Europe's Next Great Bicycling City
London is planning a new "superhighway" bicycle network that will help transform it into one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world.
"London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly places in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400% increase in the number of people pedalling round the capital by 2025.
At a cost of £400m, the 12 routes are intended to be the motorways of cycling and are likely to be emulated by other cities across the UK. Londoners without bikes will be able to use one of the city's free bicycles.
'We want nothing short of a cycling transformation in London," said the mayor, Ken Livingstone. "We are announcing the biggest investment in cycling in London's history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go.'"
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The US's next great bicylcling city?
London's plans are exciting and interesting, not just from the perspective of improving transport and quality of life for Londoners, but for the data it will provide for the US. Policy makers can be dismissive about the extent to which providing bike and pedestrian infrastructure can increase their mode share. Cities with good infrastructure are generally dense, expensive and inhabited by disproportionate numbers of college students. Cultural differences are raised to dismiss the effects of non-motorized transport infrastructure on mode split in Denmark, Germany and Holland.
England, with its foul weather and strong culture of individualism provides a better comparison from many US cities- although US cities are certainly not lining up to implement congestion charging, despite Federal subsidies and the success of London's program. Nevertheless, the new program will go a long way to answering that illusive question: if you build it, will they bike?
Erick Guerra
Research Associate
Institute for International Urban Development
www.i2ud.org