• Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #61. It's a nudge.

    Submitted by benirvine on 27 May, 2012 - 19:52

    #61: IT'S A NUDGE. No-one likes being told what to do by a nanny state. But people in positions of power still have a responsibility to influence the public to make good decisions.

    In their famous book Nudge, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein proposed a policy of ‘liberal paternalism’, a subtle compromise position. The idea is that governers and policy makers should alter the ‘choice architecture’ of people’s daily lives, to make them more likely to choose behaviours which are conducive to health and well-being. A classic example is putting healthy lunch options in the school canteen in a position where kids are more likely to see and therefore buy them.

    The London Cycle Map is a nudge: a comprehensive network of fully signed and mapped cycle routes would not force anyone to cycle (or force current cyclists onto those particular routes), but it would put all the right architecture in place to help non-cyclists to choose cycling. The simplicity of remembering just a few coloured routes – just like on the Tube – would make the option of cycling so much more appealing, and bring its health and well-being benefits to the wider public.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #62: The London Cycle Network has no walls.

    Submitted by benirvine on 26 May, 2012 - 15:08

    #62: THE LONDON CYCLE NETWORK HAS NO WALLS. ‘Bicycles have no walls’, said Paul Cornish, the first US cross-country cycle record holder. The same, alas, can’t be said for Tube trains and tunnels. A few days ago, 773 poor souls were left waiting for three hours on a hot, sweaty Jubilee Line train which broke down between Baker Street and St John's Wood stations. In the end, the passengers had to be led through a tunnel, lit only by emergency lighting, for nearly a mile. One woman suffered a fit.

    The most shocking thing about this story, in my opinion, is that so many people are so scared of cycling in the capital that they’re willing to run the gauntlet of the London Underground every day. To these people, getting stuck in a tunnel isn’t as scary as getting lost on a bike and ending up surrounded by buses, lorries and rabid van drivers. The reassurance of easy navigation and safe passage are enough to tip the balance in favour of the dismal Tube.

    Clearly, we need make cycling just as reassuring if we want to make it as popular in London. We need to take the best bits of the Tube – it’s easy to fathom map and signs, and its lack of road traffic – and translate these things into cycling. The solution is a network of safe and relatively traffic-free cycle routes, mapped and signed by a Tube-style London Cycle Map.

    We’ve already got the first of these things – the London Cycle Network, a sprawling web of 2000 kilometres of backstreet cycle routes connecting all areas of the capital. The London Cycle Network has no walls. Taking in some of London’s grandest and most beautiful streets, its routes couldn’t be further from those grotty tunnels.

    But the London Cycle Network has one big barrier. It is sparsely signed and inadequately mapped, making navigating through its streets virtually impossible. Simon Parker’s London Cycle Map has shown how, with the right signs and road markings in place, the London Cycle Network could be navigated as easily as the Tube can – simply by remembering just a few coloured routes and where to change from one to the other.

    If we’re looking to knock down barriers to cycling, this is where to start.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #63: Like a Magic Eye.

    Submitted by benirvine on 25 May, 2012 - 15:52

    #63: LIKE A MAGIC EYE. Remember Magic Eyes? They were a big thing in the 1990s (God, I’m getting old): pictures of seemingly chaotic patterns which reveal hidden order when you stare at them in the right way. Most people couldn’t ‘see’ them. Sometimes I could, but I can’t make any sense of the one pictured below.

    Below that is an image of the London Cycle Network. It also looks like a crazy pattern. No-one knew it contained hidden order until Simon Parker came up withhis London Cycle Map, shown in the final image below.

    Simon saw the London Cycle Network not as a chaotic tangle of lines but as a series of long straight coloured routes, dissecting the capital in all directions.

    A brilliant vision! With signage and markings on the streets corresponding to Parker’s London Cycle Map, cyclists could travel from anywhere to anywhere in the capital while remembering just a few coloured routes.

    Can you see it? www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

    Magic Eye

    London Cycle Network

    London Cycle Map

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #64: Great ideas cut through the confusion.

