Sometimes Change is Easy

Sometimes it's just not that difficult. Sometimes small changes can make big differences. Sometimes.

Like changing the timings on the lights at the north end of Waterloo bridge. At rush hour, 50+ cyclists get maybe 8-9 seconds to pass through the lights at the southern end of Wellington Street as the head south toward the bridge.

Four things happen:

1. The large queue of bikes on the cycle lane outside the Wellington pub impedes pedestrians and, at very busy times, covers the lower part of the road,
2. Bikes crossing toward Waterloo Bridge are immediately stopped by the pedestrian lights on the other side of Strand leaving them sitting awkwardly in the junction,
3. Buses turning right to cross the bridge get stuck here at the same time creating an immediate conflict as bikes swarm around the bus,
4. A big bulge of bikes then surges across the pedestrian crossing as the lights change, effectively blocking one or both lanes of the bridge until the pack spreads out.

Fixing this properly should involve new bike-specific lights, cycle lanes and various other improvements to infrastructure and layout. If instead we merely wish to improve the situation enormously we could fiddle with the existing traffic lights:

• Stretch the green time on the southbound cycle light to an extravagant 25 seconds. It's controlled by a manual switch anyway so presumably it isn't part of the sequence if there are no cyclists around.
• Release east/west pedestrians either before the bike light goes green or after bikes have had time to clear the junction so that passage across the junction isn't impeded by the pedestrian crossing,
• Adjust the timings so that buses turning right onto the bridge aren't in the junction at the same time as bikes,
• If we want to be really daring, give bikes two spots in the light sequence to reduce the accumulation of bikes and speed the southbound flow.

These changes could be made quickly and with relative ease but their impact would be huge. Sometimes it really is easy to make a difference.

London, Cycling and HGVs

The Metropolitan Police Service run fairly frequent sessions on Wellington Street in Covent Garden (that's the street just north of Waterloo Bridge outside the Lion King theatre) to give cyclists a driver's-eye view from the cab of an HGV. I've always been deeply cynical about these exercises, regarding them as little more than a sophisticated way of blaming the victim (i.e. cyclists) for accidents that have yet to happen.

It turns out that, although not entirely wrong, there were some fairly big gaps in my knowledge and I'm very pleased that the MPS took the time to explain. Let me elaborate.

The cab of the police HGV they were using was quite new and it had all the required mirrors - six, in total - creating an apparently comprehensive image of the surrounding road. The demo is done by two guys, one with a bike, one in the cab. The guy with the bike walks it around the outside of the cab and guy in the passenger seat explains what the driver can and can't see; it's a great demo. 

As soon as they finish it's obvious that it's very easy for a cyclist to find a blind spot. Worse, it's possible for both cyclist and driver to follow all the rules, take care about their positioning, check their mirrors, look around them, signal clearly and still collide because one simply can't see the other in his completely legal and correct position on the road. Legal, in this instance, doesn't coincide with safe.

There are (at least) two problems. First, even with six mirrors the driver can't see enough of the space around the cab to be sure it's safe to move off. Second, it takes about 330 milliseconds (see page 8) for a driver to scan each mirror so reviewing six and the road in front provides plenty of time for cyclists to move into the already scanned area.

Mirrors clearly aren't the answer so what options are left? Cameras could be used to eliminate blind spots but this just worsens the mirror-scanning problem. Transparent doors or lowered cabs might improve visibility but aren't easily retro-fitted into the existing fleet; changing legislation to force these improvements could take years. Banning HGVs entirely would probably encourage a proliferation of smaller delivery vehicles, exchanging one body of professional drivers for ten times as many half-trained amateurs (not to mention increasing pollution and congestion); not ideal.

We could try to solve the problem by educating cyclists and asking them to avoid HGVs but even with the best efforts of the police (and the demo really was very good) they're never going to reach a significant proportion of the cycling population. 

From what I can see there is only one real solution; we must stop forcing bikes and lorries to share the same road. They must be segregated, either by time (HGVs in the city centre between 23:00 and 05:00, maybe?) or by space. Time might be easier to implement but isn't a total solution and it would create an organisational nightmare for hauliers and their customers; it's probably a non-starter.

And that leaves us with segregating the roads to physically separate bikes and other road users. This isn't a short-term option so it doesn't help with today's problem but, long-term, it's by far the best option. In reality, though, we're probably going to need to improve drivers' visibility, change the way HGVs use the roads, reduce the size and number of goods vehicles in our city centres and make various other changes if we're to make significant improvements to road safety.

While we wait for things to improve, I'm going to change the way I ride around large vehicles. More specifically, I will be keeping away from HGVs on the assumption that, no matter where I am on the road, the driver won't be able to see me. Like wearing helmets and hi-vis jackets, this shouldn't be necessary but I think riding defensively is, at least for now, vital. 

And if you get the chance to sit in the Met's HGV cab you should take it and reset your thinking on HGVs and their drivers.

Nightrider

Nightrider. 100km around the sights of central London by bike in the middle of the night, starting and ending at Crystal Palace (or Alexandra Palace, if you fancy). It's an interesting experience; let me tell you what I learned on the 2014 ride.

The first thing, and this was a bit of a surprise, is that 100km doesn't seem so far when broken into 20km chunks and cycled with a bunch of like-minded people. You share the joys of the descents and the pain of the hills, the frustration of the red lights and the dangers of the unexpected right turns, and life seems just a little better as, together, you overcome adversity (self-imposed adversity, it is true, but still a challenge to be defeated and a victory to be shared).

Also surprising was the variety of bikes in use. Lots of road bikes, as you'd expect, and large numbers of hybrids but also an awful lot of mountain and downhill bikes as if climbing hills or riding over smooth Tarmac were things that happen only to other people. There were also some tandems (including one crewed by two chaps in tutus and brightly coloured stockings), at least one tricycle tandem and a modest number of folding bikes. All, it seems, are welcome.

The organisation was good, the route was (mostly) well signed and the break points were clearly labelled and well-stocked with food (except, strangely  for the one at the Imperial Museum, which had only a small selection of strange crisps and children's sweets). The start and finish were well organised and we got away on time and in good order.

The roads, even in the small hours of the morning, are not free of traffic. It's mostly taxis, buses and delivery vehicles and although you might hope that professional drivers would be used to seeing cyclists on the roads this doesn't mean they're prepared to give way or, even, to drive safely. As always when riding around London, care must be taken to avoid motorists.

And the drunks, of which there are many. Most were supportive, many clapped, some cheered. Others just stared, bemused, as 20-30 riders in identical hi-vis jackets rode past in search of the bright yellow signs that would indicate the next turn on the route.

A few memories stand out. Crossing Tower Bridge amongst traffic but in a huge crowd of cyclists. Reaching Alexandra Palace without stopping on the hill. Riding through an eerily quiet Canary Wharf. Seeing the start of the dawn across the city from Hampstead Heath. Stopping on Waterloo Bridge to capture the sunrise above a glass-smooth Thames. Reaching the finish line.

Rain or wind might have spoiled the day but for us the ride was dry and the night clear. It was chilly in the small hours but shorts, t-shirt, mitts and jumper were sufficient.

Next year? I think I'll be signing up for the 2015 ride.