast so just sat up and smiled and waited as it was pointless trying to filter.--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
TailWindHome wrote:Initialised wrote:
You should be ashamed of that post.
I was thinking that...Purveyor of sonic doom
Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
Fixed Pista- FCN 5
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iPete wrote:The Day After Nodderpocalypse looms!
You promise us another Airzound debate then snatch it away from us... how very dare you.
Being constructive, I hope the numbers keep growing. As far as I can foresee anything, it's surely all good."Consider the grebe..."0 -
Just think what that stupid poxy little kerbed off cycle lane heading Northbound on the A3 at the Stockwell triangle is going to be like.
You almost have to que to get through it now!0 -
It seems the second coming winter has killed the mass off for a bit longer
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Levi_501 wrote:Just think what that stupid poxy little kerbed off cycle lane heading Northbound on the A3 at the Stockwell triangle is going to be like.
You almost have to que to get through it now!
We'll just take over the road at that section. Traffic calming measures for free 0 -
Cafewanda wrote:Levi_501 wrote:Just think what that stupid poxy little kerbed off cycle lane heading Northbound on the A3 at the Stockwell triangle is going to be like.
You almost have to que to get through it now!
We'll just take over the road at that section. Traffic calming measures for free
I complained about that intervention unsuccesfully to TFL and you're right - the only thing that will lead to its demise/redesign is force of numbers using the road when its capacity is exceeded.0 -
Origamist wrote:Cafewanda wrote:Levi_501 wrote:Just think what that stupid poxy little kerbed off cycle lane heading Northbound on the A3 at the Stockwell triangle is going to be like.
You almost have to que to get through it now!
We'll just take over the road at that section. Traffic calming measures for free
I complained about that intervention unsuccesfully to TFL and you're right - the only thing that will lead to its demise/redesign is force of numbers using the road when its capacity is exceeded.
What do you mean by kerbed off? Is there a divider between it and the A3?0 -
notsoblue wrote:Origamist wrote:Cafewanda wrote:Levi_501 wrote:Just think what that stupid poxy little kerbed off cycle lane heading Northbound on the A3 at the Stockwell triangle is going to be like.
You almost have to que to get through it now!
We'll just take over the road at that section. Traffic calming measures for free
I complained about that intervention unsuccesfully to TFL and you're right - the only thing that will lead to its demise/redesign is force of numbers using the road when its capacity is exceeded.
What do you mean by kerbed off? Is there a divider between it and the A3?
Yes, there's two. Watch from about 30 secs into this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gY2A69JSLk
I believe Wanda and Levi were referring to the second raised intervention, but could be mistaken.0 -
Origamist wrote:notsoblue wrote:What do you mean by kerbed off? Is there a divider between it and the A3?
Yes, there's two. Watch from about 30 secs into this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gY2A69JSLk
I believe Wanda and Levi were referring to the second raised intervention, but could be mistaken.
Thats interesting, it looks like a fairly nice bit of infrastructure for beginner riders from the video, but then the traffic isn't particularly heavy.
From what you're saying though it does appear as though the designers have underestimated the volume of cyclists that will be using the road. I guess a critical mass has been reached in that area already!0 -
I rode in yesterday, had to train in today as I working at a building with no space for my bike, yesterday there were very few bikes about, probably the cold, I thought I had enough on glove wise but I felt the cold in my fingers.
I really hope we don't get an explosion of people that barge their way through to the front and then wobble off in front of me0 -
I'm adopting a sanguine approach to Noddergeadon.
The more bikes on the road the better, if I have to spend 20 seconds more at the lghts waiting for the field to thin out then that's a small price to pay for being given more space and room generally.Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.
What would Thora Hurd do?0