    Submitted by benirvine on 24 May, 2012 - 15:50

    #64: GREAT IDEAS CUT THROUGH THE CONFUSION. There’s a reason why technical breakthroughs often take a while to catch on. The worse a problem gets, the more it cries out for a solution, and the more and more people wade into the fray to try to help. Inevitably, bedlam is the backdrop to important discoveries, with countless ideas flying around and everyone talking frantically past each other.

    The invention of the bicycle was characterised by such pandemonium. Before the first true bicycle came along in the late 1860s, there were countless inventors in the picture, and a bewildering array of human-powered vehicles on the market, in various zany shapes and sizes. But none of them did the job as exquisitely as the pedal-powered two-wheeler, which went on to become arguably the greatest invention in history.

    Like the bicycle itself did, Simon Parker’s London Cycle Map has cut through the confusion. Currently there are numerous campaign organisations, authorities, politicians and bloggers all shouting past each other about the best way to take cycling in the capital to the next level. But one idea promises to settle the debate.

    Just as no other human-powered machine matched the simple efficiency and beauty of the bicycle, no other proposal for taking cycling forward in London matches Parker’s London Cycle Map. No other supposed solution will generate the marvellous outcome of enabling new cyclists to navigate on safer, quieter streets throughout the entire capital while remembering just a few coloured routes.

    As the policy melee in London eases gradually, all eyes are turning the London Cycle Map Campaign.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #65: It would convince my mum to cycle.

    Submitted by benirvine on 23 May, 2012 - 22:10

    #65: IT WOULD CONVINCE MY MUM TO CYCLE. My mum is terrified of cycling. She especially hates the idea of me cycling in London. And she's always found it unthinkable that she could ride a bike in the capital. Until this weekend.

    While I was telling her about the London Cycle Map Campaign – “you could follow a trail of coloured dots on quieter, safer streets, and there’d be loads of other cyclists around, and hardly any cars” – I could see that she was actually thinking about the prospect of cycling. Then, something amazing happened. Her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “yes, I would cycle on those routes”.

    Two things are remarkable about this. First, the fact that anyone could be so terrified of cycling. My mum grew up in Australia where there are spiders as big as tennis balls. Faced with a redback she’s fearless. Faced with a bicycle she’s scared witless. And she’s not the only one. A remarkable number of Londoners - millions - are so scared of cycling they’d rather be rammed together into a Tube train like migrants in the back of a truck, or spend an hour driving a mile in a car.

    Of course, there’s no point being churlish about people’s fears. Fear is irrational, and as Richard Dawkins knows by now, you can’t usually engage rationally with the irrational. What we need to do is find a way to take the anxiety out of cycling – to make it spontaneous, simple and fun. We should try to help worried non-cyclists, not harangue them.

    This leads to the second thing that’s remarkable about my conversation with my mum. After fifty years of being afraid of cycling - since the last time she rode a bike as a fearless child - it took her about five seconds to decide that a London Cycle Map would change her habits. She’d be reassured by the safety in numbers, the sheer convenience, and the feeling that the transport authorities really cared about the needs of regular people like her.

    If my mum can be convinced to cycle in London, then, believe me, anyone can.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #66: Backed by the Development Manager for the London Cycle Network.

    Submitted by benirvine on 23 May, 2012 - 01:52

    #66: BACKED BY THE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FOR THE LONDON CYCLE NETWORK.

    In 2011, Brian Deegan, the development manager for the London Cycle Network, wrote the following piece entitled 'Why I am backing the London Cycle Map Campaign'...

    It is true to say that Simon Parker's colour-coded Tube-style mapping system has met with mixed reviews from the current cycling establishment. Some believe the system to be too complex, too much of a departure, or not aligned with their own policies. Some prefer signing using London Cycle Network route numbers, or bikeability ratings, while others concentrate on greenways and leisure routes.

    The trouble is, with 33 different local authorities, TfL, The Royal Parks and British Waterways adopting different policies towards cycle signage, the result is a somewhat confusing mess. The current state of affairs – with several cycling mapping systems in operation – is simply not acceptable and in my view discourages and impedes cycling growth. I think we all need to put our heads together and agree on one system then implement it consistently across London.

