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Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

forbes.com

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Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#281

Post by mellosouls »

raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

significantly faster if parking is taken into account for most trips

This sounds unlikely for the average cycling commuter if parking alone is making the difference- cyclists (as motorcyclists) need to change (at each side) and shower etc; I think that is often forgotten in these calculations.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#282

Post by cypress66 »

raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

> you will not kill someone if you ride after a night drinking;

Wow. After a family member of mine being injured by a cyclist crashing into them, reading something like this is quite infuriating.

If you drink, don't drive, even if it's a bicycle.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#283

Post by jillesvangurp »

ajb wrote: post #35
favaq wrote: post #17

Didn't they make it very, very expensive to drive in the City of London?

£15/day. So more expensive than public transport but less than if you took an uber.

That's probably excluding parking. I would expect the day rate for that to be quite steep.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#284

Post by scott_w »

bartread wrote: post #37
lscdlscd wrote: post #2

Amazing news! More cyclists (and fewer motorists) on the streets creates a safer, less polluted city environment for everyone.

Whilst I'm overall in favour of promoting cycling as a way of getting around, in preference to motor vehicles, I'm not sure I entirely agree with "safer". I live in Cambridge and have lost count of the number of times I've had to contend with cyclists blowing through pedestrian crossings on a red light (or zebra crossings at any time) when I'm trying to walk over them, or cycling the wrong way down a one-way street -…

I live in Newcastle and the VAST majority of dangerous road usage I see comes from drivers. Just yesterday I watched a driver pull out of a junction straight into a cyclist because he wanted to rush out instead of checking.

When cyclists kill or maim 5 people per day, I’ll be the first calling for regulation. Until that day comes, the focus needs to be on the most dangerous mode of transport: private cars.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#285

Post by ilyt »

lr1970 wrote: post #268
raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

> - do not have to worry about car maintenance, parking tickets or theft; You are concerned about car theft but not about e-bike theft. How come? Stealing e-bike is so much easier.

How many e-bikes would need to be stolen to reach average car price tho?

You could have one stolen every year and still end up cheaper than owning a car.

Hell, just price of petrol+insurance for a year is more expensive

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#286

Post by blitzar »

Tade0 wrote: post #198
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

> So I think we will see a shift in where people settle, where they will no longer base their lives around owning multiple cars. Not if real estate in cities remains as expensive as it is now. That's one of the main reasons why so many people move out and choose to spend so much time commuting. Cars are just a means to an end, which is not living in a one-bedroom apartment as a family.

Schools inner city are (typically) terrible.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#287

Post by iso1631 »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #3

Note that the "City of London" is not the whole of the London built-up area, but just the financial services district, slightly more than one square mile in area. Still, it's a remarkable statistic even then.

Also note that this is Cyclists > cars+PHV, not that Bike > cars+PHV+taxi+Van+Bus+Lorries

During one of the lockdowns in 2020 when almost all the hotels were closed I was staying near Blackfriars and traveling to the West End on my brompton. It was great, there was barely any traffic on the roads - very few buses, taxis, vans or lorries. It was only about 2 miles, but it was the most relaxed commute I've had in years.

Tried it again recently, not a nice thing at all, mainly because of the buses.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#288

Post by lbriner »

lscdlscd wrote: post #2

Amazing news! More cyclists (and fewer motorists) on the streets creates a safer, less polluted city environment for everyone.

It should do but I am worried it won't. Just look on social media when a cyclist posts something about dangerous driving and they are hit by a combination of:

* Indifference from the Police most of the time * Extreme vitriol from motorists who seem to literally believe that all harm is caused by cyclists * Illogical city planning where cyclists are constantly being moved from safe spaces directly into busy traffic.

We have a sick motor-centric society in the UK and along with the rest of climate problems that are ignored/underplayed, I don't know how long until we can say that we are a cycle-friendly country.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#289

Post by est31 »

kuschkufan wrote: post #138
ClapperHeid wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I bought a recently released angle grinder-resistant lock [1].... €169 --Jeebus! My bike didn't even cost that much.

Then you don't need this lock for your bike. - Cptn Obvious

Not neccessarily, it depends on the environment. In some places even bikes in the sub 160€ range are at danger of being stolen.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#290

Post by orobinson »

margorczynski wrote: post #209
orobinson wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in London. We have three kids, no car and an electric cargo bike which they can all fit in. It's brilliant and all we need for getting around London. I've also used it for picking up furniture and building materials - such a versatile vehicle and much more enjoyable to use than a car.

Aren't you wary that the bike doesn't offer almost any protection at all when an accident happens? Something that causes minor or no damage when inside a car can easily cause serious injury on even death when on a bike.

I greatly minimise the risks in several ways:

- Planning routes that avoid particularly risky roads or junctions and take advantage of separated bike lanes where possible. This is trivial in a city as there's hundreds of possible routes between two places.

- A cargo bike itself is a much larger and more visible presence on the road than a regular bike. That combined with the visible children on board usually means motorists do a better job of staying clear than they do when I'm on a regular bike.

- Staying well clear of HGVs in ALL circumstances. Once you start cycling in a way where you treat any HGV as imminent death on wheels, you notice how many potentially dangerous situations you avoid.

More generally, I find cycling in London feels quite safe. This is because drivers in London are mostly used to cyclists and generally act appropriately around them. Also traffic speeds are generally 20mph or less.

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