Western Extension - the Roadshow

Yesterday I went to the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith to view TfL's plans for the future of Boris bikes, namely the extensions into Wandsworth and Hammersmith and Fulham, plus some new areas of Kensington and Chelsea and Lambeth.

The exhibition wasn't at all high tech - in fact it consisted mainly of one map showng new possible docking locations - but the staff were friendly and I had some excellent discussions.

The extension is ambitious, and will put about 200 new docking stations around London. Most should contain 25 or more docks - TfL now concede the smaller ones put in as part of phase 1 are difficult to manage in terms of bike flow. Of these 60-70 will be in each of Wandsworth and H&F. There will also be new docks in the rest of K&C taking in North Kensington, and Lambeth through Nine Elms and Stockwell - not quite as far as Brixton sadly.

In the central area, new docks will be constructed on sites where permission has already been given. This will include docks near St Thomas' Hospital, Blackfriars station, Cannon Street and Westminster Central Hall. The redistribution problems at King's Cross remain an issue, and a new site there is being investigated. It is a little alarming that further new sites are not being sought centrally; increasing commuter flow continues to cause problems with availability which can only be eased in the long term by new and extended docking stations.

I queried why no dock is proposed within Battersea Park, as parks are a good place for novice cyclists to start off. Also, Battersea has good tracks for cycling. I still have no satisfactory answer - the need for 24hr access is not a reason as there are docks within Kensington Gardens which are not available at night.

Issues remain with the relationship between TfL and the Royal Parks - the latter being broadly negative in their attitude towards new docks. If you haven't already, sign our petition for a new dock on the Mall in St James's Park, to push for a new dock in this poorly served area.

I think the staff who look after the cycle hire programme are genuinely enthusiastic and committed to the scheme. But they are hampered by a lack of joined up thinking on cycling in London. The need for a body to devise and implement a London-wide cycling strategy is greater than ever. Otherwise the potential good of new Boris bikes will simply be negated by poor road safety, lack of high quality routes, and dock locations being blocked by competing agencies such as Royal Parks or obstructive councillors.

If you have a chance to go to the roadshow - it's running at several further locations this week.

The Mall - Time for the Bikes?

Boris bike on the Mall - no docks here

I have written extensively on this blog, and others have elsewhere, about the Cycle Hire scheme. But never in all that time have Boris bikers been approached by TfL to ask us where we would like to see a dock situated. Having commented on the Royal Parks, it is time to make a case, that being for a docking station on the Mall.

Back in 2009 Boris bikes were still in the planning stage. TfL submitted an application for a docking station on the Mall. It would have been quite big. But it was rejected. You can view the paperwork here. Remember that this all happened before the scheme was up and running. Since then a lot has changed, but the Mall still has no docking station. In fact, a quick look at a map of docking stations shows that the Mall is part of a really quite large area of London with no docks at all. This is despite it being an area popular with tourists and workers alike.

The arguments made against the docking station centred around the 'special character' of the area. Now, having worked in an office overlooking the Mall for nearly 8 years, I understand the Mall's character very well. On a normal working day, it is a dual carriageway, ferrying huge numbers of motor vehicles, mainly taxis in fact, through central London. It is noisy and polluted. Many cyclists also use the Mall, but it is not a tale of equals; motor traffic moves quickly and aggressively. On Sundays only the Mall excludes cars, and pedestrians and cyclists rule; it is, comparatively, a haven.

Considering the unpleasant state of the Mall at present, with its noisy and polluting traffic, what possible reasons might prevent installsation of a docking station for cycle hire? One reason advanced is that it may clutter the 'special character' of the Mall. But, as the Palace rightly points out in its submission (which supported a dock) as long as these can be removed on ceremonial occasions (which they can), there is no objection. This has happened seamlessly for Olympic events this summer in fact. The docks themselves are less than a metre high. The tallest part of the set-up is the terminal, but as this incorporates maps, it would actually benefit those using the area. In short, the docking station would clutter the Mall far less than the current noise and pollution of constantly moving traffic.