    This system would have to be expansive yet inclusive of work on both a macro and micro level, be elegant yet informative, and not be confusing or overcomplicated. Like many cycle planners, I have spent years trying to find this this system, and in my opinion the best idea to have come along is the Tube-style approach based on the compass colour system devised by Simon Parker. This has the highest potential to attract new cyclists, as well as offering schematic simplicity and engaging design. It will take a lot of work and commitment to establish this system, but I believe it is one that can fulfil all our diverse requirements as planners.

    I do not in any way want to disparage any effort to promote cycling through mapping systems developed so far. In fact, I applaud them and am personally responsible for some of them. My reason for providing this testimonial is that we are now in a position where cycling can truly become a mainstream transport option in London, and I believe we need a sophisticated mapping system to make the best planning tools and information available to cyclists, enabling them to better plan their journeys in a convenient way.

    Because London is a complex and unique city, it is hard to find systems that can be translated from other cities to ours. So we need to invent our own. Simon Parker’s system is a great invention and the compass colour methodology is ingenious. I wish to give his work and Cycle Lifestyle's London Cycle Map Campaign my full backing and support.

    The views stated above are very much my own and not those of the organisations I represent. I write this testimonial to applaud the effort of the amateur, which is in keeping with the true spirit of cycling.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #67: Multi-speed routes.

    Submitted by benirvine on 21 May, 2012 - 19:16

    #67: MULTI-SPEED ROUTES. The LCC’s Go Dutch campaign is calling for segregated cycle lanes on London’s main roads and major junctions. While such developments would a good thing in some cases (some cases: we can’t, and wouldn’t want to, shove cars and trucks out of the way indiscriminately), there are numerous problems with the LCC’s proposal, which I’ve discussed elsewhere.

    The LCC’s main argument for Go Dutch – one which they deem to defeat all criticisms – is that main roads are faster to cycle on. I’m not convinced this is true, especially when there’s traffic congestion (or when red lights are abided by). But let’s admit for argument’s sake that when the traffic is moving quickly and the green lights are smiling, cyclists on main roads can get up a head of steam better than they can on the generally wavier, quieter streets of the London Cycle Network.

    The thing is, this would all change with segregated cycling facilities on main roads! Suddenly, cyclists on these roads would be confined to a narrow space where overtaking is harder. Generally, the fastest possible speed would become the slowest rider’s speed.

    The speediest cyclists could of course move back into the main flow of traffic, but then they’d be in more danger than they would be if the segregated cycle lanes weren’t there, since there’d be less room on the road.

    In other words, segregated cycle lanes on main roads would either slow cyclists down or make them more vulnerable – not the intended result. It always helps to read between the lines: if you really want cycle quickly on main roads, then don’t Go Dutch!

    On the routes of the London Cycle Map, a range of cycling speeds would be possible. Because drivers would soon swap their cars for bikes or choose roads with fewer pesky cyclists, the whole road space in any direction would generally be available to stream cyclists according to speed. The fastest cyclists could overtake the slowest ones, like on a motorway.

    London Cycle Map routes would be multi-speed routes. They’d almost always be faster than segregated routes on main roads where the slowest rider sets the pace.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #68. It dares to dream.

    Submitted by benirvine on 20 May, 2012 - 23:45

    #68: IT DARES TO DREAM. Of course it would be a good idea to equip London with a comprehensive cycle network, one that’s signed according to the coloured routes depicted on Simon Parker’s London Cycle Map, enabling new cyclists to ride throughout the capital on safe, direct and easily navigable streets.

    But an all-too common response to Simon’s proposal is to say “good idea, but you’ve got no chance of succeeding” – a remark which somehow manages to be both encouraging and discouraging at the same time.

    I’m more frustrated than pleased by this kind of response. It strikes me as indicative of a certain moany attitude which is prevalent in times of economic stagnation.

    I’m talking about people who declare loudly what needs to be done yet show a lack of commitment to the task. St Peter is reported to have said “I see the good, yet I do only evil”. Moaners see the good yet do nothing. They wheel out their disillusionment like a bike they won’t learn to ride.

