Cycle parking victory for ibikelondon!

Remember this post about the shocking lack of bike parking provided at the stations on the brand new billion pound East London Line? 

You'll recall that the new muliti-million pound Dalston Junction bus and train station had opened without a single cycle parking stand, despite Transport for London's own standards stating that "Secure cycle parking should be incorporated in new developments that have the potential to attract new cyclists."  New Zone 1 station Shoreditch High Street had been provided with just 6 stands, despite the rules that at Zone 1 stations there should be one bicycle parking space for every 200 people entering the station...

So far, so depressing... I was less curious to know if TfL and it's team of architects had totally over-looked their own guidelines (or chosen to ignore them), but more importantly to try to find out what could be done to improve the situation.  We are, after all, going to need considerably more than a handful of cycle stands at new stations if we are ever going to really have a 'velorution'.  Following my initial blog post, questions were asked, letters were written.  The Mayor himself, Boris Johnson, was questioned at the Assembly.  I've just had the following news, which I am thrilled to share:



Parking space for 180 bicycles will be installed at the following four new stations: 

Shoreditch High Street will have a further 19 stands installed to compliment it's existing 6, providing space for 50 bicycles.

Dalston Junction will have 15 stands installed on rail land, and be complimented by a further 25 stands provided by the London Borough of Hackney at Dalston Square, providing cycle parking for 80 bicycles.

Haggerston will provide space for 38 bicycles, whereas previously there were just 5 cycle stands.  Again, Hackney will also install further complimentary stands nearby in addition.

When complete, Hoxton station will have space for 62 bicycles.

There are ongoing land use issues at the older re-styled stations at Wapping, Whitechapel and Rotherhithe.  Cycle parking at Shadwell is now under review.  The 6 stands at Surrey Quays are all that the space constraints at the station allow, according to TfL so there will be no change there.

Whilst we're not talking about Dutch standards here (remember Assen, the town with a population of 65,000 and 2,300 bike parking spaces at it's local station?!), it's certainly an improvement on the previous situation. 

What concerns me most is that it took complaints by cyclists just to get the facilities we need provided in the first place.  The Mayor and Transport for London (of which he is Chair) have policies telling them all they need to know when it comes to designing in the needs of cyclists.  Indeed, the Mayor's own 10 point plan for creating a 'cycling revolution' in the capital states that there must be "an increase in secure cycle-parking on streets, in workplaces, and at stations and schools".  So what is happening here?  Do actions really speak louder than words?  As work begins across the city on London's new Crossrail stations, London's cyclists are watching...

12 bikes good, one car bad

Saturday saw the HTC Smithfield Nocturne roll into town.  An action-packed evening, from professional racers taking on the London street circuit to folding bike races (with suitably attired commuters in cycling shorts, shirts and ties), a mini-family Skyride and even an ice cream bike race, there was a great atmosphere on the night, despite the unseasonably cold June weather.  For the first, and possibly last time, I tried my hand at Rollapaluza rig racing against @Tbag75 from Brain Farts of a Bike Tart for a cycling blogger's face off.  I may have won the race, but she'd already cycled 75 miles that day so maybe she's winning in life.  And she didn't almost cough up a pleaura afterwards either.  Still, I was impressed to find I'm only 2.44 seconds slower than Sir Chris Hoy...  I obviously need to eat more Bran Flakes.

Are those bikes road legal? Where are their lights?!

Tucked in amongst the stalls and beer tents was an entirely new cycle parking system from Anthony Lau, the man behind Cyclehoop (who we've featured here before).  Taking up the space of just one car, his latest cycle parking stands have room for 12 bikes each.  Being the infrastructure geek that I am I was most impressed by these car shaped bike stands, not least because of the reaction that they got.  They were a real talking point, and it was interesting the way in which people interacted and sat on them, and wanted to lock their bikes to them, even when they were full.  Kids loved them and they of course send out a clear, simple message about why bikes are great in urban centres.  And did I mention that Anthony had integrated a cunningly concealed track pump into his design? Pure genius!

Can you imagine an ordinary car in the same parking space having the same effect?  For any Council which is looking to take away private parking spaces in their boroughs they could do a lot worse than replace them with one of these.  They come in de-mountable versions too which are excellent for events like the Nocturne.  It's great to see the innovations of a local biking business go from strength to strength, and to see big crowds out enjoying all types of cycling.

A great start to Bike Week 2010. Enjoy yours!

