News

citycyclistoffline will appear occasionally as a hard copy version featuring and highlighting news items from this page. However due to the cost and hassle of doing this, the primary source of news and other information will continue to be this website.

News features

First Bike Week in the City Celebrating cycling becoming 10% of traffic The first ever celebration of Bike Week (17-25 June) in the City offers a huge range of events from a cycle show organised by the police in the Guildhall Yard, the launch of subsidised cycle training to architectural bike tours. It couldn't have come at a better time with official figures showing that bicycles now make up 10% of the City's vehicular traffic. Join in the excitement as cycling achieves critical mass in the centre of Europe's biggest city.more [12/06/06]
Twenty's plenty! Cyclists force City of London to revive 20mph plans The Corporation backed down minutes before the High Court hearing was due to start on 6 September and undertook to reconsider a 20mph zone, possibly as early as October. Following this fantastic victory City Cyclists are building a wide ranging alliance to persuade the committee to vote in favour of a 20mph zone. news release :: campaign [07/09/04]
Blackfriars Bridge takes its toll As another person loses their life cycling on Blackfriars Bridge, questions are being asked about design standards of London's cycle lanes, declining bus driver standards and police enforcement priorities. City Cyclists, which spoke out against the new road layout that has now been removed, compare the real facts with the stories in the newspapers. more :: alternative plans [12/05/04]
From flagship to farce The Stations Circular was supposed to be London's premier cycle route and already completed. Most of the route remains unstarted, two semi-completed sections are being blocked by long term buidling work, while a junction 'upgrade' in the City will force cyclists to wait up to five minutes for a green light. Worst of all the route does not join up across borough boundaries. Campaigners see the saga as symbolic of the mismanagement of London's cycle routes. more [06/06/04]
LCC victory on cycle lane enforcement LCC has won an amendment to the Traffic Management Act 2004 which will allow mandatory cycle lanes to be enforced as effeciently as bus lanes. Up to now there has been no enforcement of cycle lane regulations which has made them worse than worthless in the City. City Cyclists are lobbying for the City Corporation to take advantage of the rule change as soon as possible. more [10/08/04]
Full up & fed up - tackle the taxi glut Following the taxi protest about exclusion from St Paul's bus lane, (a City Cyclists proposal) City Cyclists are calling for a ban on daytime use of the City's congested bus lanes by taxis at a time when even the taxi trade has conceded that central London is 'overflowing' with taxis. more [14/05/04]
BUSted In another example of the plummeting standards of London's bus drivers, a bus careered off Silk Street into the City's biggest and busiest bike rack. Most of the rack, located on the pavement opposite the Barbican centre, was flattened during the incident at the end of April. Dozens of bicycles were written off beyond repair. City Cyclists are asking for an urgent replacement to the lost racks and planning for a high quality and larger covered cycle rack. [01/05/04]
Stand and deliver! City Police use "ransom strip" to persecute cycle route users Cyclists using a popular cycle route have been given 30 fines for using a 20m wrongly signed road section. Following revelations that City Cycle Patrol Unit police commit the same offence daily on a neighbouring street, there have been calls for the fines to be dropped amid growing outrage and disbelief among local cyclists... more
Not another "accident" - another is cyclist killed by a left-turning lorry Just before 9am on Monday 23 February, a left-turning tipper truck collided with Sebastian, a 27 year old Polish cycle courier, killing him instantly. He will be sorely missed by members of London's courier community. With yet another fatal crash at the end of City bridges and yet another involving this type of lorry, questions are being asked why nothing has been done... more [25/02/04]
Too little too late? City Cycling Plan released for consultation After half a year of inexcusable delay, the Corporation of London has finally released its draft Cycling Plan for public consultation. But with this year's phenomenal increase in cycling, the City is already almost two-thirds the way to one of the few targets - doubling cycling from levels in 2000 by 2010... more [9/12/03]
Swings and roundabouts for cyclists? Western ring of steel springs up The new western Traffic & Environment Zone is supposed to help environmentally friendly transport such as cycling. However its rushed implementation has led to cycle lanes ending in the paths of motor vehicles and road closures as the Corporation can't be bothered to exempt cycles at every one... more [20/12/03]

Current News

City's traffic management condemned by its own survey

A survey conducted by MORI on behalf of the Corporation of London in spring 2003 confirmed what City Cyclists has known since the group's foundation: people who live and work in the City are deeply unsatisfied with the Corporation's management of the traffic. 1 in 2 of some groups surveyed were dissatisfied with traffic management, more than any other issue and it was the highest priority for action for both residents and businesses. If the survey had included the City's large transient population, who are totally ignored by the City's surveys and research, particularly tourists and those cycling through, the results would have been even worse.

