ROAD MADNESS
COVID CYCLE LANES HAVE HELPED MAKE LONDON MOST CONGESTED CITY IN WORLD, STUDY SHOWS
Miles of new cycle lanes built since the start of the pandemic have contributed to London becoming the world’s most congested city, a study has said. Supporters claim the extra cycleways boost bike use and cut pollution – but they have provoked fierce opposition from drivers who say they create bottlenecks, with stationary traffic belching out fumes. Now according to the Daily Mail, traffic information supplier Inrix has given weight to the critics’ claims by saying segregated cycling spaces were one of the reasons drivers in the capital will lose an average of 148 hours stuck in jams across all of 2021. That is just 1 per cent down on pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, a much smaller decline than many other major cities across the globe, and sees London shoot up the rankings from 2020 when it was in 16th place. Ministers controversially pledged £250million across the country for measures to encourage people to travel on bicycles and minimise the use of public transport at the height of the Covid crisis. Some of the fund has gone towards creating ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’, with roads blocked off to discourage cars from cutting through residential areas. But in parts of London, critics say the new cycle lanes are barely used - indeed Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last year wrote to London council leaders, warning them that badly designed road closures and new cycle lanes were causing havoc for communities. Several councils reversed the schemes following opposi- tion from motorists, but some of the lanes remain in place. Earlier this year Imperial College London published research saying that while London’s cycleways reduced traffic flow they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion. Inrix operations director Peter Lees said the main reason for London’s surge in the traffic jam ranking was its rela- tively strong economic recovery from the pandemic compared with other global cities. But he said the installation of cycle lanes had also had a ‘negative impact on congestion’. “Use of roads is all about supply and demand,” he said. “If the demand goes up but the road space is being shared with other forms of transport, there’s less tarmac effectively for the cars to be on, which then has an impact on the speeds on the road and therefore congestion.” But Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at charity Cycling UK, disputed the claims.
JANUARY 2022
He said: “It’s incredibly simplistic for Inrix to suggest that the use of road is all about supply and demand, without considering how efficiently that road space is used. “On Blackfriars Bridge, cycle lanes take up 20% of the road space but move 70% of the people across it at peak times, with cycle lanes across London moving more people more efficiently in less space. “Inrix are focused on the tarmac available for cars, when the question should be how we use and allocate that space better, changing travel behaviours and reducing congestion in the process. “Car dependency locks in congestion. By building more cycle lanes, London is rebalancing their roads, offering a safe, healthy and space efficient alternative.” Paris was in second place in the global ranking for most congestion (140 hours lost in 2021), followed by Brussels (134 hours lost), Moscow (108 hours lost) and New York (102 hours lost). Across the UK as a whole, drivers will waste an average of 73 hours in traffic this year. That is up 36 hours from 2020, but down 42 hours compared with pre-Covid 2019. Inrix estimated that the economic hit from drivers being stuck in traffic this year will cost an average of £595 per person, and the UK £8 billion. Trips to larger city centres still lag behind normal levels, but smaller cities are experiencing ‘minimal decreases in travel’ which is maintaining congestion levels, according to the company. This has led to Cambridge becoming the UK’s second most congested city, followed by Bristol, Exeter and Cheltenham.
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