According to data from The City of London, Sustrans and Transport for London who conduct regular traffic surveys in the city, cyclists now outnumber car drivers on some of London's busiest routes and are not far behind on many others - as reported by the London Cycling Campaign from figures published in today's Sunday Times Murdochrag. You can read it on the Times website provided you're happy to pay the money that News International, despite saving a shedful of cash (more of a warehouse than a shed, really) with their various tax avoidance schemes, see fit to charge (unlike all the other papers).
Bikes now account for 42% of the total traffic during rush hour on Southwark Bridge, 35% on Blackfriars Bridge and an astonishing 50%+ on Cheapside, a street described by Charles Dickens jnr. as "the busiest thoroughfare in the world."
Many initiatives to promote cycling and walking in London have been abandoned in favour of measures designed to keep cars moving. However, it seems that there comes a time when there's just too many cars for the roads to support - and we've reached that time. Realising that bikes offer a quicker, more pleasant way to get to work, Londoners are turning to them in droves and as a result authorities start to look at those pro-cycle ideas again; once such example being the proposed 20mph limit for all motorised vehicles in the City. That's a good thing all round - fewer cars means fitter people and air you can actually breathe.
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