    Thankfully the “you’ve got no chance” response is as ignorant as it is lazy. Britain is a place, remember, where many great achievements have flowed from disillusionment.

    William Wilberforce successfully campaigned to abolish slavery; Robert Owen built a prosperous mill town which provided unrivalled living conditions for its resident employees; Thomas Walkey founded the Lancet, a publication which exposed cronyism in the surgical profession; Charles Trevelyan campaigned for a more meritocratic civil service; Emily Pankhurst formed the Women's Social and Political Union which brought about universal suffrage; and John Bird created the The Big Issue, which provides its vendors with a route out of homelessness.

    I’m not saying that a London Cycle Map would rank alongside these achievements in importance. I’m simply pointing out the depths of apathy and bureaucratic inertia that Britain has fallen into when people find it unthinkable that the capital’s cycle network could be mapped and signed properly.

    If you ever find yourself doubting whether the London Cycle Map Campaign can succeed, then why not turn your doubt into action. Sign the petition. Join us on facebook and twitter. Tell your friends about the campaign. Champion it in a blog, or write to your MP. Put up a poster. Put our campaign logo on your website. You could even get a T-shirt printed – just get in touch on info@cyclelifestyle.co.uk and we’ll email you the logo in high-res.

    In the end, the public gets what the public wants. Do you want a London Cycle Map?

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #69: Some tins of paint would do it.

    Submitted by benirvine on 19 May, 2012 - 23:45

    #69: SOME TINS OF PAINT WOULD DO IT. 100 people daubing a paint marker on the road every 20 metres, at a rate of 100 markers per day, would need just 20 days to cover virtually the entire London Cycle Network (plus a few other streets) with the route markings corresponding to Simon Parker’s London Cycle Map.

    With the markings in place, cyclists could ride from anywhere to anywhere in the capital on streets which are generally safe and quiet.

    A typical cycle journey would involve consulting the London Cycle Map, remembering a few coloured routes and where to change from one to the to the other, then following the corresponding road markings before exiting the network at the closest point to your final destination.

    Of course, I’m not recommending that cyclists break the law by painting London’s streets! I’m just illustrating how simple Simon Parker’s proposal really is. The fact that none of the major cycle advocacy groups want to open up London’s safest cycle routes to the general public in this way is quite bewildering.

    That said, if anyone can think of a way of getting Parker’s routes functional without breaking the law, I’d be all ears!

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

  • Olympic countdown - Reasons for a London Cycle Map, #70: Get visitors cycling.

    Submitted by benirvine on 18 May, 2012 - 16:19

    #70: GET VISITORS CYCLING. As a visitor to London – whether from another continent, country or county – how would you know where to go when you got there?

    Perhaps you’d carry an A to Z, or a smaller map just showing the central areas, and keep referring back to it while you wander.

    Or perhaps you’d drift on and off buses and Tube trains, staring into your smart phone, waiting for it to show you where you are (you brainless balloon, you), and following your progress on the greasy screen, ignoring the actual world as you went.

    Or perhaps you’d head to one of the Cycle Hire scheme’s 570 docking stations, collect a bike, check your pocket-sized London Cycle Map to decide which of the well-signed, coloured routes you wanted to follow, and get going. You might have a specific destination in mind, or you might just want to explore. You might even ride all day, until it was time to hang up your bike as the sun sets (or even rises).

    With a London Cycle Map, there’d be no need to work out exactly which streets you’d need to follow, either in advance or at every possible turn in the road; the coloured signs would do the navigational work for you, so you could just sit and enjoy the ride, noticing all the interesting sights along the way. Freed from the limitations of public transport (and the need to memorise the geography of the whole city before you set off), exploring London would be exciting, invigorating and relaxing all at once – the perfect combination for a city break.

    With millions of visitors converging on London this summer, we should be making it easy for them to cycle while they’re in town. Clearly, the biggest impediment to cycling for people who don’t know their way around the capital will be navigation. A London Cycle Map would be the biggest welcome a bicycle-loving tourist could hope to receive.

    www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign

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