HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORK

OF A TRANSPORT PLANNER
TRANSPORT SOCIETY AND PLANNING

MSc TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND

PLANNING (PT)
LECTURER: CHRIS MILLS
STUDENT: BABER BEG
STUDENT No.: 3301044
London South Bank University
School of the Built Environment and Architecture
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
www.lsbu.ac.uk

TRANSPORT PLANNING AND SOCIETY

Baber Beg
Student ID: 3301044

Contents
1.

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1

2.

CHALLENGES TO SAFER CYCLING IN LONDON.................................................1

3.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENT AND LEGLISLATIONS FOR CYCLISTS...........................2

4.

CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................. 3

REFERENCES.......................................................................................................... 4
APPENDIX A - FIGURES........................................................................................... 5
APPENDIX B - PHOTOGRAPHS................................................................................ 7

1. INTRODUCTION
Over the past 20 years there have been efforts by government and campaign
groups to invigorate cycling as a viable alternative travel option, with these
efforts being up-weighted in the past decade. The result is that there is
considerable evidence of increasing participation as cycling on the road in the UK
has increased by 12% over the last 10 years.
The British Cycling Economy Report, 2011, LSE, British Cycling and Sky states
that cycling is becoming a viable travel option.
In 2013 the Mayor published his vision for cycling in London as part of the
Olympic Legacy for all Londoners. As the Mayor has succinctly stated
Among the greatest joys of Londons Olympics were our triumphs in cycling. I
today announce that the main cross-London physical legacy of the 2012 Olympic
Games will be a proper network of cycle routes throughout the city, a substantial
increase in cycling, and all the benefits fitness, enjoyment and easy travel for
millions, cleaner air and less traffic for all that will follow.
The priorities that need to be addressed include health and safety for cyclists
and the utilisation of the existing road space. The Mayor has put aside 930M to
address these issues within the boroughs in London.
This paper outlines the challenges posed to safer cycling on the existing road
network and how these can be mitigated with new and innovative approaches.

2. CHALLENGES TO SAFER CYCLING IN LONDON

Cycling on the road has increased by 12% on the road in the UK in the last 10
years (See figure 1). There is a National Cycle Network covering some 14,700
miles across the UK which has been a catalyst for reversing the decline in
walking and cycling for almost 20 years. London has seen the biggest boom with
over 110% increase since 2000 (see figure 2).
There are a number of challenges being faced by transport planners, one of
which is that there are existing roads forming the network linking the differing
areas within the city. It is this network which is now nearing its capacity is being
shared by buses, cyclists, HGVs, motorised users, taxis and vans.
The Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), Londons TfL-controlled main
roads, have some provision for bus lanes, bus priorities, cycle lanes and cycle
super highways. The number of cyclists on the roads has increased whether it
involves cycling to and from work, a local ride to the market or riding for
pleasure. The trend has noticeably upward since 2000.
Provision of a safer routes for cyclists to traverse has now gained momentum
with cycling lobbies and with the funding from TfL.
The design of proper cycling facilities within the London Borough of Southwark is
a complex task as in some places there are narrow road widths and not enough
footway width to allow shared space use. Other factors which influence the
design is the speed of vehicles, the volume of traffic, the differing sizes of the
vehicles and the unpredictability of the cyclists themselves. In some places
where they have been observed to jump red lights, or ease their way past
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vehicles not only creating a possible conflicts for themselves but to other road
users as well.
Innovative techniques have been employed with success in the Netherlands and
TfL is currently reviewing some of these to implement on the streets of London,
such as the Dutch Style Roundabout, shared space and complete segregation.
However, it should be noted that Dutch Style Roundabouts will take up
considerable road space and at peak times reduce the capacity and speed of the
traffic flowing through the roundabout. The shared space introduced on
Exhibition Road has clearly demonstrated that conflicts have decreased. [Dong,
2012]
Lining and signing can be confusing in London (see photos 1, 2). There should be
enough signs in clear positions to indicate directions, without causing too much
street clutter which can cause confusion for all road users. It should be noted
that schemes have gone in where the needs of cyclists have not been practically
addressed (see photo 3). The road markings should provide continuity across
junctions and not as shown in photo 4.
The routes should also be continuous and not leave cyclists in any doubt as to
the direction they have to take once they have reached a certain point in their
journey. A study on perceived safety for cyclists has been carried out in
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA which mapped out the 26 on-street cycling facilities
provided. The data reviewed observations of the physical attributes such as road
widths, number of lanes, parking availability, cycle lane, smoothness of cycling
surface and other physical data. The other part was questionnaires which were
completed by cyclists who used the various routes. The findings concluded that
where the cycle lane ends without continuity poses high risk to the cyclists and
another important factor taken into consideration was the competence levels of
cyclists. How safe they felt along the routes without being intimidated too much
by the other road users.
The collision statistics for any particular stretch must be analysed to determine
the contributory factors involved. For example what time did the collision occur?
Was it during daylight hours? Was it during the hours of darkness? What was the
weather condition like? What was the condition of the road surface? Was it wet?
Was the collision due to the rider being too fast? This information can be gleaned
from the STAT19 report. Once this information is known we can determine the
measures that can be put in place to prevent a similar collision from occurring in
the future.