Actions speak louder than words, and why the new East London Line is failing London's cyclists

To much fanfare and as part of a £1billion upgrade, the new East London Overground Line opened fully yesterday.  The new line, which incorporates some of the old East London Underground Line and includes a handful of new stations such as Dalston Junction and Shoreditch High Street, is expected to see 40million passengers a year by 2016.

Last week Transport for London and the Mayor, Boris Johnson, launched their 10-point 'Cycling Revolution' plan, an extensive document full of pretty pictures and points about how we should expect a "400% increase in cycling levels by 2026 compared with 2001".  (As I've said before, in real terms this equates to a pitiful target of just 5% modal share of journeys by bike by 2026, which is less like a velorution and more like a wet Wednesday matinee of Les Miserables.  Copenhagen, for example, is currently working towards 50%)  I digress... one of the key points in the 10 point plan to help bring about this 'Cycling Revolution' is this:

"An increase in secure cycle-parking on streets, in workplaces, and at stations and schools"

So I thought I'd check out the new East London Line stations and see how the reality matches up to the hyperbole...

First stop, the shining new Dalston Junction station.  Lots of room here, and a brand new major bus interchange. Remember that Dalston resides in the Borough of Hackney, the borough that has the highest modal share of trips by bike in the whole of London, at a reasonably healthy 8%.  Besides the shiny-floored lobby and lovely new platforms what I was really interested in was how many cycle parking spaces had been provided at this brand new London station?  The answer; none. 

There is a space at the end of the station that looks like a large broom cupboard.  A station attendent told me it was going to be used as secure cycle parking, but that there was a possibility it might be turned into a little shop and of course that commercial interests win out...  Outside, in the sweeping new bus interchange there isn't a single cycle hoop to behold.

Further down the line in riverside Wapping they've done much better, installing a grand total of 2 Sheffield stands for all us cyclists to park our bikes, whilst south of the river Surrey Quays is blessed with a total of 5 uncovered stands not covered by CCTV and almost impossible to reach from the road without either pulling up in the gutter against railings or cycling across the pedestrian crossing... 

Surrey Quays station

Hoxton (above) and Haggerston

Back in cycle-friendly Hackney the newly created Haggerston station rustles up five stands too, under the cover of a bridge this time, despite there being space for many more.  Hoxton - another new station - lucks out with a total of 8.  Further south in Zone 1 and on the edge of the City of London (where they have a cycle parking shortage of their own) is enormous new station Shoreditch High Street.  Despite being one of the largest and potentially most important station on the line and situated firmly in the centre of hipster cycling heaven there are just 6 stands, even though there is enough room around the station itself to park a fleet of bendy buses.

How is it that a brand new, multimillion pound raft of train stations in the centre of London provide so poorly for cyclists?  Could it be that cycling was overlooked and forgotten at the planning stage? Maybe the designers never read - or chose to overlook - Transport for London's own Cycle Planning Standards document which states clearly "Secure cycle parking should be incorporated in new developments that have the potential to attract new cyclists."  Zone 1 stations, such as Shoreditch High Street, come under 'Category F' which means in non-geek speak that there should be one bicycle parking space for every 200 people entering the station...  I'm no transport consultant but I'd hazard a guess that 6 measly Sheffield stands falls far short of this.

Let us consider the small Dutch town of Assen... With a population of some 65,000 it has 2,300 cycle parking spaces at it's local train station, of which 754 are guarded indoor spaces. That's one space for ever 28 residents at the train station alone, according to David Hembrow's excellent cycling blog 'A view from the cycle path'.  And of course they are currently in the process of building more to keep up with the demand... By comparison, the Borough of Hackney has a population of 212,000 and a handful of new stations with nothing more than a tokenistic cluster of Sheffield stands to cater for it's cycling citizens.

If we are to truly to believe that the 'Cycling Revolution' is really going to happen in London we need to start seeing some infrastructure on the ground.  We can talk all we like about how wonderful riding a bike is, but in order to promote mass cycling we actually need to start providing for said cyclists in order to make it as easy, safe and convenient as, say, driving a car.  Someone working on the East London Line dropped the ball when they overlooked cycle parking; annoying for cyclists, and embarrassing for the Mayor and Tfl.  It's not too late to build plenty more cycle parking at all of the new stations and demonstrate a commitment to a real cycling revolution.  Till then words are just words and there's not nearly enough room to lock my bike, or yours.  Build it... and they will come!