Now that the objections to a Mall dock have been set aside, let us turn to the benefits of a cycle hire dock, and the reasons why the Mall in particular is an appropriate location:

- there is ample space for a docking station.
- a docking station at this location will have very high levels of useage from local workers and tourists alike. Visitors to the Mall, St James's Park and the Palace neeed a dock which is in clear view.
- more BCH cyclists will help reduce motor traffic through the Mall area by getting more people on bikes. Therefore the whole area will be safer for pedestrians, have cleaner air, have less noise pollution, and be less congested with motor traffic.
- There is no docking station convenient for the Mall at present, restricting use. The nearest are towards Wellington Arch (at some distance) and in Waterloo Place (try carrying your bike up all those steps).

In the years since the original application was submitted, there has been a shift in perceptions of the economic and environmental benefits of cycling. Cycle hire has been embraced, and almost 40,000 journeys are made each day. The Olympic and Paralympic Games have inspired us to lead more active lives, and created a positive vibe for cycling. With expansion of the Boris bike scheme due in 2013, this is the moment to seize to bring the bikes to a key part of historic and cultural Westminster.

Please support the call for a Boris bike dock on the Mall - 'Two Wheels Good' is calling for the same. Write to the Royal Parks (cycle@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk), TfL (ENQUIRE@tfl.gov.uk) and also your local London Assembly representative. If you're in Westminster, let your MP and councillors know your views. Together we can make a change.

Around the Royal Parks on a Boris bike - part 3

Endangered species - docks at London Zoo

We've only waited a year since part 2, but off we cycle to the Regent's Park for our final instalment. And we're in for a disappointment.

I started my trip around the park by entering through Hanover Gate and turning left onto Outer Circle. This large road runs right round the park. It is wide and doesn't carry too much traffic. However, the cars on it are quite fast-moving, and there is no continuous cycle lane. You'd think, being the main route round the park, there would be many docking stations. In fact the only one is in the carpark of London Zoo, with another a little off the Circle in Gloucester Slips carpark.

The Broad Walk

Regent's Park contains one cycle route. Yes, just one. It's a shared pedestrian/cycle route running north-south, the Broad Walk. So I took it, and a few minutes later you're done. What should I do now, go back again? To give it a bit of credit, Broad Walk is very pleasant, but it hardly represents a network of cycle routes through the park. I turn right onto Chester Road then left onto Inner Circle, which is like Outer Circle, only smaller. There are no docking stations on Inner Circle.

To avoid circling endlessly, I turned south towards the only docking station which is actually fairly centrally located, in the carpark of the Tennis Centre. The entrance to this carpark is quite hidden, so many a Boris biker I'm sure has sailed past the dock. Continuing past the tennis courts and over York Bridge, we're back onto Outer Circle. I turned left and exited the park.

The cycling infrastructure for Boris bikers in the Regent's Park is dreadful. The Royal Parks website tells you that 4.5 miles of park roads are available for cycling. Yes indeed, but these aren't really in the park, they are roads bordered by hedges, and are mainly two large circles.

I would like to see at least one more cycle route through the park, probably across the large open green area of sports pitches to the north of the boating lake. Outer Circle deserves at least two large docking stations, and one on Inner Circle, probably close to the Broad Walk cycling route, would be useful.

Since I wrote about the other parks back in 2011 the Royal Parks have done almost nothing to improve conditions for cyclists. No new docks, no new routes. The crossing from Wellington Arch into Hyde Park has been remodelled so that the conflict between cyclists and pedestrians is possibly worse than before. Triangle carpark dock in Hyde Park has been removed for the Olympics for most of the year, I believe it will be back by next month. There is a new docking station at Green Park station, but you cannot access the park itself from here because there is no cycle route in.

Political will is needed to make the Royal Parks better for cycling. If you're bringing your family or friends to London to cycle, take them to Hyde Park, the other parks have a long way to go before they're fit for cycling.

Around the Royal Parks on a Boris bike - part 2

In part 1 we looked at Green and St James's parks, so now let's take the shared cycle/pedestrian route through Wellington Arch and over to Hyde Park. This route is a great way to get to Hyde Park, but what it really needs is better marking. Especially when crossing into the park the faded green paint just isn't clear enough, and often crowds of pedestrians obstruct your route through, not realising it's a cycle lane.

