Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Is Cycling as Mass Transport on its Way to Haringey?
Image: Courtesy of Skycyle - published under fair use
With bikes now accounting for 24 per cent of all road traffic in central London during the morning peak and 16 per cent across the whole day, TfL's new Cycling Design Standards Policy has declared that cycling is to be considered mass transport in London. How quickly will this translate into the Haringey context?
The TfL policy begins with the words “Cycling is now mass transport and must be treated as such”. The effect of the policy means that councils in London are now starting require developers to integrate this approach into their development plans. A growing number of high profile examples are regularly cited.
I wonder how this policy is being translated into the local context, across Haringey in general, but more specifically within Harringay. Is it part of the requirements being placed on the St Ann's developers or those planning the huge development by Hornsey Station? Does anyone know?
Whether Haringey is at the cutting edge or trailing behind, what seems almost certain is that we can expect some Amsterdamification over the coming years. Transport for London figures show that cyclists now make 570,000 trips in London every day compared with 290,000 trips in 2001. And, looking ahead, the mayor’s “cycle vision” aims to sustain the cycling boom by increasing cyclist numbers by 400 per cent from 2001 to 2026.
Over the coming few years, a tube network for the bike is envisaged with the development of a system of Dutch-style bike lanes and in n 2016, an east-to-west "cycling crossrail" will open.
More locally, the Cycle Enfield scheme, also known as 'mini-Holland', saw Enfield Borough Council gain £30million from London Mayor Boris Johnson to improve cycle lanes in the borough.
It may well be that we'll begin to see things changing in Haringey soon too. New Council traffic supremo Stuart MacNamara is a keen cyclist and has been spending time looking at how cycling provision can be improved in the borough. As a man with something of a reputation for putting action above political gaming, those in the know are allowing their expectations to to see change coming.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by maggie on
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Skycycle would be the only way you would get me on a bike in London. Experienced cyclists don't seem too keen on it but what about the rest of us, it would be an absolute boon to the millions of non- cyclists in London (the majority) who are too scared to cycle but would feel perfectly secure zooming down a cycle highway.
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Permalink Reply by Noots on
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If the proposed N/S and E/W cycle routes aren’t blocked by appeal, then I think that will make a huge difference to cycling in London/UK, as whilst not perfect, I can’t see them being anything other than a huge success, which will make the case for increasing proper cycling provision, even stronger and ever more difficult to deny. It was cycling in the Netherlands and seeing people of all ages doing the same, that started to make me really angry that we don’t have the same infrastructure at home. It’s just so much more civilised and makes economic sense in terms of health and the environment. I’d love to see infrastructure in place that encouraged people from kids to pensioners to cycle, but I don’t see why we have to go up in the air or underground rather than follow the tried and tested successes of the Netherlands or Denmark, to name the two most obvious examples of countries who’ve got it all figured out.
I put off cycling in London for the best part of ten years and it’s something I really regret. I eventually got so frustrated with the daily grind of commuting on overcrowded, expensive public transport, that I decided I’d sooner take my chances with the traffic than endure more of the same.
I don’t drive, so I was automatically at a big disadvantage when it came to understanding traffic and my place in it, but I felt ready to go after undergoing the Bikeability training, practicing my commute during a couple of early morning weekends and then during the week, with friends who cycle, watching youtube videos on safety and technique, reading online “Things to avoid” articles and “Cyclecraft” by John Franklin (which I personally found really helpful).
Confidence comes with experience and once you realise that you’re entitled to be on the road, and refuse to be put in compromising positions, it makes a huge difference to your perceived and actual safety. I try not to put myself in dangerous positions – five minutes added onto my journey time isn’t the end of the world – and touch wood, so far I’ve not had any problems. My commute takes me from around Turnpike Lane down to Liverpool Street, most of the time that’s on main roads, but I’ve tailored my route to avoid a couple of roundabouts/sections of road that I’m not too comfortable with, which adds on a bit of time, but makes for a more enjoyable ride. There are online sites which will propose possible routes graded by the amount of traffic, size of roads etc, which I’ve found very helpful.
