What's up with TfL and shared spaces?

Saw Richmond Cycling Campaign's draft response to TfL’s consultation on changes at Manor Circus.

 

This consultation is a stark reminder of TfL's absolute incompetence when it comes to designing cycle lanes ; as well as its the fact those consultations are absolute farce since they fail to advertise them to users (no posters on the junction in question) or canvass local residents by way of letterbox flyers.

 

Thankfully they found out and their observations are mostly spot on.
This junction is a danger zone for cyclist, interrupting an important cycle path. As a result, many cyclists use the roundabout.
There's some merit to the proposals in the removal of the 3rd left filter lane on the Westbound A316 and the pavement widening, but the toucan crossings are ill conceived indeed and shared spaces are a recipe for disaster.

 

Here's my response
1. This is a masquerade consultation: why hasn't TfL bothered to post signs on the junction itself to the attention of its users? Why have residents not been leafleted?
2. The intent is laudable: this roundabout bisects an important cycling route and offers no provision for cycling. As a result, many cyclists use the roundabout. In particular, the removal of the Westbound filter lane goes in the right direction.
3. However the execution is ill conceived on many aspects.
3.1. Shared cycle-pedestrians space is in general not safe and should be eliminated ; which should be possible with the filter lane removal and pavement widening.
3.1. Cycle lanes should have right of way to private land entrance -specifically to the BP petrol station and Sainsbury's
3.2. Toucan crossings will introduce much delays and therefore will be ignored -scrap them ; They are set too far back from the roundabout and impose a detour.
3.3. Scrapping those toucan crossings won't impose a widening of the central reservation and thus allow wider pavements -see 3.1.
3.4. Bicycles should not have to give way when merging into Sandycombe road and Manor road
3.5. The cycle lane should have right of way on North road, just like it was decided on Elsinore way.


Previous posts on similar subjects:

• Elsinore and the A316 breadcrumb cycle path
• Alice in Holland, or the tale of crap cycle lanes in Richmond
• Mini-Holland or mini-Neverland?
• Chaos in Chalkers Corner
• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• When plan B is not an option either

Elsinore and the A316 breadcrumb cycle path

Some more on the 316...

Transport for London has sent us another consultation, to re-re-re-do a portion of the A316.
To cut a long story short, they re-did a while back a cycle lane on the Lower Richmond Road. They got several things wrong, and fixed some a few month later -for instance they moved the bus shelters where the cycle path was between a shelter and the road (duh) or sign posts right on the middle of the path. Or the turning space discussed below which meant cars had to do a 2 or 3 point turn in lieu of a U-turn (re-duh).

Is this the shortest cycle lane in Richmond?

Seriously guys, what's the point of spending our hard earned cash on this?



And the point is??? Kew road into Selwyn avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames



Is this the shortest cycle lane in the World? Selwyn avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames.

 

Related posts:

• Alice in Holland, or the tale of crap cycle lanes in Richmond
• Mini-Holland or mini-Neverland?
• At long last, Dutch-style cycle parking and repair shed in Richmond?
• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
• Cyclists unloved
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?

Alice in Holland, or the tale of crap cycle lanes in Richmond

The Richmond Cycling Campaign (aka RCC, on Twitter at @RichmondCycling) has a great post on the A316 here:
The A316 – a correspondent writes …

I've wanted to write about that a long time ago, as this cycle path was redone a few years back, but to very low standards -a complete waste of taxpayer money IMHO. Some additional observations to what the RCC posted:

• Shared paths are a stupid idea, period.
• At the start, they had put bus stops across the path, and moved them after when it became obvious that it was a potential risk as bus users would just cross the cycle lane to board. This shows that TfL has absolutely no idea about cycle lanes best practices. Changes of course cost money.
• I discussed those priorities to cars turning with the TfL engineer at a Richmond May fair and he mentioned that drivers "were not expecting to yield on turning." Obviously, they're not there to change minds and improve attitudes.
• Lastly, the cycle lane surface isn't smooth at all and doesn't drain well -no one likes a bumpy ride and puddles aren't great either when you're cycling. Oh, and it's not cleaned very well -there were two Xmas trees obstructing it yesterday for instance.

