My Least Favourite Type of Road User is...

Let me say straight off that, in general, I don't like other road users. Cars, buses, taxis, HGVs and in fact other cyclists annoy, frustrate and generally disrupt my riding and my life would be much easier, on a day-to-day basis, if nobody else used the roads while I was on them.

Unfortunately, until I run the country and can ban everyone else from the roads, I recognise that I have to share the space with other more-or-less-legitimate road users and that we all have to rub along together as best we can. C'est la vie.

Most of the time this isn't too onerous but there is one class of road user whose behaviour regularly scares the willies out of me; motorcyclists. The problem is that motorbikes combine the worst elements of both two and four-wheeled vehicles. They're nimble, slim and quick like bikes but they're often also heavy, fast and staggeringly noisy (seriously, are Harley-Davidson incapable of designing proper engines for their idiotic vehicles?).

Particularly hair-whitening is the way some motorcyclists roar along the bus lanes when passing slow-moving traffic. The noise of their engines strikes fear because it's impossible to predict what sort of moronic move they're going to make next. If you assume that the cretin on the crotch-rocket is going to pass you at high speed with inches to spare then you probably won't be far off.

So what should be done? It's tempting to do nothing and just to try to ignore the problem but I think that's missing an opportunity. My suggestions are easy and simple and would benefit pretty much everyone (possibly with the exception of motorcyclists, but that's not my problem):

1. Low-powered motorcycles, like those used for pizza delivery, should be allowed in the bus lanes; all other motorcycles should use only the main carriageway.
2. All motorcyclists should be required to have passed at least a basic safety test before taking to the road. If this is already the case then the test should be revised to ensure that safe bus lane usage is covered.
3. Deliberately anti-social machines, like those made by Harley-Davidson, should be banned; they're utterly pointless and horrific to anyone who doesn't wear leather underwear.

That ought to do it, I think. Anything else?

Junction Review : East Dulwich Library

The theme of my last blog was the need to change the way we move around London. I suggested some broad themes - cut car usage, build cycle lanes, pedestrianise shopping areas etc. - but now I'd like to start talking about specifics; what, where and how.

I'm going to start with junctions that I use regularly. I travel to work by bike and I have developed some fairly strong opinions about junction design and the prioritisation of motor traffic in particular so finding junctions about which to write (complain) shouldn't be tricky.

Here's a nice easy one to start off with:



This light-controlled junction is the first that I hit on my way to work and the last on my way home. Most of the roads around here are mixed use with a predominance of residential streets. From this junction the east (Barry Road) and west (Eynella Road) are both residential; Lordship Lane runs north and becomes East Dulwich high street and south till it meets the South Circular.

Like most reasonably sized road junctions in South London it features multiple lanes of traffic, left/right turn lanes and erratic width changes to accommodate car parking and bus lanes (several routes run along Lordship Lane and Barry Road). Lordship Lane in particular is very wide featuring 4 lanes on the north side and 3-4 on the south.

All four roads have Advanced Stop Lines (not great infrastructure, by the way) and narrow feeder lanes for bicycles but it's not a friendly junction for cyclists turning right because traffic moving is released in both directions at the same time so you're always turning across the path of oncoming vehicles or sitting in the middle of the junction waiting for vehicles to pass. Not fun and a source of conflict between cyclists and motorists.

And the problem is that the layout doesn't really work. It's poor for motorists, who must navigate a badly signed and ill-marked junction in the face of oncoming vehicles, buses trying to get into their stops pedestrians heading to and from the library and nearby Dulwich Park and parked cars. It's awful for cyclists who, facing the same onslaught of vehicular traffic, often jump the lights or simply walk or ride around them using the pedestrian crossings and pavements.

