Cycling
A view from the saddle, in Central London

No cycling policies can be successful without cyclists' real feelings and needs to be incorporated in the briefing for planning the environment. This means more than just token consultation. I like pedal cycling, it's basically a great way of getting about locally, and I lobby for support with the current manifestos for cycling in urban areas. It's a good way to perceive the city: a particular speed, flexibility, dumpability, good contact. I have also driven vans, and longer wheel bases, and I appreciate their power and momentum of not stopping quickly; I walk, have pushed prams and buggies, and also drive a car, in familiar and unfamiliar environments, on urban streets and motorways, all different perceptions of a city, needing different wits.

There are 1.2 million bikes in London but only 4% of Londoners cycle on most days, 22% using a cycle in any year. In Camden, door to door journeys by car, take over half as long again as journeys by bike. In this country we don't, on average, use enough of the bicycles we own. Here 2% of all trips are made by bicycle, in the Netherlands 29%, Germany 11%, Denmark 18%. (Camden statistics). The world of the cyclist has been recognised in today's transport discussions, even in Engineering departments, but not enough. Actively talked about, particularly by the young, and active lobbies in every urban Borough, (eg The London Cycling Campaign, the magazine London Cyclist, and there are many more specialist magazines, and it's on the internet.).

We are now part of the acceptable, green movement, the easiest way of getting about, for journeys in to the 1-4 mile haul. We wear our pc hair shirt, feeling good, taking exercise and feeling fitter.(But have you solved the clothes and bag problem of cycling and arriving at a dressed up meeting?). We dont have to get sucked down the Tube, not crowded together with other coughs and colds, waiting for trains that fail to arrive, undertaking our round of errands, heavier or children's, impossible by other modes than an (expensive) waiting taxi or a devoted loyal partner.

Flash back to the sixties

40 years ago, I started to use my bike in the city centre. Although London was 'officially "swinging" then, a media hype, it was a much more tranquil ride. A relatively quieter and a less overloaded metropolis, with fewer lights, red/amber/green, shorter street lamp columns, no floodlit buildings, less car ownership. Special public realm measures for cyclists didn't exist. Can you picture it? This perspective covers the long deterioration of the public realm, the resulting poverty of the design qualities of the urban floorscape, because we put the motorist first. Recently road management changes have improved the cyclists' lot.

There was no Westway feeding onto the end of the Marylebone Road, which had recently been widened, steam trains were just being superseded by diesel. Then came the great 'one way street' regime of the 70s to 'push the traffic through', probably the nadir of the appearance of London's fabric. It was the time of the London Motorway box plan, and the spaghetti needed to serve it, which would have demolished whole areas of inner London. Middle classes successfully protested-building more motorway simply attracts more cars to use them-and it was abandoned. The Buchanan report, "Traffic in Towns", the bible of the time, had the wrong agenda. For example, one of the items was a case study to 'restructure' Fitzrovia, and put a motorway feeder up the Tottenham Court Road, that cradle of the furniture industry and electronic shops. This was partly enforced with a western building line.

Fragments of it enacted, can still be seen, which now ironically make pleasurable wider pavements. That time of "comprehensive redevelopment', "the housing numbers game" was thoroughly misguided, we didn't have a sensible view on resources, we had a bland ignorance of how people use cities. The major thoroughfares and bus routes were twinned . Disaster for the quality of the city, and cyclists weren't even on the traffic map. Hopefully we now see the city in a different way, where gaps between buildings and larger spaces for road junctions are positive places to organise and design, for better quality.

The better days

Setting off on a bright day to my destinations and choosing some of the designated cycle routes, through Parks, (e.g. Hyde Park's special cycle lane paralleling and avoiding Park Lane and Knightsbridge, between magnificent London plane trees); and down back alleys following cracks in the urban fabric, often buried 'lost rivers' are my highspots. Even in areas one knows, I find interesting route variations, not tried before. On regular routes, one learns the timing of the changing traffic lights, adjusting one's speed to prevent dismounting or stopping. It's amazing how slopes are more apparent. I choose ways to avoid them.