The City lags behind neighbouring areas of London let alone other cities in Europe with no 20mph zones, no completed cycle routes, few pedestrianised areas and many streets inaccessible to wheelchair users. Historic areas such as St Paul's Churchyard have ugly street scenes with pedestrians crammed in by guardrails onto narrow pavements, with unnecessary through motor traffic congesting the roads. The Corporation has traditionally seen traffic management as a low priority compared to its core task of managing the City as a financial centre, only taking action where there is a specific risk to that role, e.g. the 1993 IRA bombing of Bishopsgate after which the ring of steel was hastily erected.

City Cyclists believe that a cycle friendly City is also one which is attractive and people friendly City and have consistently been the main source of new ideas and best practice. [17/12/03]

• Cityview online
• MORI Survey details

Twenty's plenty! City 20mph zone receives initial approval The proposal to make the "ring of steel" a 20mph zone received initial approval on Tuesday 13 January from the Corporation's Traffic Management & Road Safety Committee. The zone would be the largest in London and was backed by Jenny Jones, deputy mayor of London and Road Safety Ambassador. City Cyclists have campaigned hard for the proposal and hope it will be implemented in early 2005. Evening Standard [15/01/04]

New cycle route into the City from Tower Hill Cyclists are to benefit from a bus route improvements which will allow them once again to make a right turn off Tower Hill into Gt Tower St towards Cannon Street. However City Cyclists have proposed further improvements including widening the pedestrian crossing and allowing cycles to use it, thereby creating the first safe route to the Tower of London in time for the new cycle parking being installed there. Our proposals would also include a cycle lane and ASL for eastbound cyclists, while saving the benches and trees outside the pub.Map of area [15/12/03]

cash comes for 2004/5 City cycle routes

TfL awarded more money to the Corporation for cycling schemes in 2004/5 than it was asked for and the funds are for different schemes to what the Corporation planned. Out are the local links from Smithfield Market to Blackfriars and Gresham Street. In is 67,000 for Bank to Aldgate and 82,000 for Fleet Street to Ludgate Hill with a further 8,000 for a study regarding options from there to Bank.

City Cyclists view the changed priorities with mixed feelings. The link to Blackfriars only requires cycle contra-flows on Old Bailey and in West Smithfield, both of which could and should be done as part of improvements to the street scene without central funding. While we've long campaigned for the Smithfield-Gresham Street link, now that congestion charging has reduced motor traffic levels, it seems better to push for the removal of the entire gyratory between St Paul's and the Museum of London roundabout, allowing two-way cycling on all the roads rather than having a few cycle tracks.

Fleet Street has too much motor traffic for improvements for cycling and a new westbound bus lane is proposed over part of the present cycle lane. Similarly a study has just reported that removing the Mansion House gyratory would not work with present traffic levels. The only solution is to resurrect the 1994 proposals to close St Paul's Churchyard to all but buses & cycles during the day. With that much needed improvements to conditions for buses, cyclists and pedestrians could happen. Finally we would rather improvements are made to Cornhill and Leadenhall than the alternative route proposed by the Corporation along Eastcheap and Gt Tower St, where there are fewer cyclists and less need or indeed scope for improvements. [21/12/03]

• LCN+

On-street car parking slashed in the City

There is to be a significant reduction in car parking in the City following conversion of parking meters to a Pay & Display system. Parking in the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) around Smithfield is to be banned with only loading permitted while in the CPZ in the rest of the City, spaces are being reduced to 884 spaces, a reduction of 17%. Disabled parking is being increased by 22% to 214 spaces.

With an average occupancy of under 50% following congestion parking, City Cyclists are pushing for more car parking spaces to be removed, particularly those located on cycle routes that get in the way of cyclists. The remaining spaces that are on through roads should be put into bays, as is the norm on the continent. City Cyclists also want more on-street cycle parking racks as there is not enough space on the pavement to meet demand for cycle parking.

In a separate announcement, Vinci Park has been reawarded the contract to enforce the City's Controlled Parking Zone. While enforcement has been patchy at present to say the least, City Cyclists hopes that enforcement will increase particularly against those who park in cycle lanes. On a positive note Vinci Park have undertaken to put some of their parking attendants on pedal cycles. In France, where the company originates from, they offer free cycles to drivers who use their multi-storey sites.[10/12/03]

News Archive

Coming soon...

• Spring 2005 Newsletter
• Summer 2004 Newsletter
• Spring 2004 Newsletter
• Winter 2003 Newsletter
• Summer 2003 Newsletter
• Spring 2003 Newsletter
• Spring 2002 News
• Winter 2001 News