You definitely need to be switched-on to what’s happening around you, but I’ve found 99%+ of motorists to actually be pretty considerate – in two years, I can think of 4-5 occasions, where I’ve needed to take evasive action due to someone’s dangerous driving.
On the plus side – once you’ve shelled out for a bike and the associated bits and bobs, the running costs are very low.
It’s much less frustrating than travelling on public transport. I know within 5-10 minutes, how long it will take me to get to/from work (25-35 mins). On the bus, it can regularly take me anywhere between 45-80 minutes to get home from work, and I often have to let 2-3 buses go before I can get on one, despite walking 3-4 stops towards the start of the route. Every time I’m forced to commute by bus or tube now, I remember exactly why I started cycling. I miss cycling when I’m on holiday.
It’s genuinely enjoyable and makes you feel much better – physically, I’m in much better shape and also mentally. I would never join a gym as I’m too lazy, but I needed to start exercising. I don’t have to carve out any additional time to do this (in fact, I have more time available due to a shorter commute) and an hour a day cycling is a decent effort. I’ve lost two stone in the past couple of years due to cycling into work and it’s never felt like a chore.
It’s obviously good for the environment; not just in terms of pollutants, but also noise and general ambience of the city.
Every person that cycles is freeing-up a space on public transport or taking a motorised vehicle off the road.
It doesn’t rain as much as you think. I’ve had about 10 days where I’ve decided not to cycle because the rain was ridiculous. Probably about 5 rides where I’ve got caught in heavy rain, and another 10 where I’ve decided not to cycle because of ice/snow.
Everyone I know that’s started cycling in the past few years has become quite evangelical about it; I often get up early on a Saturday or Sunday to go for a ride, whilst everyone else if still asleep, and I’ve really enjoyed rides that take me out of London and into the countryside. It really is a great way of getting about. If a friend has a spare bike, then I’d really recommend going out with a friend for a few early morning rides at the weekend and seeing how you get on. I bet you quickly love it.
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Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
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Nice one Noots, pretty much my experience of why I took up cycling, and I massively regret not cycling when I started working in the West End again. It would have saved me 10 years of tube fairs. In fact my company is now relocating to White City and I'm looking forward to the extra 20 minutes. One other thing, I've never been put of by the weather - as long as you've got weather appropriate tyres and mudguards and good clothes its never been a problem. A small price to pay, occasionally I use public transport when I'm going out in the evening, and its rarely a a pleasant experience these days.
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Agree – I’ve got mudguards fitted at all times and they make a huge difference, but when it's throwing it down biblical style, I have been known to bottle it for comfort and safety reasons. On the distance front, It wasn’t long before I started wishing I lived a few miles further out to prolong my rides – especially in the Summer, when I sometimes take a major detour to stay out on my bike that bit longer. Absolutely love it and I’m stunned by just how enjoyable I’ve found it despite being in a city that does almost nothing to make it an enjoyable experience.
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Maggie, if you want to cycle but are too scared please, please try cycle training. It's all about helping you build the techniques you need to ride safely on the road.
Many, many of the risks that people assume are just part and parcel of riding with traffic can be reduced or entirely avoided with good road technique. It would be such a shame to spend years not cycling while you wait for a great big build like Skycycle when a couple of hours of training and some practice could get you there in a few weeks.
And it's free, so if you try cycle training but still do not feel ready to join the traffic, you are no worse off than you are now. Give it a go
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Hello,
Do you have some evidence for your assertion that training makes cycling safer in London? I occasionally make mistakes when I'm riding my bike, I make a bad call or fail to anticipate. This has never resulted in an accident.
Most days, I am punishment passed, or left hooked, or subject to some other form of careless or malicious driving, and I'm unclear as to how a cycle training course would prevent this.
I had a new one on Friday. I'm filtering stationary traffic, and an approaching car driver starts flashing their lights at me. Okay, my light is a bit bright (it's not that bright, about 10 watts), got it, sorry. So, this moron then felt it appropriate to swerve at me as we passed each other. Is that situation covered in these cycling safety courses? What should I have done?