Appreciate being directly under the sky, streaks of light, patchworks of sun through trees, and see buildings from a different angle, new elevations, juxtapositions and profiles, and other kinaesthetic sensations available, higher than a sitting car position 1.5 metres from the ground. Even those dark winter evenings with the rain beating down, are an achievement; emptier London. not so many others about, the whole ground surface a giant changeable mirror, the glow of the gleaming lights and reflections off the road. Are 20 rainy occasions a year in London too many?

The downside

Typical arcs of concentration of drivers entering a roundabout. Cyclists at A and B are difficult to see and very vulnerable. Cyclist C is more readily seen and has greater room for manoeuvre.

My wife Joanna and I do take our life in our hands. The wagging finger-"I can't see how you dare", getting squeezed by those lads driving mid sized 'can't see through vans' (they cut in close, don't own them, don't mind a knock, and always exceed the 30 mph speed limit). Together with vehicles in central lanes not looking, dangerous wing mirrors, drivers opening doors, sending us into orbit, turning left across cycle paths. A better new experience is a green margin extending to a full lane width at traffic lights. Beware speeding roadhogs, on both four wheels and two, with rude and noisy behaviour. Cycling on roundabouts is the most scary. In Denmark they have replaced them with cross-roads, to make cycling safer and walking straighter. It's gaining ground in Britain. Cyclists moan about the lack of facilities and clouds of pollution, 'being cut up', roads with potholes and glass fragments, which collect in the gutter, into which cyclists are forced. How many bikes have you had stolen? Have you been able to do any thing about it, except insurance? Use your ears to help your eyes, when vehicles approach. When things get really bad, there is an escape route: get off, shelter behind bits of streetscape and kerbs, and convert into a pedestrian again and wheel your bike. Riding on the pavement gives cyclists a bad name. Riding on 'the step', one pedal, is acceptable for some. Disguise yourself as a new low level bright metal foot scooter, like those that appeared last year, an acrobatic cross between a roller blading/skates, a walking stick and a foldable bike. A go-ped rider.

The reality The major urban design problem is to resolve the needs of different speeds. How much space for cycle parking should be allocated in the city, allowing security. Is it likely to be vandalised, losing saddle and front wheel? The police in Westminster don't encourage bicycles chained to railings. Do they fear hollow tubes filled with Semtex? Do you hate those impolite notices "bicycles will be removed"? Space is tight also in providing storage at the ground floor within buildings for cycles, and shower and drying rooms in places of work. The arena of our roads is like a zoo let loose, all straining to possess territory, vehicle types conflict with another. There are rules and codes, but also many grey areas. Cyclists feel virtuous which can lead them to demand impossible rights. To continue the cycle animal analogy, there's the underdog sandwiched between the juggernaughts, and which of us conforms to the aggressive big bag bike boys, who can give us a bad name, and the more plodding sworn at, senior citizen? The environment somehow must respond to each.
	Alternative ways to travel using a goped or by a folding bike and train.

There are good and bad aspects of sharing bus lanes, generally the bus drivers are considerate, and the cabbies "won't carve you up". Generally there should be separation with agreed crossing points, but this is not always possible in the limited space of urban conditions. The special bicycle traffic lights at complicated traffic junctions are rare but welcome. Take the assembly 'space' before the colonnade of the Lyceum theatre at the north end of Waterloo Bridge, where design and procedure has been considered. There are still clashes as pedestrians are released at the same time, bristling with indignation and clashing bikes.

