We believe there should a single 'London Cycle Map' that's clear and easy to use and corresponds to a unified network of signed cycle routes throughout Greater London: the cycling equivalent of the London Underground Map.
Sign the petition here.
View Simon Parker's London Cycle Map here.
View the campaign poster here.
Watch the campaign film here.
Putting cycling on the map in London
London is a big old place. With increasing numbers of cyclists on its roads the capital is crying out for a city-wide network of cycle routes, signed and unified by a single London Cycle Map.
Safety and navigation
A London Cycle Map - such as this one, created by Simon Parker - would make cyclists much less vulnerable, because its network of routes would use quieter roads (as well as parks and canals), with signs telling drivers to what to expect. And navigating by bike would become so much easier, with cyclists guided unerringly to their destination just like on the tube. Wherever you were in London, you'd be within minutes of a cycle network that could lead you wherever you wanted to go.
The status quo
Decent cycle routes already exist in the capital, but there's no consistency in their signage, and you need bunches of different maps to cover Greater London. In 1931, Harry Beck's famous tube-map succeeded in taming a chaotic system of underground lines. Something similar is needed today for the capital's cycle routes.
The beneficiaries
A London Cycle Map would benefit not just regular cyclists but regular people; London's commuters, nightlifers, students, kids, shoppers, tourists and, above all, poorest residents. Just like the tube map, a London Cycle Map would enable anyone to navigate around London with a minimal amount of knowledge, simply by following coloured signs on the roads.
How to use a London Cycle Map
The network of routes on a London Cycle Map would also be marked on supporting maps - such as Google Maps or an A to Z - similar to how Tube stations are marked on other maps apart from the Tube map, and how TfL bus routes are marked on another map showing information about the actual streets the routes are on. That's how you would know how to get onto the network of cycle routes at the start of your journey, and how to get from the network to your chosen destination. Just as you would use a supporting map to find the actual location of a bus route or Tube station, you'd be able to use another map to find where the routes on a London Cycle Map are in reality. Once on the network, following the signs would 'carry' you along without you needing to worry about the particulars of the route you're taking, just as a bus will carry you along the streets even if you don't know the area, and a Tube train will carry you along tracks you certainly wouldn't otherwise be able to navigate. In all cases, you just need to be vigilant of where to change and where to get off the network.
How you can help
The capital would be transformed by a London Cycle Map, into a greener, cleaner, quieter and friendlier city. You can help make it happen by:
- joining the facebook group for the London Cycle Map Campaign
- helping to distribute campaign leaflets or copies of Cycle Lifestyle.
Contact us on info@cyclelifestyle.co.uk if you want to get involved or just let us know what you think.
Find out more about the London Cycle Map Campaign in this detailed Q and A.
Sign the petition here.
We've created the following handy guide which can be printed off and shared. It collates all the information currently available on the London Cycle Map Campaign.
Comments
this will encourage more
this will encourage more people to cycle across London, well done and good luck
A much better solution would
A much better solution would be for London to adopt the Knooppunten system, which now covers the whole of Holland and parts of Belgium. For details see www.vvvfietsrouteplanner.nl. Even if you don't understand the language, you can use the website to double-click onto an area of the map to enlarge it and see the nodes. These maps can also be obtained as paper copies, and local extracts are dispayed at each node.
Once you have seen the system in operation on the ground you will wonder why it took so long for someone to devise it. In urban areas it is much better to number nodes than routes.
Must be missing something - I
Must be missing something - I occasionally park in Hyde Park and cycle to Holborn. Never taken the same route twice - just know general direction and take off. Sometimes my life is in danger, other times I go along a network of quiet back roads. I look at route 1a on the map - but it's just a red line with no detail. Which roads do I go down?
Hi Mike. Please read the
This map is not very useful.
This map is not very useful. It has no relation to existing roads or landmarks which is important if you are trying to find out where to go. How will these dots and lines make it safer to cycle in London?
Dear James. You have
Dear James. You have fundamentally misunderstood the map and campaign, most probably because you have failed to read enough of the information on this website. Please have a good read and then you will have a better idea of what exactly is being proposed. Ben