Unlike the central parks I previously reviewed, cycle routes and provision of docking stations are good in Hyde Park. Since the start of the scheme I've noticed that, at weekends especially, Hyde Park is awash with blue bikes. Rotten Row, New Ride, West Carriage Drive, North Carriage Drive, the Broad Walk and Serpentine Road are all good cycle routes, and enable you to either circle the park or cross it without obstruction.

So what improvements could Hyde Park make? Provision of bikes will I think be the major issue, as, sadly, neither new docks nor extensions seem to be provided for in phase 2. The second issue, one which relates to the scheme as a whole, is the tortuous procedure for acquring a bike through casual use. Hyde Park is a tourist hotspot, so on a nice day queues form at the terminals for casual use. The current system is unclear and requires your payment card to be inserted twice if not more. If you are a frequent park visitor like me, you will no doubt have been called on many times to explain the system to confused tourists. The complexity of the system is a major barrier to better useage of the bikes, I hope it will be tackled.

Let's cross West Carriage Drive now into Kensington Gardens. The main cycling routes through Kensington Gardens are Albert Approach Road to the south, Mount Walk through the park, and the Broad Walk on the western edge past the palace. Mount Gate is currently being reworked to provide better access for cyclists and pedestrians. And a recent innovation is the new cycling route on the south side of the palace. But connectivity is the main problem in the Gardens, as you can't do a proper loop without being forced out onto busy main roads, Bayswater Road to the north or Kensington Gore to the south. Opening up North Walk for cycling should be a priority, at the moment another of those stern signs strictly warns you off.

One potentially very pleasant route to take right through the parks would be to undock at Black Lion Gate, go south on the Broad Walk, turn onto Mount Walk, cross West Carriage Drive onto Rotten Row, then head into Green Park through Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill and along the Mall in the direction of Admiralty Arch. I'm afraid you have to negotiate Trafalgar Square to find a docking station, please TfL/Serco, can we have a dock at St James's Park?

In part 3 we'll go north to the Regent's Park. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a Boris bike taking a break by the Serpentine.

Around the Royal Parks on a Boris bike - part 1

London is notable for its fabulous green spaces, and probably the best of all are the spacious and relaxing Royal Parks, providing a welcome bit of breathing space in our busy city.

So today I set off on my trusty Boris bike (and with my camera) to see just how accessible and enjoyable the parks are to cyclists. Today, I'm focusing on the most central of the parks, St James's and Green parks.

Entering the parks through Admiralty Arch is a real joy, and the Mall is wide enough for cyclists and traffic not to annoy each other. And for those wanting their own space, the north side of the Mall has its own cycle lane (which doubles up as a coach and carpark on certain days, and I have to admit is frequently closed). Cycling is not allowed within St James Park, but the park is small and can be circled quickly by turning onto Birdcage Walk. So, do I stop for a visit to Buckingham Palace, or perhaps a coffee at Inn the Park? Neither, because now the first big problem presents itself - there are no docking stations at all nearby. You can see the problem if you look on a map of docking stations; here, for example. See that big hole around St James's Park? I contacted Royal Parks as long ago as last year to ask what was being done, and was told a proposed docking station on the Mall had been abandoned due to objections. I can only hope the Parks authority revisits this, as some of the nicest parts of London, for tourists and locals alike, just aren't accessible at the moment.

Round into Green Park and a lovely cycle lane takes you up Constitution Hill to, at last, a popular docking station at Wellington Arch. But a second problem now becomes apparent, as there is nowhere else to go by bike in Green Park. The park desparately needs a route round the northern edge, and the wide avenue on the east of the park ought to be opened up to cycling. At present a sign sternly warns against cycling there, despite the fact that it would be an ideal shared space. Green Park tube station (on the north side of the park) is currently being redeveloped, and when finished will include cycle hire docks. But where exactly would one go on a bike from there? The only option, unless new routes open up in Green Park, is to go out onto Piccadilly, hardly an inviting prospect!

This is one of my favourite parts of London, but it's a missed opportunity at the moment for good Boris biking. Boris himself has called for more access for cyclists in parks, let's hope the park authorities are listening.

Next time, Hyde Park, but for now, the very first picture of a Boris bike to appear on this blog!