The London Mayor’s public watchdog London TravelWatch is urging him to abandon plans for a “big bang” introduction of cycle superhighways across London, saying that the proposed rollout of cycle-only routes will “bring havoc to bus lanes”.
The London Mayor is introducing more cycle superhighways across the capital in order to prevent deaths and serious injuries among cyclists in London.
The Evening Standard reports Boris Johnson has planned a “big bang” introduction of the new cycle lanes by March 2016 – however, TravelWatch says the impact of the Mayor’s cycle superhighways would be to make bus journeys slower and less reliable.
The cycle superhighways would separate cyclists from other traffic, including HGVs and buses. Buses already have their own lanes but several accidents involving buses and cyclists in the capital have been recorded.
TravelWatch is funded by City Hall and the watchdog says that Transport for London (TfL) would have to invest an additional £3.2 million to fund extra bus services along Whitehall in central London to prevent delays. It is estimated that bus journey times along a stretch of road between Trafalgar Square and Westminster Bridge would double on four bus routes once cycle superhighways are operational in the area.
Buses will no longer have priority over cyclists, TravelWatch points out – and a further knock-on effect of the Mayor’s cycle superhighways will be traffic displacement further along bus routes affected, resulting in further delays to bus journey times and traffic congestion.
Cycle campaigners have called for London to implement a more cycle-friendly system, similar to cycle lanes which operate in cities like Amsterdam.
However, in central London, HGVs and heavy traffic is operational virtually 24/7, including buses.
TfL is planning to improve journey times along bus routes which will be affected by the Mayor’s cycle superhighways, however – including using phased traffic lights.
There have also been calls to scrap traffic lights at certain junctions during night-time, which would save energy in the capital and help motorists save money on fuel.
Boris Johnson is aiming to make cycle journeys in the capital account for 5% of journeys in London by 2020.
London TravelWatch said that, although it supports the idea of cycle superhighways in principle, some of the details “remain unconvincing”.
The watchdog is calling for the Mayor to scrap plans to introduce three new cycle superhighways in London in a “big bang” rollout by March 2016 – and instead, phase the cycle superhighways in gradually to prevent unacceptable levels of disruption to traffic in the capital.
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