3.3
Livable cities story: London

London

New Cycle Superhighways,
parking spaces and
bicycle-friendly regulations

London’s city officials are working on a more cycling-friendly infrastructure under the title “City for All Londoners”. Even if only a small proportion of the city’s 12 million citizens gets on a bike more often, it will mean a vast improvement to the livability of Britain’s capital city. Accell’s Managing Director of Raleigh UK, Lee Kidger, sees a promising future: “80% of all journeys which Londoners make annually are under five miles long. The bicycle is a great alternative for this, and especially the electric bike.”

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The city council and Transport for London (TfL) - the local government body responsible for the transport network in Greater London - play key roles in creating a fairer, greener, healthier and more prosperous city. And the bicycle is a linchpin in this plan. Kidger: “Cycling rose to 22% of all transportation movements in London in 2021. In recent years in particular, cyclists have been provided with more room through substantial investments in bike paths and cycle parking.”

On the way towards a bicycle-friendly city

One example of such initiatives is the Cycle Super-highways. These are bicycle paths extending from outskirts of London to the city centre. The bikeways, which ensure safer, quicker and more direct travels within the city, were developed under TfL’s £ 4 billion (around € 4.8 billion) road modernization programme. Part of that initiative involved creating 2,000 new cycle parking spaces across London in 2021.

Lee Kidger: “Pedestrians and cyclists in London will also gain increased priority over motorised traffic.”

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The national government is also changing traffic rules in favour of pedestrians and cyclists. Kidger: “The highway code changed in January 2022. Pedestrians and cyclists in London will also gain increased priority over motorized traffic. These are small, but crucial steps in order to create a more cycling-friendly mindset among Londoners.”

More electric cargo bikes

TfL has also approved funding for the first two cargo bike cycle hangars. The hangars, built for local businesses, will be able to store two cargo bikes each, which will help to give businesses in the area more sustainable options for moving freight and delivering services. “There are a lot more electric cargo bikes being used in London by parents and businesses. The latter are being encouraged with subsidies to trade in their delivery vans.

In Hackney (North London) the council launched a cargo bike sharing scheme for businesses in September 2021. They use our Raleigh cargo bikes - in collaboration with Beryl, a bike sharing company - and there’s a lot of interest in the scheme.” 

With some help from COVID-19

Lastly, the pandemic also boosted bicycle use in London. “People avoided the Tube due to the risk of infection and looked for other ways for staying active when working from home. Recent data published by TfL showed walking and cycling accounted for half of all journeys between April and June 2021, up by 29% compared with before the pandemic. There’s a long way to go before London can be called a cycling city, but the direction the city is taking and the speed with which that is happening is very encouraging.