Incidents like these are part of the everyday for regular cycle users in London. My wife was told on Saturday that she belonged under the wheels of a taxi. How could she avoid these kinds of threats in the future?
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From my own personal experience, I think it re-enforced the importance of positioning and my right to ride safely on the road, even if that means slightly inconveniencing cars at times. As a non-driver, it also gave me a greater insight into what motorists would be expecting me to do, what I ought to be doing (highway code bits and bobs) and the sort of potential dangers that cyclists face and how best to avoid them (left turning vehicles at junctions, opening doors, cars squeezing through pinch points etc). As I said, I try not to take unnecessary risks, so whilst I’ll filter when the traffic lights have just turned to red, I’ve found from experience that if I’m not sure, I’d sooner sit back and wait than put myself in a potentially risky situation.
Happily, I think I’ve been punishment passed only 2-3 times – and one of those was out in Sussex - and the same for people cutting across me at junctions – perhaps I’m just lucky. Only been beeped once, and ironically, that was during my bikeability training! I have seen hundreds/thousands of motorists driving through red lights, talking on phones, playing with satnavs etc, but I haven’t had any rows with anyone and I’ve had a handful of incidents that have required me to take evasive action. I try to ride in a way that reduces the possibility of conflict with motorists, and I’ll acknowledge when I’ve done something wrong or someone’s let me into traffic, so maybe that’s had some impact – who knows? It’s far from ideal and I can understand why people are intimidated, but in my own experience the vast, vast majority of drivers have actually given me time and space, which has surprised me. I would love for us to have Dutch style infrastructure, enabling everyone to cycle, but in the meantime, as imperfect as it is, I still enjoy my commute by bike.
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Hi Itsjono
I didn't say it makes cycling safer. I said it helps build the techniques to ride safely on the road. Whether it makes a difference to an individual is going to depend firstly on how safely they were riding before, and secondly whether they decide to use those techniques. Certainly my experience and anecdotes from others are in line with Noots' experience.
Since actual accidents/collisions are pretty rare and few adults take cycle training, there probably is not enough data available yet to show general effectiveness in preventing accidents. The studies which have been done (and there is a useful roundup in section 2.4 of this report http://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/468994/Communi...) have focused on whether participants feel safer and more confident.
I suggested training to Maggie specifically because she says she is too scared to cycle. As you noted, actually accidents are quite unusual. It's the perception of danger not the actual level of risk that puts people off. Given that the case for infrastructure projects is similarly based on increasing the perception of safety as opposed to actual safety it seems a valid alternative, with the worst outcome being a wasted morning if she doesn't find it helps.
I cannot speak to your experiences because I have not seen you ride, but I can tell you that left hooks, punishment passes and other "incidents like these" are not part of my everyday cycling, and I do cycle every day. So there is clearly something happening here that is different between us.
Out of interest, have you or your wife had cycle training? "What should I have done? How can she avoid these kinds of threats in future?" sound like exactly the sort of questions you could ask an instructor. Given that you are both regular, experienced cyclists it would be fascinating to find out if cycle training, approached with an open mind, still made a difference to your quality of ride.
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It's not 100% it's going to fix all of the problems but if you're getting left-hooked or punishment passed every day then it's possible that some of your riding may be fine tuned. I've cycled for the past ten years in London and those things happen sometimes but it's infrequent enough that it sticks out.
It may just be particularly bad roads you're on or you may be unlucky but even small changes like taking an assertive primary position coming up to a left turn can cut out most left hooks. A lot of times different road position can force drivers to behave differently.
Ultimately though, it's free and it's not going to hurt to give it a try. If it makes things better that's good, if not you've only wasted a few hours.
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Hello Andrew,
I feel you may have been listening for something in my reply. I don't want to get into a "you wrote" "I wrote" kind of back and forth, but you should know that I didn't write or imply that I get "left-hooked or punishment passed every day". That would be weird, and I'd have given up long ago.
