Monday, Jun 12, 2006
Londoners Get on Their Bikes to Avoid Public Transport
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Londoners are increasingly using bicycles to avoid crowded and sometimes unreliable public transport, the organization Transport for London said.
 A man rides a bicycle outside the Old Bailey law courts in London
© AFP Shaun CurryThe number of daily trips made on a bicycle in London has increased 50 percent in five years, rising from 300,000 in 2001 to 450,0000 nowadays, TfL spokewoman Silka Kennedy-Todd said.
In the center of London where drivers must pay a congestion charge of eight pounds (15 dollars, 12 euros), the figure has risen 100 percent since 2001, from 59,000 weekly trips on the main roads in 2001 to 119,000 weekly trips.
The number also surged temporarily by 20 percent after suicide bombers detonated bombs on London Underground trains and a bus on July 7 last year, killing themselves and 52 commuters, she said.
The figures concern travel on the main roads, which means the true figure is probably higher, she added.
However, London still trails behind other European cities in per capita use.
Even if cyclists, who often wear helmets and fluorescent jackets, appear omnipresent in good weather, they account for only two percent of trips made in London, compared to 28 percent in Amsterdam or 20 percent in Copenhagen.
The London Underground registers 2.6 million trips a day, while the bus system records five million daily.
And cycling in London remains dangerous. In the first nine months of 2005, 268 cyclists were killed or seriously hurt.
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