So what do we do? Here's a brief list of things we could change:

• Firstly, let's get rid of the ASLs and replace them with bike-specific signals that give cyclists time to clear the junction before the motor vehicles are released. Simultaneous Green lights might be worth considering, especially as there aren't all that many bikes using this junction at the moment.
• A protected cycling lane on Barry Road, which is 3-4 lanes wide along its full length and could easily accommodate the change, would help ease congestion and encourage cycling. This is something the London Cycling Campaign has requested as part of its 2014 campaign.
• Northward link to and from the centre of East Dulwich where most of the shops are situated. Lordship Lane is 3-4 lanes wide along most of its length so bi-directional protected cycle lanes would be possible for only a modest loss of parking and/or road space and this would help alleviate the congestion caused by private cars.
• Southward cycle lanes to Forest Hill to connect it with East Dulwich; improving the flow of traffic along Lordship Lane, particularly where it meets the South Circular, would have benefits for all road users.
• More cycle stands would be useful. There are some at the moment outside Lloyds Bank but there aren't really enough.
• If the above changes are too expensive (and I concede that building a few miles of cycle lanes might be a bit challenging) then let's at least extend the 20mph limit currently in force on the northern end of Lordship Lane so that it covers both this junction and the road down to the South Circular. Average speed cameras and light enforcement cameras at the junction wouldn't hurt either.

It would also be nice to sort out the parking around the junction since all the roads are clogged with parked cars. The cars you can see at the junction of Eynella Road and Woodwarde Road on the left-hand side aren't queueing to turn left, they're parked in clear breach of Highway Code Rule 243 which says you mustn't park within 10m of a junction. Obviously there has to be space for people to park their urban tractors but most of the houses are large with decent front gardens; a bit of concrete, some lowered kerbs and on-road parking space is suddenly free for other uses.

Make all these changes and the junction suddenly gets a lot better. Linking East Dulwich and Forest Hill with high-quality cycle lanes would reduce cyclist-motorist conflict, encourage cycling, reduce congestion and generally make life better for everyone using or living near the junction.

London's Transport Problems and How to Fix Them

Ok London, let me tell you how it has to be.

The road network doesn't work for anyone. It doesn't work for cars, vans, lorries, buses, pedestrians, emergency vehicles or cyclists and everybody hates it. We've built our city around the internal combustion engine and it's time to admit that we've lost something along the way; it's time for change.

So what's next? How do we unclog our cities, cut the pollution, encourage visitors and tourists, boost trade, help small businesses and generally improve the way the city works?

It's actually not all that difficult, it just requires a change of mindset. We have to stop building infrastructure based on the needs of cars, taxis and buses and focus instead on the needs of their passengers. We do this by making it easier to move around the city without using motorised transport, by encouraging walking, cycling and, for longer journeys, tube, tram and train. 

There are a few things we can do:

1. Pedestrianise the busiest shopping and entertainment areas, like Oxford Street, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square etc.
2. Cut the motor traffic on routes that can't be pedestrianised, like Whitehall, Parliament Square, Charing Cross Road, Strand, Kingsway etc.
3. Build fully segregated cycle lanes on the busiest roads, like Victoria Embankment, and add cycle infrastructure at junctions, crossings, stations and bridges,
4. Increase the congestion charge and extend the coverage area to further reduce private vehicle use, 
5. Extend the tram system that operates around Croydon and push it north through Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham where underground coverage is light,

Not easily done, especially in the face of concerted opposition from car drivers (who will call it a "war on motorists") and other vested interests, but it would make the city far more pleasant for everyone who lives in it. 

TfL currently spend £400m a year (source) maintaining the 5% of London's roads for which they're responsible and their brief, for years, has been to keep the traffic moving; they've interpreted "traffic", in this context, as "motor traffic". Anyone who has walked, cycled or driven around some of TfL's major junctions, like Elephant and Castle, can see how poorly this approach has worked.

If roads and junctions aren't pleasant or efficient for drivers why on earth do we continue to build infrastructure based almost entirely on their needs? We have to change the approach. We have to build a network that works for the majority of people using it even if that means discouraging the behaviours that some people currently rely upon. 

Let's aim to get some of the cars off the streets by making it easier to make different choices. There will always be a need for some people to drive around the city but, for the rest of us, for the rest of the time, let's provide some viable alternatives. Let's take the difficult decisions now, start the process and get the city moving.