Some consumer views

Our family did a small survey of National Theatre regulars (which has showers and internal bike storage) who use bikes from their homes to work in Central London's South Bank. Most had about a 20 minute journey. They used cycles every day, except when it rains heavily, or spend the night out. Universally they avoided heavy traffic, multi-lane one way systems, used parks and back routes generally, although this was not the shortest distance. Their requirements for change were "removing cars"!, provide more/proper cycle lanes, short ones are pointless, make motor drivers more aware of them, including not parking on them, improve road surfaces, pot holes, enforce emission controls from motorists, provision of more bike parks (individual railings, whole rows), and generally more/better signage.

Their views on authorities tolerating cyclists were grudging. Amsterdam was not given top billing, but Soho was (that fine grained area of individual small retail and residence), and the City's 'Ring of Steel', also the ability to go the wrong direction down a one way street. Their worse black spot was the Elephant and Castle. What will the new scheme provide? It will be a good test.

This survey was a painless e-mail experience. Please respond to our request at the end of this Viewpoint.

The bike technology revolution

Driven by our friends - the cross country, rallying and mountain bikers - the possibilities seem endless: designs with portability, chargeable electric power, complicated gearing, fearsome gripping tyres, mandatory helmets, and breathable 'wicking' kit, (keeps you from getting too wet from perspiration), new frame designs, (those low slung riding lying down, pedals at the front, could be terrifying - Pedaloes as in South East Asia), even simple things like luminescent belt strips and aids, pocketable flashing front and back lights that are less easy to get nicked. Fascinating developments.

Some part of our future

Clean Green Get Away Prussian grey clouds begin to mount Can I make my destination Before my trousers soak? Fortune only gives us a few wet days. At best, a journey with time to spare, Big trees pleasures of the park. She grants me fantastic freedom of the city Within a three mile envelope of home. Pedalling from Primrose Hill to the River Miraculously balancing on two wheels I have my mental London map, Dodging down less trafficked streets. Where to cross that Euston Road? A roaring bypass to a clogged West End Poised for immediate brake, taking cautious care Between the jams, I can just sneak through. Peter Eley

Cycle matters are being currently addressed, although one may not always agree with the wide variety of layout solutions and inappropriate details, problems of discontinuity, non linkage, and changing between and within Boroughs. Westminster are probably the best, but their area is denser, and they've more money. Oxford Street for instance is not banned to cyclists, one can go faster than the Central Line from Selfridges to Centre Point. Camden has recently circulated their Draft Cycling Plan, which defines their cycling policy, network improvements and objectives for health, young people and training. A refresher course for all is helpful, as cyclists' road behaviour techniques and skills continually develop.

Refer to the English Heritage's 'Streets for All', A guide to the Management of London Streets, recently reviewed by me in UDQ 77; Cycling gets 1 out of 100 total pages in the new Urban Design Compendium bible from English Partnerships (see the environment, discussing routes, safe lanes, and destinations/security).

The crisis in London's transport is now widely acknowledged. Provision for cycling has improved, more still needs to be done. A network of 1900 miles of cycle routes are planned throughout London. Existing and proposed central London routes are shown in the plan above.

Currently there's the promise of Ken Livingstone's Central London Congestion Charging scheme. In response to a question (report GLA November 2000), about improving cycling facilities, to be an attractive alternative to an overloaded Tube, the Mayor said that he had agreed with the London Cycling Campaign that he will take over the management of the cycle routes with the aim of completing them during his first term of office. In the Spatial Development Strategy (see report also in this UDQ issue), he will encourage firms to have shower rooms and other facilities for cyclists. Hopefully with the reduction of traffic, provided he gets the licence fee right, this could be good news for cyclists, with less space being devoted to petrol driven vehicles, and some fundamental improvements to the public realm. How does it all link together?

These personal experiences and views are the missing ingredient in much of the poicy making about cycling. More is needed from actual cyclists. Please write or email and send your experience to Urban Design Quarterly so that we can help to give cyclists a stronger voice in the planning world, rather than relying on the cyclists' lobby groups. What is your favourite, well planned and executed local measures, routes, parking, shelters, signals/signs etc.. Also the badly thought out ones and why. #

Peter Eley