Cyclists in the city...

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2010/10/poll-what-do-you-think-city-of-london.html

That's not a poll!

it's a bloody survey.

Not a very good one that... It's pretty much entirely infrastructure based. if you believe bikes should be part if the road flow there is no real option for you... After that it's just going to be the junction that gets used the most that gets the most votes. What a crock.

is like sex in the city and its tells you which on of the four you are like?

all put catch and prossecute bike thieves at the end

Not a very good one that... It's pretty much entirely infrastructure based. if you believe bikes should be part if the road flow there is no real option for you... After that it's just going to be the junction that gets used the most that gets the most votes. What a crock.

Sorry you don't like the poll. I'm the person responsible for it.

Yes, it is pretty much infrastructure-based. And interestingly, it's not the junctions that are coming out as the most votes at all.

117 people have filled it out so far. Including 25 referred from this site.

What's interesting is that the people filling out the poll/survey, whatever you want to call it, are coming from very different areas. We have a lot of people coming from a borisbiker website, a lot from this forum, a lot from bikeradar and then also from the LCC City mailing lists. And it's fairly even across all those sources at the moment.

I'm not a statistician. I'm not an expert on cycling infrastructure, on different theories about where bikes should and shouldn't be. But I'm someone who's fed up of being treated like a third-class citizen for using a bicycle as my main mode of transport. I work with people who feel similarly. I live with people who feel similarly. And I have found a statistician to work with me to decipher what this survey/poll is throwing up once we have enough results.

I'm sorry that your posts think that's a 'crock' as you call it. I'm not trying to push a particular agenda but I suppose writing this blog has made me realise that my basic premise is that a lot of people would like to cycle but don't. And so I am, admittedly, coming to aim what I write at the 49% of people who would probably cycle if they felt safe enough to.

I have tried to allow for non 'infrastructure' options on this poll. By talkinga bout creating routes on mian roads where cycles have priority.

So, bearing in mind that we've got very differents types of cyclist answering this and it's interesting that the results are all converging on very similar trends. And they are not, as some people on here are suggesting, converging on this or that junction is a pain.

The results so far are

a) More availability of Boris bikes
b) Open more contraflow routes for cycling
c) Give more priority to cycling east-west and north-south through the City on main roads.

Interestingly, b was approved yesterday by the City as policy http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2010/10/two-way-streets-for-cycling-significant.html

As for the priority stuff, if any of you like the new Cheapside (you won't be able to get past stationary motor traffic when the scheme's finished as the lanes are too narrow) or if you approve of completely pedestrianising some streets aroundLeadenhall Market so no one can cycle through them, then perhaps you'd agree creating space for cycles on main roads isn't such a daft idea.

I might be wrong but I'm pretty p''sed off that it's really easy to dimiss something as a crock on a forum like this. It's a lot more work to try and get the City to stop treating people on bikes like criminals. (slight exaggeration but I'm perhaps unfairly sensitive this morning....)

i wonder how the politics of cycle infrastructure in the city tie in with this?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23888163-so-can-the-secret-ring-of-steel-save-the-city-from-terrorism.do

Prosecution of offending motorists is the only thing which will make a difference. Zero tolerance of mobile use, illegal turns, dodgy parking, ASL infringement etc.

But that's not going to happen, because we're ending the war on the poor, beleagured motorist.

Clarion has it.

It doesn't matter what cycle lanes, contraflows or permiability measures you suggest, as long as cars taxis and lorries drive irresponsibly, go into cycle lanes and are unaware of contraflows it is all a bit meaningless.

Sorry for describing it as a crock, it's mearly the way the question was phrased suggested to me it was done by someone with an ulteria motive. If you just want to get things done i'm sorry I put my thoughts so bluntly.

In case it's not obvious, i don't think road segregation is a good idea, i think boris bikes should go further out, but the city has plenty and personally i find contra flows are currently a bit scary because of drivers who think the cyclist is willfully ignoring one ways and so take it upon themselves to rid the road of the pesky cyclist.

But then again I don't need to be convinced to ride into the city as I already do it twice a day.

Thanks Khornight. I think I'm feeling a bit sensitive today!

But yes to your points. I think motorists are only going to take cyclists seriously when more of the motorists are cyclists. If that makes sense. Motorists 'get' cyclists in Holland or Berlin because many of them are cyclists too. Unlike here, where we make up less than 1%.

