More people are cycling in London than at any time since records began, new TfL figures show. 2014 was also the safest year on record for London cyclists. Cycling on the TfL main roads rose by 11 per cent last year and has increased by 59 per cent since the Mayor took office in 2008. The total number of cycle journeys on all roads in London rose to around 610,000 a day – almost 223 million a year. This is a rise of five per cent in a year and almost 25 per cent since 2008. The number of cyclists killed and seriously injured on the capital’s roads fell to 432 last year – a drop of 12 per cent on 2013, which was itself 27 per cent down on the year before. One journey in every 513,000 now ends in death or serious injury – the lowest rate ever recorded, beating the previous low of 2006 when it was one journey in every 434,000. TfL surveys from 2014, also published today, showed that 72 per cent of those who cycle in London do so at least once a week – up from two-thirds in 2013. Cyclists also said they felt safe when cycling in traffic, with 91 per cent of regular cyclists and 88 per cent of occasional cyclists feeling safe, up from 89 per cent and 75 per cent respectively in 2013. The increased proportion of occasional cyclists who feel safe is up from 75 per cent last year but regular cyclists who feel safe is 91 per cent up from 89 per cent last year. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “These figures are tremendously encouraging and will, I hope, give even more people the confidence to get on their bikes. Operation Safeway, which we made permanent feature last year, has already helped improve driver and cyclist behaviour. But we need to do more. “My new Safer Lorry Scheme, coming in less than three months, will ban all lorries not fitted with safety equipment from London. My new segregated cycle superhighways, better junctions and Quietway back-street cycle routes will further protect cyclists. “The population explosion in London cycling shows why we need all this and why we need to go still further.” Cycling deaths and serious injuries (“KSIs” – the standard measurement) per journey have fallen by just under 80 per cent since 1989, the peak year, when 33 cyclists were killed and 752 seriously injured on London’s roads. Around 90 million cycling journeys were made in the capital that year. The KSI rate was one in every 115,000 journeys. The £913 million investment programme announced in the Mayor’s 2013 Vision for Cycling is now in delivery, with four segregated superhighways currently being built and a number of major junctions also under reconstruction. Building work is also underway on the Quietway network of back-street cycle routes. The first Quietways, the first sections of segregated superhighway and the first rebuilt junctions will open this year. Leon Daniels, director of surface transport at TfL, said: “The increase in people cycling on the TfL Road Network, as well as the new insights into why people are cycling in London, is proof that the huge investment we are making in London is helping to encourage more people to take to two wheels. With new cycle routes, better cycle parking and easier access to Santander Cycles all taking place in 2015, we are confident that the next 12 months will see cycling levels rise even higher and help London maintain its place as a world-class cycling city.” ENDS Notes to editors: · The Levels of Cycling on the TLRN are available to download from the London Datastore here: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/cycle-flows-tfl-road-network · Cycling KSI data is available to download from the London Datastore here: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/pedal-cyclist-casualties-killed-and-s… · The Attitude to Cycling research report can be found here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/attitudes-to-cycling-201…
Created on
04 June 2015