See some pictures below. Oh, and don't forget to check this page from the Cycling Embassy on Crap Cycle Lanes (credit to the Warrington Cycling Campaign).

This other RCC post is also a must read: What the Cycling Strategy Should Say…



Cycle land on Lower Richmond Road, interrupted by Manor Grove ; see also bus stop dangerously close.



Cycle land on Lower Richmond Road (A316) interrupted by Sainsbury's entrance.



Cycle lane stops at Manor Circus, where you need it most. Shared path with pedestrian is very narrow. At that point, the A316 is 3 lane + 2 lanes wide (left filter lane into Manor Road)

Richmond Circus approach -the A316 cycle lane ends there and there are no provisions to merge into traffic to get into the city centre.

Related post:

• Mini-Holland or mini-Neverland?
• At long last, Dutch-style cycle parking and repair shed in Richmond?
• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
• Cyclists unloved
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?

Cyclists unloved

This week's roundup

RT @RichmondCycling
 "Up to 75% of peak traffic now people on bicycles yet no consistent policy for making those roads safe for cycling" http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/local-roads-in-london-up-to-75-of-peak.html

Royal Parks finally comes out: they don't like cyclists. Too pleb?
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/royal-parks-put-stick-in-the-spokes-of-new-boris-cycle-link-8878624.html

Cyclist fatalities increase in London -I squarely blame TfL for not providing adequate infrastructure

Cyclists in the City just came up with this Boris-seeking missile:  Outrageous: 33% more pedestrians killed, 60% more cyclists killed and 21% more cyclists seriously injured. Boris Johnson - your traffic smoothing policy is killing people.

Personally, I'm not sure Boris or Ken made much improvements -or to put it correctly, they slowly gave in to pressure but both failed to redesign the city to put bikes first. Because you see, this is what the Dutch have done, something that even the LCC don't really recognise.

In essence, the infrastructure is still grossly inadequate -something I've blogged about previously. In a nutshell, I think TfL has absolutely no idea whatsoever on what a "cycle track" is. I don't think any of their engineers actually cycles. Can't be. Or that would be an all time height for ineptitude.

And those sad numbers? As far as I am concerned, the fact there's been a huge increase in cycling can not play a contributing factor. Many of those cyclists are not that proficient either, nor are the drivers.

Related posts:

• Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling
• Some hope for London cyclists?
  

Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?

Here's a good blog post by Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
Their picture  is worth a thousand words and says a lot about the TfL "engineers" who design the cycling paths.

There's also a link to the http://www.londonersonbikes.org.uk/ website whose pedge I urge you to sign!

 Related posts:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling
• Some hope for London cyclists? 

At long last, Dutch-style cycle parking and repair shed in Richmond?

The Richmond and Twickenham Times reports today that Richmond station gets (is to someday) new cycle hub. 

Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced Richmond station as one of four London locations set to undergo a cycle refurbishment this year.

The hub will be manned by staff, who are able to help fix broken bicycles, and will also be a place to hire and store bikes and have them cleaned.

Refurbishment of the station's cycle facilities are part of a £30m package of developments aimed at helping connect communities, reduce carbon emissions, and get people active.

No date is set, but it's encouraging to see some progress. Now, they should really get to work to fix those dangerous roundabouts on the Lower Richmond road...

Pictures:

• secure cycle parking at Leiden train station from Cycling without a helmet
  
• bike repaid workshop in Groningen train station from Rona Justine (both in The Netherlands)

Related post:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?

Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?

London Cycling Campaign has blogged about how safe bike lanes and junctions will persuade us to cycle more. It commissioned a survey, which suggests over half a million Londoners already cycle at least once a week.

They're also running a petition Go Dutch which calls on the mayoral election candidates to commit to more people-friendly streets and continental-standard cycle facilities in the capital.

51% of Londoners said the next Mayor can take action to encourage them to cycle more, with 78% of those people naming safe and convenient bikes lanes all over London or safer junctions and roundabouts as their top priority.

See their principles here: www.lcc.org.uk/pages/key-principles.