P.S  It's not all doom and gloom on the new old East London Line - folding bicycles are, apparently welcome onboard the roomy air conditioned new trains at all times, and full-size bikes can travel onboard outside of peak hours Monday to Friday.  It's just as well, there's nowhere to park outside..(!)  I'm sure those good people at Brompton are thrilled.

WANTED: Twenty seven thousand bike parking spaces

Much was made of the revelation last week that the new ‘Shard of Glass’ skyscraper at London Bridge will provide just 250 cycle parking spaces for it’s 6,500 inhabitants. What will ultimately become the tallest building in Britain falls short when it comes to cycle-friendly credentials. Sadly, in our car-centric capital city, it’s not alone.

The City of London planning officer will admit in a meeting today that there is existing unmet demand for some TWENTY SEVEN THOUSAND cycle parking spaces within the City. That is not projected demand; not figures dreamt up to predict what demand for cycle parking might one day be; but demand as it stands NOW.

To me this says two things loud and clear:

One: There are an awful lot of cyclists on Inner London’s roads now and clearly a lot of people are cycling into the City to work. This is a good thing.

Two: The City (and, to be fair, Westminster Council too) are totally unprepared for the volume of cyclists apparent on our roads, and have been caught napping. This is a sad thing.

The planning paper notes that a number of major City businesses (particularly in the financial quarter) report that more than 10% of their workforce are already cycling to work, and the City sees no reason why this would not be the case with the majority of businesses. If the City has a workforce of some 374,000 people, 10% equals some 37,000 pedal-powered office workers.

At present, there are just 834 on-street cycle parking racks in the City, providing parking for 1,668 cycles, and approximately 100 cycle parking spaces in the City’s off-street public car parks.

The Bicycle PlantLock beautifies the traditional bike stand and adds a touch of greenery to the urban landscape (this one seen near Bobbin Bicycles in Islington. Available to purchase here.)

Having acknowledged that they have been caught unawares by the volume of cyclists present, and must do more to provide for them, the planning agenda goes on to be more encouraging:

“A 10% modal share is very significantly below the existing cycling modal share of some English cities (such as Cambridge with 25% cycle journeys to work) and of some overseas cities in countries such as the Netherlands that are not greatly dissimilar to England culturally or geographically (such as a 38% cycling modal share in Amsterdam). It would therefore seem appropriate to treat a 10% modal share as the absolute minimum that the City should be aiming to provide for.”

(Someone should tell Mayor of London Boris Johnson about this and ask him to revise his rather wet aims for just 5% modal share by bike by 2026 – wakey wakey Mr Mayor!)

Cycle parking is more serious an issue than at first it seems: being able to secure your bike once you’ve reached your destination is a serious consideration for most cyclists, and with cycle theft at record levels in London, cycle security could in fact be a stronger deterrent to would-be cyclists than even the road environment and perceived safety in traffic, as London Cycling Campaign communications office Mike Cavenett explains:

"Bike theft is cited as the most common reason for people giving up cycling. In 2008 there were over 17,000 bikes reported stolen in London. It must be tackled more seriously by the police. The costs to Londoners and to the city are phenomenal."

Over-subscribed bicycle parking in the Borough of Hackney.

The City of London, just like the City of Westminster, proclaims to love uncluttered streets. As a consequence they don’t love street parking for bicycles. They’ve never been fans of Sheffield stands or worse still; bikes parked at random locked to any convenient railing. Indeed, it took a House of Lords decision to stop Westminster from chomping through locks and throwing away the bikes without telling the owner in a fit of ‘clean street’-loving, ‘railing-liberating’ bicycle removal. Strangely, they have a less than vigorous approach when it comes to revenue-spinning automobile parking and the various signage, parking metres and street clutter that come with it...

And so it is no surprise that the key strategy being proposed in today’s planning meeting to deal with the City of London’s famine of cycle parking is to provide off-street secure bicycle parking bays in council-run car parks. Indeed, they have already allocated £25,000 towards providing off-street cycle parking this year.

This is great; secure cycle parking is a fantastic thing, especially as cycle theft is such a blight on London. But it is no ‘cure all’ and cannot be the only strategy adopted.

Off-street cycle parking isn’t always immediately obvious to the passing cyclist (and signage is usually pretty poor), and it’s not of any use to visiting cyclists calling into buildings for brief meetings or just passing through.

