Bicycle? an important transport mode? in London? Unbelievable!

London is one of the earliest mega-city to embrace private car as the dominant transportation. It is strange for them to “move backward” after they’ve been there. This is precisely the point I’m trying to make; they’ve been there long enough to feel the pain of motorized transportation. When private automotive could only afforded by a few, it was OK for the most and it was a nice privilege for the few. But when more people can afford to drive a car, the road becomes congested and more dangerous, air and noise pollution become worst and everybody suffer. London learn the lesson and is now full speed in corrective mode.

“Cycling has an important part to play in making London more sustainable. It is a quick, healthy, affordable and non-polluting form of travel that has the potential to increase capacity on London’s busy roads. More cycling will lead to less congestion by reducing the number of short car trips. It will also help reduce air pollution and bring improvements in London’s street environment.” – Quoted from Transport for London

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Dig around in the site reveal a lot of facilities available for cyclist in London. This was unimaginable five years ago, just like Singapore now. Cycling in London used to be an extreme sport in the sense that it is equally life-risking. I used to commute cycle in London, it was as exciting as cycling in Singapore today. Then I was riding a road bike and had to negotiate my way amongst the traffic. Today I am using a folding bike and that make it easier to “chicken out” from the road and hop onto the pavement. Personal sustainability takes priority, I suppose.In the case of London, the authority took the lead (and the risk), Mayor Ken Livingstone”s team created the condition to make public transport and cycling an easier choice, and driving a more difficult choice. Still remember we laugh about their semi-manual congestion charge scheme verses our fully automated, state-of-the-art ERP system? Well, it turns out their “primitive” system is cleaning up the congestion faster. The difference is not so much in the system, it’s the vision and determination behind that drives the result. In London the vision is towards a car-free, healthy, clean environment AND improve transportation. In Singapore, as of today, we are still too afraid of upsetting drivers. But the case in London shows, many drivers can be converted to cyclist happily, if the condition is right.

When will our authority wake up to the fact that bicycle should play a significant role to the our (better) health, (cleaner) environment and (more efficient) transport?

images link from http://www.tfl.gov.uk