Previous posts on cycling:

• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!

Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning

I've long said that TfL has got absolutely no clue on incorporating cycling into the urban fabric, or in other words they're absolutely rubbish and useless when it comes to Cycle Lanes.

That's why I welcome this: Be the change; why your help is needed on Blackrfriars Bridge (i b i k e l o n d o n
More details on London Cycling Campaign.

Cyclists living in fear

Seen on the BBC Helmet cameras capture bad driving: a cyclist is wearing a camera to record evidence of dangerous driving -in this case a quite graphic example of a van driver cutting off a cyclist and then abusing him.


IMHO, a consequence of lax policing (speed cameras don't do much for cyclists safety) and bad cycle lanes design.

See related posts:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!

cycle, cyclelane, cycling, DfT, London, richmondtransits.blog, TfL, transportation, UK,

Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms

Two good posts this week on Londonist.

• The first one is on the continuing mystery of the old Eurostar platforms and why they cost £4.1 to keep in mothball state -quite a good example for a pathetic failure on behalf of people in charge of the nation's rail infrastructure. It's especially enraging when you're waiting on the approach to the station in a commuter train for a platform...  I've blogged before about this, see links below.
  
• And it looks like TfL has heard about my winging on Boris Bike stations being located far away from stations: Huge New Cycle Hire Station For Waterloo.  Shame common sense did not prevail in the first place, I still wonder why they looked at Montreal rather than Paris for municipal cycle hire best practices...
  

See my previous posts on those subjects:

• Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
• Londonist: What Next For Waterloo?
• The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?s

borisbike, cycle, DfT, London, richmondtransits.blog, transportation, travel, UK, velib, London, rail, railways, richmondtransits.blog, TfL, transportation, tube, waterloocity, trains, rail

TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...

A sobering read in today's Evening Standard on the Elephant & Castle roundabout redesign. It is described as a cycling blackspot where a a fitness instructor died on her bike last year.

Yet, the proposal design still doesn't show segregated cycle lanes.

Will they ever learn from best practices? All it takes is a trip to Rotterdam!

Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?

Read this today:
BBC News - Testing a London 'Cycle Superhighway'

This sems to me a bit like a joke: there's still the same space sharing with cars issues as a normal cycle path, why did they bother?
And I bet they also stop where they're most needed, i.e. narrow roads, junctions and bus stops.

Anything short than a segregated bicycle route can hardly be considered as a improvement on the patchy terracota "cycle lanes" that typically stop where one needs them most: at junctions, bus stops, etc....

The current state of cycling infrastructures is simply pathetic when compares to most European countries and an those blue lanes are nothing short of expensive joke.

The government taxes very heavily motorists, mostly because they can and justifying itself on environmental values. Apart from the fact it's both wrong (CO2 is not a pollutant) and unfair (housing and industry are biggest polluters), the most frustrating is that little of this hoard goes back towards improving the infrastrucure and public transport.

When are we going to see this in London?

Nothing To Do With Arbroath: Bicycle storage in Japan

richmondtransits.blog, cycle

Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling

I read today in The Times, an article sensationally titled Cycling plan to blame drivers for all crashes.

As usual, facts are quite different from the eye catching headline: it is only question to reverse the burden of the proof towards motorists for accidents involving cyclists. Which seems only fair as they don't have a metal body around them when travelling as opposed to those driving cosseted within two tonnes of metal

Such scheme would place the presumption of blame against whoever was driving the most powerful vehicle involved in an accident, so they or their insurers would be liable for costs or damages.

If a cyclist were hit by a car, the presumption of blame would fall on the driver, while a cyclist would automatically be blamed if he or she knocked down a pedestrian.

It's already the case in the Netherlands for instance, and it forces drivers to be more careful.

I already hear the voices saying that

...the risky behaviour of some cyclists — particularly those who jump red lights and ride the wrong way along one-way streets — that is to blame for a significant number of crashes.