So I really do think it's about getting more people on bikes more often.

And the one thing I hear again and again from people is 'I'd love to cycle but....' And the but is usually fear of cars.

So we have a government committed to 'end the war on motorists' and that's just announced a mega road building programme. For motorirsts. And no real vision of how to ever get more people cycling.

And it all goes a bit round and round.

EC2boy, I strongly suggest talking to someone like Oliver Schick of the LCC about it, they'll have a much better understanding of traffic than most of us, especially Oliver.

He's on the forum (as the link on his name show), so you can send him a pm'd.

No worries, Ed, I know EC2boy and he knows me. :) But thanks for the recommendation.

We have a huge amount of knowledge on all this stuff but it's always good to see how public attitudes to these things change.

When people hear 'infrastructure', they tend to think immediately of cycle lanes or tracks, but the really big political wins are thing like returning gyratories to two-way. For instance, someone has just done a quick count on Old Street in the morning peak hour and reckons that about 50% of the traffic on there is people on pedal cycles. That street has changed beyond recognition since we got Old Street returned to two-way in 2002/3. Infrastructure work is hugely important, as London's proper historical shape is just so distorted.

Fair play to EC2boy for doing stuff like this - only by people getting involved, asking questions, trying to do the right thing will cyclists slowly slowly manage to change attitudes and improve both safety and the wider cycling experience in our fair City.

It may, or may not, be a perfect survey - but I applaud people who are trying to make things better.

Peace.

Little bump re trying to influence the Corporation's rubbish new transport plan http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2010/12/time-to-speak-up-countdown-to-how-you.html

Another bump with form letter and contacts.
Seems worth the effort.

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/01/go-for-it-register-your-concerns-now.html

It's very worth the effort.

Last time the City produced a transport plan, a total three people responded to it with pro-cycling views. This year, we've had over 50.

It's making some waves in the City.

Feel free to borrow the template but it would be absolutely the best thing if you do want to respond to send your own personal thoughts. Most people have taken the temlpate and made it their own, changed their priorities etc. We've had a vicar, bankers, lawyers, all sorts.

A messge that is working very well is that the Plan only considers current cyclists, what the City calls 'commuter cyclists'. They are very receptive to the idea that there are lots of people out there who would cycle if they felt it was safe enough to and that those are just normal men, women, children who might just get on a bicycle in normal clothes etc. So promoting cycling fom the perspective of, say, going to a business meeting by bicycle. Or cycling from the perspective of cycling to visit the Museum of London with your mother. Normal stuff in some cities. That is the sort of vision that the City will buy into.

Before I forget, there's also this

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/01/tell-southwark-whether-you-want-more.html?showComment=1295440803747#c270319883691326739

A link to Southwark's online survey for its proposed transport plan. It asks questions like:

"Should we invest in cycle infrastructure or cycle training" or "should we focus cycle routes on main roads or back streets".

Lots of the questions are quite flawed but it takes three minutes to fill out and you can leave comments. Very worth doing.

Worth a bump indeed. I've read the plan and it makes really encouraging noises about having bikes at 10% modal share in the City and cycling essentially being a new, cheap, healthy form of mass transportation. They also readily admit that they need to do something because buses, tubes, trains are full, air quality is bad, and those things will take years and £££ to fix. Obviously they don't want to encourage more motorists, so cycling is the be all and end all and the City seems very excited by it.

But then they go and spoil the party by failing to come up with a proper cycling plan, or any concrete measures, and only setting aside 0.45% of the LIPS budget for cycling - even 'travel behaviour programmes' get more. It's not as if the City is short a bob or two either. A complete joke and, frankly, disgraceful.

Totally worth reading and responding if you ride in the City at all.

And interestingly, it's not the junctions that are coming out as the most votes at all.

not surprising. the more people that answer, the less likely a junction is to top the poll. ppl are gonna put the junction on their commute and then some more general points. so everyone is likely to put the general points unless their commute includes 3 or more of your problem locations.

personally i moved to london's famous london 1 week ago, so i don't feel informed enough to comment. i've probably cycled less than 50 miles in london (since becoming a resident). the only options i even recognised are holborn viaduct, aldgate gyratory and london bridge. can't say i've noticed any difficulty on london bridge.