In order for cycle provision to truly succeed there needs to be a tapestry of cycle parking available:

Large, secure off-street cycle parking, in a well-signed, well-lit and convenient place (there’s no point putting push bike parking on the top deck of a multi-story car park for instance!)

Clusters of Sheffield stands making up mini bicycle hubs – such as the 150 or so stands in groups of 20 around the perimeters of Berkeley Square in Westminster.

Smaller groups of stands at the end of most roads, or in every public space.

And individual cycle parking facilities along streets and outside individual business premesis, such as the innovative and easy to install Cyclehoop. Products like this can help give a formality to the perceived blight of ad-hoc bicycle parking as well as help to improve bike security. Furthermore it's designed and based here in London; supporting a newly-established business like Cyclehoop is the sort of thing that local Councils ought to be doing!

The Cyclehoop is fixed to existing street furniture such as lamp posts and sign posts. (http://www.cyclehoop.com/)

Two last points about cycle parking; having somewhere to store your bicycle is a matter of convenience (and as we’ve discussed here before being able to access your bicycle conveniently is a key to encouraging cycling) but it will never stop determined thieves. Consequently, cycle theft MUST be taken seriously by the Police. Indeed, the City of London has its' own exclusive Police force: we need to ensure that they are fully au fait with just how important reducing cycle theft is and they must be seen to be proactive in dealing with the issue. (I’d encourage them to start at Brick Lane market...)

And we need to get over this idea of a bicycle locked on the street being an aesthetic inconvenience – it’s just the product of lots of people using a smart means of transport. Of course if I left a ten by eight foot box of my stuff in the street that WOULD be selfish, but somehow bikes chained to railings are not okay whilst private cars parked in our gridlocked street are...?

You go figure it out, I’m off to oil my U-lock.

City of London Council: good on you, but you've got some catching up to do!

City's cyclists should have their say (and Mayor Boris should listen)

Mayor of London Boris Johnson held a meeting last Friday with representatives of some of the UK’s biggest cycling manufacturers and retailers. Aiming to brainstorm ways to encourage more cycling in London - with a specific focus on fixing the issues of safety and security – sadly, the Mayor is misguided if he thinks he is inviting the right people to City Hall...

Whilst high level cycling industry big-wigs undoubtedly have a passion for bikes and all that goes with them, it’s questionable how focussed they are on the real issues at hand. Representatives of big corporations are ultimately, no matter how well intentioned, going to be driven by their bottom line and profit margins.

Increasing bike security? As cyclists we all know the answer to this is better and more frequent cycle parking, given the same kind of street patrols and CCTV as vehicle parking, and the Metropolitan Police making at least a token start at taking cycle theft seriously. The industry, I suspect, will recommend we buy bigger, and stronger locks – maybe even two, or three per bike (which is now becoming the standard in London)

Getting more people on bikes? As regular readers here will know, I firmly believe that we need to take the ‘other’ out of cycling and rehabilitate it as an everyday and ordinary activity in people’s lives again. If you want mass cycling rates, the masses need to be able to associate with cycling. I’d probably start with the inequality in cycling rates between men and women and be asking why aren’t more women cycling? On this point I am inclined to agree with BikeBiz Editor Carlton Reid: “Not all cycling women want to be Audrey Hepburn with a basket-on-the-front, pearlised-pink Dutch bike. But there’s no escaping that this sector is the one that produces the best photographs for promoting cycling to a mainstream audience. Forget helmets, Lycra and speed; non-cyclists find all that a big turn-off”.  Promoting the public face of cycling as mainstream?  That's not something the bicycle industry has been doing, as I’ve previously discussed.

And, as we've otherwise discussed here, if the Mayor really wants to see cycling levels explode across London, he could do a lot worse by not scrapping the only Police department entirely dedicated to reigning in errant HGVs - the cause of the majority of fatal incidents in London.  Perhaps he could focus on a truly original cycle safety action plan instead of the current limp offering City Hall is presently putting forward.  I've said it before and I'll say it again; aiming for cycling to be just 5% modal share of all traffic by 2026 is less like a velorution and more like a wet Wednesay matinee of Les Miserables.

2010 does stand to be a record year for cycling in London. Transport for London, under the stewardship of Mayor Johnson, will launch 6000 new bikes onto our streets with the launch of the Zone 1 bike hire scheme. The first two of 12 ‘cycle superhighways’ (essentially existing cycle lanes re-painted and re-branded to raise their awareness) will open to the general public. The cycling budget for the next five years is a fairly hefty £110 million pounds. The potential for a political backlash from the Mayor’s outer-London car-dependant voting block is massive if these schemes are seen to fail. As such, you’d think he’d be inviting representatives from the cities of Copenhagen, Groningen or Amsterdam to his cycling summit, rather than a self-publicising ex-promoter of a pedal car race from Dorset.  (No, dear readers, I kid you not.)