What happens is nearly every day I use my bike I am subject to some some form of careless or reckless driving. And yes, different road positions can force drivers to behave differently, but not always as we may want. Time for an anecdote. Yesterday I was making my way to work, out of the gutter as per, as a motorist decided to squeeze past just as the road tapers, even though a car was on her right. The car was close enough that I could see down into an iPad on the passengers lap. My presence was interpreted in this drivers entitled brain as an obstacle, something to be gotten past as quickly as possible. Had I been in the gutter, where we are taught you should not be, it's possible she would have not passed so closely. Can she not just wait? Evidently that is not a possibility.
I do appreciate the advice; I've only re-commenced regular riding in the last year; I used to ride everywhere as a kid, I even raced. As my miles have increased and incidents accumulated, I have considered the level 3 Bikeability course, but honestly I'm doubtful about the benefit to me. I make myself as visible as possible with lights, positioning and velocity, I expect that I haven't been seen, and anticipate. I know how and when to take primary; I join the traffic stream through intersections; I shoulder check; I indicate; use situational awareness; filter slowly; eyeball drivers on side roads; I don't automatically take the ASL; I don't take gaps through moving vehicles; watch parked cars for tyre movements or brake lights; I use my lights during the day; place myself in a driver's mirrors. Keep away from the door zone. Jesus, it's exhausting reading that, but I can't afford to relax too much in the face of so much indifference to my existence.
So, I use all these fancy techniques, they definitely help, what's my problem? It's simply that I believe that no matter how I ride, by far the biggest danger to me is that some motorists don't care; they see us as obstacles, interlopers. We should 'get off the road', we should 'pay road tax'. We are driven at, yelled at, made to feel we don't belong, like cycle users don't belong on pavements. Here's an interesting segue; In London, between 1998 and 2007 54 people were killed on a footway by a motorist, none by a bicycle user. (source; CTC Cyclists’ behaviour and the law). These pedestrians surely had a right to feel safe using infrastructure only they are entitled to, and yet no-one is advocating that pedestrians should wear helmets, or hi-viz, or take pedestrian safety courses.
So, some motorists don't take care, and are not currently made to take care; the defence of "I just didn't see him" will get you off any consequences for running over and killing a cyclist who was situated directly in front of you, wearing hi-viz, in a brightly lit street, with a flashing red light and reflectors. http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/inquest-into-death-of-...
Not driving to the conditions? "The sun was in my eyes" Oh okay don't worry about it. http://road.cc/content/news/142213-driver-blinded-sun-found-not-gui...
The assertion that a cycle safety course would sprinkle magic dust over the experience of any vaguely competent and confident person on a bike is, I believe, demonstrably wrong. I'm not saying such courses shouldn't exist, I'm not saying some nervous riders may not get some benefit from them, but I believe to have a measurable impact on the experience of cycling in London, we need proper bicycle infrastructure, new legislation for presumed liability, and enforcement of current law, starting with the joke that is the "self-enforced" 20mph speed limit.
I'm concerned that the promotion of cycle safety courses and lame "Share The Road" campaigns by councils, the police and TfL instead of coming down very much harder on motorists' behaviour, is literally and metaphorically throwing people under a bus. Meanwhile, Operation Safeway blunders on, slapping wrists and blaming victims, and another cycle user is killed by a truck driver.
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I agree with a lot of what you say. Cycling does require a greater degree of concentration and, although things can be done to minimise the risk, there is always the possibility of a careless driver or whatever that nothing can be done to prevent from your side.
It sounds like you're already doing the right things. Cycle training may not be magic dust but a lot of cyclists don't take primary when coming to a pinch point or a left turn or a lot of the other things you listed. It's not a cure-all for everyone but for an inexperienced rider, particularly one who doesn't drive, it may help them to realise that their place isn't in the gutter, out of the way of the cars, and hence help to minimise some risk.
Ultimately, the health benefits of cycling far outweigh the possible injuries on a broad scale. Whether or not it's possible to convince yourself of this when riding down Green Lanes is another matter.
The new segregated cycle super-highways may help (although looking at the Haringey proposals it's a long time until we're getting anything decent up here) but we shall see.
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