Are rush hour cyclists outnumbering cars in London?

On some key routes through central London, cyclists are said to be outnumbering cars during rush hour, according to research by Robert Henry for the Sunday Times.

Henry has scoured figures from Transport for London and Sustrans’, discovering that on roads such as Cheapside and across some of the best used paths across the Thames, cyclists represented 50 per cent of vehicles.

Fuelled by the London Cycle Hire and the introduction of superhighways, the Sunday Times reports that 42 per cent of those using Southwark Bridge during rush hour do so on two wheels, while over at Blackfriars Bridge 35 per cent pass aboard cycles.

Proposals to introduce a 20mph speed limit across much of London are being considered, while cyclists are being handed free reign to travel in both directions down many streets designed for one-way car use.

The London Cycling Campaign’s, Mike Cavenett said that if numbers are to keep steadly increasing more must be done to provide better infrastructure for cyclists in the city. He said: "There needs to be more sensible planning, which gives cyclists the appropriate road space, provides safer junctions and reduces speed alongside cycle lanes to 20mph.

"We have these huge motorway-style dual carriageways in the centre of London, which are completely unnecessary. Instead there should be a lane for cars and a lane for cyclists."