I’m sure the people from our various bike manufacturers are lovely people, and that they believe their hearts are in the right place, but I don't believe they have the day-in day-out first hand experience of cycling in our capital city that the city’s cyclists do. Bike shops traditionally do not make much money on the bikes they sell – the profit margin lies in the sporting cyclist’s favourite mantra; “Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize.” London’s cyclists know, however, that no amount of whiz-bang gadgets or sweat-whicking clothing are going to get more people on two wheels – only strong clear infrastructure and safe roads for all will do that. Perhaps with their help the city can avoid installing nightmarish cycle lanes such as this, or remember to include cyclists in all of their transport projects in the future, unlike here.

It’s great that the Mayor and his people are seeking out industry opinion, but if they want to know how to really make 2010 London’s cycling year they could start with talking to our city’s cycling groups, dare I say it, it’s cycling bloggers, and - shock-horror-gasp! – even the city’s cyclists themselves.

Why cycle storage matters...

Any barrier to cycling is a bad thing - and there are many psychological barriers that can build up to such a level that you never end up using your bicycle at all ("It's too cold, I'm too tired, I can't be arsed to carry my bike down five flights of stairs....")  It might seem ridiculous, but in order for there to be a massive increase in cycling rates in this country cycling needs to be made easier.  One way to do this is to ensure that those people who live in inner-city and high density areas (those, who I think it is fair to presume have the most potential for increasing their cycle trips) have somewhere to store their bikes easily and securely.

Cycle theft in London has been a growing phenomenon recently.  Nobody wants to have to carry two or three different kinds of lock around with them, but sadly it's often a necessity here (that, or resorting to using a Brompton and taking it everywhere with you, as oppose to leaving it in the street.)  But, if you don't feel safe locking your bike up outside, or if there is nowhere suitable to lock it - and you can't afford a Brompton -  you don't want to have to carry your bicycle up and down into your home twice a day.  (The stairs up to my flat are Amsterdam-esque in their narrowness - it takes two of us to carry a bicycle indoors and work it up to our pad)  You want to be able to know that your chosen mode of transport is going to be there for you when you need it, not sprirted away to the bottom of the local canal...

(Bike frame on the Regent's Canal at Victoria Park.  Photo via Velo Runner blog, with thanks)

Consider the motor car and think how easy it is to use.  It's pretty secure in itself with it's central locking and immobilising systems, can be left on the street and isn't easy to steal.  To open it you just have to press a button, turn a key and away you go.  We need to make bicycles as easy to use as that!

It's great that there is more bike parking in the city centre these days (though we do need more), and I've already written about the woeful inadequecies of cycle parking at central London stations, but how about some joined up thinking from our Borough leaders and planners on ensuring that there is somewhere to park your bike at home too?  The planning standards of my home borough, Tower Hamets, dictate that new residential developments only need provide one cycle parking place for every three flats (bearing in mind that developers usually count one Sheffield stand as parking for two bikes), and one 'secure place' for every new house.  For motor vehicle parking all new residential buildings must have one car parking space per dwelling (plus one visitor space for every 10 dwellings!) - hardly the kind of far-sitedness needed to bring about substantial change in a Borough that is a spit from Central London and is stuffed with Tube lines, buses, London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway.  The Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington on the other side of town is slightly better, mandating for "Space suitable for the convenient, safe and secure storage of at least 1 bicycle per dwelling unit."

Of course, developers are driven by their bottom line and will not be keen to give over too much of their expensive valuable land to cycle parking, especially when car parking spaces might seem more desirable (though there have been recent moves to the contrary according to London's estate agents), but with a modicum of imagination, good quality cycle parking can be provided on street and include traffic calming measures at the same time (see the Beech Croft Road experiment over at Roadwitch)  Well-maintained and used cycle parking also has the added beneficial psychological effect of demonstrating to other residents how many cyclists there are on their street, and might help them consider getting back on their bikes themselves.

What is the cycle provision in your local community like?  Are there bike stands on your street? How many locks do you carry?  Do you even dare leave your bicycle outside at home at night?  I'm keen to hear your thoughts!