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What tends to happen in London is about 90% of cyclists use the bike lanes, while a few racing-bike hotshots will skip them (especially when congested) and use

What tends to happen in London is about 90% of cyclists use the bike lanes, while a few racing-bike hotshots will skip them (especially when congested) and use the car lanes. Usually those guys are easily fast enough to keep up with the cars on busy city streets anyway. There's certainly no rule, real or imaginary, that says if bike lanes exist then cyclists must use them. But having decent cycle lanes there absolutely does encourage more people to cycle!

nicolapede 4y ago
As a regular commuter who cycles through Surrey and south London, I must say that most cycle lanes in London are a joke. They are either shared bus lanes (the good case, albeit you might get in trouble when multiple buses queue one after another) or half-a-meter wide ones, where cars are allowed to cross your lane from both sides. Sometimes using the car lane just seems safer than that.
- Reason077 4y ago
  There's some good ones in central London. The C2, C3, C6, etc. Wide segregated routes, fully signalised at intersections so turning traffic doesn't cross the cycle lane, etc. I'm not so familiar with South London but some boroughs are better at doing cycling than others. eg: Hackney and Camden very good. Kensington & Chelsea very bad.
  - nicolapede 4y ago
    I agree -- there is a lot of variability depending on boroughs. Hope they will extend the good practices more and more.
Symbiote 4y ago
With pressure from cycling groups over 10 years ago, it wasn't made a legal requirement for cyclists to use a cycling facility where one exists. That's not the case in every country. In Denmark, if there's a cycle path/lane you're required to use it.
lmm 4y ago
I literally had a driver in London slow down to yell at me for a couple of minutes because I wasn't riding in the cycle lane (which was narrow, full of broken glass, and had blind junctions every few hundred metres with side roads off the main road I was riding on).

nicolapede 4y ago

As a regular commuter who cycles through Surrey and south London, I must say that most cycle lanes in London are a joke. They are either shared bus lanes (the good case, albeit you might get in trouble when multiple buses queue one after another) or half-a-meter wide ones, where cars are allowed to cross your lane from both sides. Sometimes using the car lane just seems safer than that.

Reason077 4y ago
There's some good ones in central London. The C2, C3, C6, etc. Wide segregated routes, fully signalised at intersections so turning traffic doesn't cross the cycle lane, etc. I'm not so familiar with South London but some boroughs are better at doing cycling than others. eg: Hackney and Camden very good. Kensington & Chelsea very bad.
- nicolapede 4y ago
  I agree -- there is a lot of variability depending on boroughs. Hope they will extend the good practices more and more.

Symbiote 4y ago

With pressure from cycling groups over 10 years ago, it wasn't made a legal requirement for cyclists to use a cycling facility where one exists. That's not the case in every country. In Denmark, if there's a cycle path/lane you're required to use it.

lmm 4y ago

I literally had a driver in London slow down to yell at me for a couple of minutes because I wasn't riding in the cycle lane (which was narrow, full of broken glass, and had blind junctions every few hundred metres with side roads off the main road I was riding on).