However once the infrastructure is improved, we should reach “Critical Mass” of cyclists and things can only get better.
London is very close to being “critical mass” already actually. I think popular view is approx 5% of all journeys by bike and in London it’s somewhere round about 3% at the moment and even with that, summer rush hours have huge packs of cyclists at the front of junctions. In those conditions, cycling is safer than ever as the car driver simply HAS to wait, you can’t bully your way through that!
What we need to be careful of though is demanding “better infrastructure” only for the council to go and paint a green line somewhere random and have done with it.
I really hope that this can be the start of something good rather than just petering out with barely a murmur as previous campaigns have done. I hope that the relatively sensible way that The Times have gone about it should also do away with a high proportion of the “they all jump red lights, they should pay road tax” bollocks that these kind of articles often degenerate into.
THIS came out from British Cycling today as well, related to the Times story. Now that the Olympics is really close and interest is really focused on it, now is the time more than ever to join British Cycling, CTC, London Cycling Campaign or whatever and really start to push for better provision and recognition for all cyclists.