| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | |
| Posted by: | Ed Saper | |
| Date/Time: | 21/05/22 17:41:00 |
| " The numbers of cyclists is minute compared to the population of London. Come up with all the percentages you like, but the numbers will always be low." OK, I'll give you some percentages and translate those into numbers. If you look at how people get to work in London, the share of cycling is increasing and the share of cars is decreasing. London commutes by modal share (%) and number of people (in millions) 2010 - Cars 34% (1.325m), Bikes 5% (0.206m) 2019 - Cars 27% (1.303m), Bikes 5% (0.230m) Q4 2020 - Cars 27% (1.265m), Bikes 7% (0.335m) In Inner London in 2020 more people (241,000 vs 215,000) commuted to work by bike than by car. 2010 - Cars 16% (0.246m), Bikes 8% (0.130m) 2019 - Cars 14% (0.274m), Bikes 7% (0.145m) Q4 2020 - Cars 11% (0.215m), Bikes 12% (0.241m) Outer London hasn't moved much yet, but new infrastructure will fix that: 2010 - Cars 46% (1.071m), Bikes 3% (0.078m) 2019 - Cars 38% (1.027m), Bikes 4% (0.085m) Q4 2020 - Cars 38% (1.032m), Bikes 4% (0.1m) If you wish to frame the argument as one group wanting the roads to themselves, it would surely be car drivers as they endless demand the removal of bike lanes, the removing of traffic restrictions, expansion of parking, restriction of bus lanes and more roads - to themselves. And given that cars and vehicles take up so much more space and cause so much congestions, that's perhaps understandable. However, cycling takes up a fraction of the space - the Blackfriars cycling lane carries 5 times as many people as cars during the morning peak - or 2,000 cyclists in the space of 1 traffic lane vs 1,557 drivers and passengers over 2 traffic lanes. It also take a lot less space to park a bike than a car! So, no, it isn't true to say that cyclists "want the roads to yourselves". They don't need them, they just want to share them safely and not be killed or injured in the process. |