If boris is as cycle friendly as he claims, why has he recently allowed mopeds and motorcycles to use the bus lanes. This has made them more dangerous for cyclists and done nothing to reduce congestion as mopeds and motorcycles are not the cause of congestion in the first place.

Its too bad that it cant work in mega cities, this kind of scheme was introduce sometime ago in Abuja the capital of Nigeria and the minister who introduced it got knocked down. It will only work in sparselly populated cities.

Resp to Matt – The move to allow mopeds and motorbikes in the bus lanes is consistent with good transport policy and has resulted in overall safer and more efficient conditions for the users. The effect of placing more mopeds and motorbikes in bus lanes frees up a bit of space in the conventional lanes and while the benefit is not always obvious, if provides a small increment of improvement. Commuting motorbikes and mopeds are actually more functionally compatible with bicycles in urban traffic than with larger vehicles. Of interest here - the preliminary studies in London showed that motorbike users were less prone to commit violations of traffic regulations than bicycle users.

Very interesting read

I would have to agree with part of Publius' comment. I have lived in London and in Washington DC and there is probably no class of road user quite so shameless in lawbreaking as the urban bicycle riders. And that includes not just ignoring traffic control signals and obligatory lane use but even episodes of bicyclists breaking motorists' mirrors and windows over perceived slights. It is easy to see why these outlaw bicyclists are so detested by many motor vehicle operators. I used to ride to work when I was younger and would still do so but for today's conditions - I simply don't wish to be mixed up with the current crop of hooligans.

My wife and I used to be avid bicyclists until we moved to the Bay Area. in fact we still have our Mountain Bikes, but we rarely ride them any more. We never used to ride them off road, but we did use them as a form of our daily exercise and enjoyed it.

That all changed when we moved into the Bay Area though. The drivers here are extremely dangerous, and many of them are purposeful in their actions. After nearly being hit twice, my wife and I have suspended our rides, and it has been this way for the past 8 years. the only place that you are reletively save is at the local parks, and even then we have to take the time to load the bikes up, drive over to the parks, unload, ride, then re-load and go back home.

The bottom line is the fact its become too dangerous to ride our bikes. And... its not only the purposefuly dangerous drivers, its the drivers that are talking in their cell phones, (still), and the drivers that don't speak english. The point is the complete cocktail of these drivers is at best a suicidal premise. Even with the required helmets, you are taking your own life into your hands.

What I would like to see is instead of our city wasting money on an un-needed new sports arena, putting the money to better usage and developing bike paths where motor vehicles are not allowed to go. Yes a complete network where the nutty drivers can't take aim.

They want to reduce pollution, well here is an answer. As my wife has said many times, "If it were safe to ride my bike to work, I would hang up my car keys in a heartbeat. But for my safety I drive, even though its only 4 miles to work."

The Dutch had to redesign their cities. The new towns or neighborhoods have separate bike lanes usually, and separate pedestrian lanes (3 different categories, at least). Obviously, unless you simply ban cars and trucks in places, the old areas or roads require that everyone share the same road-space. Without exclusive protected bike lanes, it's getting as scary as India. Town and road planning is the answer. You could ban cars and trucks on certain bike and pedestrian restricted roads at most times of the day, if possible.

Bob

This is so typical. World-wide there are many cities with a long history of bicycle use (Amsterdam, Copenhagen). But of course, in London everything is 'totally different' and there is no need to look into practical experiences of retarded continentals. Sure. One lesson learnt elsewhere is that you DO need to invest in efficacy and safety. Maybe a time to start looking at it? Even New York has collected know how in this domain, by now.

I lived and cycled to work in London for years and loved it. Doing that allowed me to spend time outside, even in winter, get fit, and get to work on time every day. However Matt does have a point. Motor cyclists don't realise how intimidating it is to have a loud heavy bike overtake at speed. I don't have a problem with it, but a lot of people will and hence not use their bicycles. I disagree with Royal though. It does work in London and actually works better in more crowded cities.

Have cycled extensively around London for years. Have had few problems, eg the occasional SUV turning left in front of me. I just cycle carefully, alert, and obey the rules. I do stop at red lights!

I prefer quiet roads to the main roads even if they have cycle lanes. Most roads in London (80%+) are quiet roads.

Also the link to your video does not work. It links to a "captured by the Taliban" video.

I forgot to mention there is a problem with motorcyclists using the "bicyclists box" – a green square at many traffic lights which enable bicyclists to move to the front of a waiting traffic queue to give us a chance to get across before the lights change.

No one but bicyclists should use these boxes (and there is an £80 fine for any motor traffic caught doing so) but some boxes are so crowded with motorcyclists there is no room for the cyclists, who have to queue along the kerb.