This comment for me stems from people who never ride, as jumping a red light is often safer than risking being mowned by cars turning left or accelerating forward when the green light comes on. Some odd cyclist behaviours are also caused by the stupidity of those planning cycle lanes in the most bizarre fashion (read this great book for more: Crap Cycle Lanes)

Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way

Read in the Times of this morning:
Cyclists will be given green light to ignore one-way signs - Times Online

At long last, it seems that common sense is prevailing and that the DfT is recognising that road rules made for cars are not appropriate for the poor souls plodding the street with no armour and taking little space.

The main advantage is to allow cycles to use quieter roads, moving them off busy and dangerous main roads in many cases. It is also a good traffic calming measure for one way streets, where cars tend to go too fast.

It's a small step in the right direction towards better ways to share the space between users of the roads. We just have to get proper cycle lanes now (post series on the subjet coming soon on this blog!)

cycle, cycling, bikelane, cyclelane, transportation, UK, London, DfT, richmondtransits.blog

Kingston worst for bike thefts

If you planned a shopping trip to Kingston during this bank holiday week end, think again.

Going by car requires to navigate the one way system and endure long queues to park your car -unless you fancy be there at 9.
Taking the family by bike can be an option, as Kingston is easily accessible by the Thames towpath (which is unfortunately a shared pedestrian/cycling path), however make sure to lock your bikes properly:
Poll reveals cycle theft hotspots (BBC, 12/04/06)

Of course, there are no secure parkings...



Tags: richmondtransits.blog cycling sustainability transportation

Sustainable transportation in Richmond?

With Richmond park and the Thames towpaths, one could think Richmond is an ideal spot for cycling. It is probably better than many places, but there are still many improvements to be made:

• Theft, is quoted as one of the key deterrent to cycling (17% of cyclists got their bike stolen in the past 3 years, of which 24% no longer cycle at all and 66% cycle less often). Secure parking is an obvious answer, but there are few places to attach your bike in Richmond and few primary schools have bike sheds.
• Cycling routes are designed to an appalling standards, with high-friction sufaces (more effort is needed to pedal on the green paths!), potholes and manholes covers protrude often (the Upper Richmond Road is a bad example) and in the park or towpath, the shared pedestrian/cyling path is a recipe for disaster (which cyclist has never experienced hesitating pedestrians jumping left and right to make way or bullying runners packs?). The standards are seldom respected -have you seen many lanes 1.5m wide?
• Passive road infrastructure safety is a topic where we have much to learn from the Dutch experience. There's little concept of segregating the traffic (establishing a physical separation between cars and bicycles): "advisory cycle lanes" are an example of this thinking. Take again the A205 (Upper Richmond road): there's no provision for segregating traffic at major junctions (there could be separate traffic light for cyclists) and minor intersection (there should be a "hard" traffic island before the junction so that cars turning right have a visual obstacle reminding them of observing the cycle lane priority. Large roundabouts like those on the A316 are also dangerous for cyclists.

Cyclists' rants? Maybe, but increasing the cycling sahre in commuting (now less than 3% of journeys to work) is the easiest way towards sustainable transportation. Sustainability in transportation is not a buzzword for tree-hugging ecoxtremists but has direct and major benefits for all:

• reduced pollution
• reduced noise
• reduced congestion
• positive impact on public health
• decrease in working hours lost in public transport delays and traffic jams
• increased turnover for city centre retail
• ... and it's cheaper than any other alternative but walking!

What needs to be done by Richmond borough?

• Upgrade the cycle lanes, to ensure they are un-interrupted and segregated from cars
• Allow two way use for bikes of one way street
• Transfor "advisory" cycle lanes into "hardened" cycle lanes
• Increase numbers of bike attachment posts (aka Sheffield stands) close to shops
• Build 24-hour secure parking for cycles at the borough stations to promote combined rail-bike use (see Munster example on page 41: 25% rail customer now cycles to or from the station)

Links:

• Wikipedia article on utility cycling
• TfL cycling reports
• Richmond Cycling Campaign

Tags: cycling Richmond richmondtransits.blog

Some hope for London cyclists?

Thanks to the Olympics, there maybe finally some improvement in view for the appalling London cycle network:

BBC NEWS | England | London | Public to hear cycle system plans