London Deploys Cycle Superhighways Despite "Old Men In Limos"

dkatana writes: London's mayor Boris Johnson had to fight its way through stiff resistance to the new Cycle Superhighways to see his vision of a cycling capital become reality.

Detractors included the Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), which threatened legal action, but ultimately backed away when it became apparent that a judicial review of TfL's plans would simply delay rather than stop the new routes. Property firm Canary Wharf Group had also been vocal, producing an anonymous briefing (which it later acknowledged) that called the planned route "extremely damaging for London." An unnamed borough was threatened with powers to seize control of their roads if cycle superhighways were blocked.

Now the two new segregated bike paths will crisscross the city and open up speedy, safe cycling that will ease pollution and traffic for everyone, non-cyclists, too, Boris Johnson says.

Comments

What the fuck is the summary saying?!

[Anonymous Coward]

London's mayor Boris Johnson had to fight its way through stiff resistance to the new Cycle Superhighways to see his vision of a cycling capital become reality.

What the fuck is the summary trying to say?

Why is London's mayor incorrectly referred to as an "its" in the first half of the sentence, but as "his" later on in the sentence?

What the fuck?

wish this existed in silicon valley

[Anonymous Coward]

I drive on heavily congested roads for about 12 miles. My car says I average 22 mph....
If there was a bicycle highway that was uninterrupted for this distance, I could save stress by riding a bike rather than a car, with little cost in time.

Re:wish this existed in silicon valley

[skirmish666]

Oh, FFS... I am an urban cyclist in Mexico City.

Hello, I'm an urban cyclist in what's considered my country's most cycle-friendly city.

Of course, I don't cycle in highways/motorways. Of course, I go out of my way to be sure I am seen. Of course, I know all of the driving rules (and many of the usual wrongs). Of course, I am very very careful.

Where I live you would be 1. Arrested almost immediately, 2. Hit by another vehicle, 3. Fined 4. Hit by another vehicle for not doing so

But riding a bike in a city not thought for bikes is perfectly doable.

Doable, yes. Doable safely, no. People (passengers and drivers alike) regularly kill cyclists because they can't be bothered to look behind them before opening a car door, or stop SMSing their fully sick M8s long enough to check the mirrors of their daddy's BMW while they pull into your lane without indicating.

And we will only achieve greater visibility and better city design by breaking the balance and becoming more visible. By becoming more cyclists. By being seen so often on the roads that motorists will *expect* us to be there.

“Because it’s so narrow, the cars have to move out a lane or half lane, it creates confusion and traffic,” - The lord mayor of the country's most cycle accessible city reflecting the attitude of the city's non-cyclists. Drivers will not put up for going an average of 10-15kph slower, changing lane, or gently swerving to avoid cyclists. Period.

I don't need (and often don't want, as they are usually not very well planned nor enough drivable) cyclist-only paths. We are a moving vehicle, and should coexist with traffic.

If the other traffic behaved in a way that wasn't dangerous to the average cyclists life, perhaps. I'm a cautious cyclist and I count on average one event per hour of road time that would lead to a serious or fatal incident if I hadn't taken emergency actions.

I can't imagine how people less prepared for the reality of the dangers involved, or those a bit less cautious than me manage but I can see the statistics of road fatalities and serious injuries that result.

Would you take your 1988 hatchback along a highway populated by high-speed monster trucks driven by people with nothing better to do than drive as fast as they can to the next red light? How do you think they feel about your $500 fuel efficient car keeping up with their $200k gas guzzlers? Apparently, where I'm from, that sort of thing is tantamount to telling someone to go forth and multiply.

Drivers feel well within their rights to not have to be bothered to "move out a lane or half lane", after all the lord mayor doesn't seem to think they should.

I don't understand the opposing argument.

[timrod]

The article states that the London Taxi Drivers Association and a couple of other groups are against the bike lanes because they believe the bike lanes will increase congestion - yet the article also states that the bike lanes are entirely or almost entirely segregated from normal car traffic. I just don't see how those two things meet up. The real reason is obvious: that more people riding bikes means fewer people taking taxis and other forms of paid transportation, but they could have at least come up with a better argument.

Re:I don't understand the opposing argument.

[Anonymous Coward]

When you close massive amounts of lane-miles, then of course your decision to massively increase congestion will increase congestion. Of course the bike riders want that to happen. They want to make the lives of those of us that have to drive for a living here even more of a living hell. They hate us.

Re:I don't understand the opposing argument.

[beelsebob]

As someone from the UK who's recently moved to the US, I can safely say, cyclists in the UK are a lot better (not perfect, but much better) at keeping to the rules. Cyclists in the US really genuinely seem to think that absolutely no rules apply to them at all.

Re:I don't understand the opposing argument.

[digitig]

Just because you ride a bike, doesn't mean you can ride in the road and ignore traffic lights, ignore stop signs, cut the lane in between cars and have the gull to grab onto a car and use it as a speed booster.

Indeed it doesn't. And I don't know about where you are, but in the UK most of those things are likely to get the cyclist a hefty fine if caught. Sure, some cyclists try it on anyway, but how many motorists can say they've never exceeded a speed limit?

Re:Foolproof

[serviscope_minor]

Otherwise it's the entire office that will smell like a locker room.

No, it actually doesn't work like that. The keen cyclists like to tear around fast and get hot and smelly. I like doing so. Once you have enough people cycling, you get the more normal people. They put about as much effort as walking, only being on a bike it's about 2.5x the speed. Much like normal pedestrians, they arrive at their destinations basically pretty fresh.

They also tend to ride nice upright bikes which emphasise comfort over speed.