London’s bike boom continues

The new figures revealed today, came as Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a new TV advertising campaign, ‘You’re better off by bike’, to encourage even more Londoners to take to their bikes this summer.

here are now an estimated 480,000 cycle journeys every day across London, around 30,000 more than a year ago.

The Mayor of London and Transport for London have increased investment in cycling by 50 per cent this year from £24 million in 2006/07 to £36 million in 2007/08. In 2000 investment in cycling stood at just £5.5 million.

500kms of the London Cycle Network Plus – a network of signed routes for cyclists across the capital – has already been completed and the full 900km network will be completed by the end of 2010. Transport for London has installed 10,000 cycling parking spaces across the capital in the past two years.

While cycling numbers have risen by 83 per cent, the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on London’s roads has fallen by 28 per cent.

Livingstone said:

“London is experiencing a cycling renaissance. We can now justifiably call ourselves a cycling city, a proposal that would have seemed ridiculous just six years ago. Record investment in cycling through Transport for London, an expanding network of cycle and bus lanes, and the confidence given to cyclists through tackling congestion in central London, has transformed levels of cycling in the capital.

“2007 is another massive year for cycling with the Tour de France arriving in the capital for the first time in July. I hope Le Tour will inspire even more cycling and a new generation of people to take to two wheels.”*

Jenny Jones, the Mayor’s green transport adviser, said: “This is the year of the bike in London. Cyclists are going to transform the look and feel of our city. More cyclists means less congested roads and public transport. Investing in cycling means less pollution and noise, but faster and cheaper transport. More cycling means a healthier, more pleasant London for everyone.”

London’s new bike-themed TV advertising campaign will be broadcast on commercial TV stations within London for a month, starting on on May 4th. A poster and newspaper advertising campaign began in April and will continue throughout the summer.