3. FUTURE IMPROVEMENT AND LEGLISLATIONS FOR CYCLISTS

As there is an increase in cyclists on the roads in London more legislation should
be introduced with regards to safety of the individual cyclist. It should be
mandatory that cyclists should wear high visibility clothing with reflective strips,
helmets should be worn at all times and cycles should have a working system of
lights. Currently these are not mandatory in the UK, however, in other parts of
world helmets are mandatory for cyclists for example in Iceland for under 15
year olds, Canada in various states, and Australia.
There was a paper published in Holland in November 2011 entitled "Why bicycle
helmets are not effective in the reduction of injuries for cyclists. This discussed
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both the benefits and disadvantages of wearing helmets and concluded that
although the cyclists are lured into a sense of safety when wearing a helmet
there is no definite proof that the helmets reduce serious head injuries.
Legislation should be introduced that requires new developments should include
provision for cycle parking. The needs of cyclists are often missed out by
developers. An example of this is the London Shard Building which has been
recently constructed, has no provision for cycle parking. People who tend to
cycle to work have nowhere to park their cycles, there are no Sheffield Stands or
an internal location where the cycles can be parked securely.
Some of the London Boroughs have introduced initiatives to provide cycle
storage facilities on housing estates and on-street (See photos 5, 6) where often
there is not sufficient space within the household to accommodate one or more
cycles.
Improvements could include the taking one lane of traffic out to cater for cyclists
(see photo 7), having deeper advanced stop lines to cater for the increase
numbers of cyclists, segregation of cyclists by the use of planters and/or
armadillos (see photo 8) and providing cyclists with their own lanes and signals
on approaches to roundabouts as has been implemented on the Bow Road
Roundabout which was a hotspot for collisions to cyclists.
A recent study carried out for cyclists on Bicycle Infrastructure Preferences found
that cyclists preferred direct routes and short journey times, routes with no
facilities or bus/cycle lanes least favoured, that there was no direct correlation
between infrastructure and confidence, segregation and lower speeds and little
or no experience cyclists have greater preference for high volume of cyclists
(safety in numbers).

4. CONCLUSIONS
As cycling becomes a more viable mode of travel within London. The transport
planners role in providing safer cycling facilities has increased depending on the
routes taken by cyclists. The introduction of the super cycle highways throughout
London has increased the propensity to cycle along with the cycle hire initiative
introduced by the Mayor of London.
The current trend is to develop quiet routes through the less trafficked back
streets where even the least confident cyclist can feel safe to cycle not having to
compete with heavy traffic flows. This will increase the inter-connectivity
between the within the city limits.
More research, however, is required to look at providing a cycling infrastructure
which also caters for the needs of cyclists. Local stations need to be set up within
the communities which allow easy access to bike repairs.

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REFERENCES
1. The Mayors Vision for Cycling in London, An Olympic Legacy for all Londoners
March 2013
2. Whats Happening on the TLRN? January 2013
http://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/whats-happening-on-thetlrn/
3. AECOM presentation October 2014 DJ Hunter, Alan Rodgers
4. Dong, W., 2012. Traffic Conflict and Shared Space: A before and After Case Study
on Exhibition Road. London, Imperial College London.
5. Why bicycle helmets are not effective in the reduction of injuries of cyclists.
Theo Zeegers, Fietsersbond (Dutch Cyclists Union) November 2011
6. Bicycle Infrastructure Preferences. A case study of Dublin
Elaine Brick; Brain Caulfield November 2011
7. What is at the end of the road? Understanding discontinuities of on-street bicycle
lanes in urban settings
Kevin J. Krizek *, Rio W. Roland September 2004

APPENDIX A - FIGURES

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Figure 1: Showing increasing trends in cycling since 2002 in the UK

Figure 2: showing the increasing trend of cycling in London since the year 2000.

APPENDIX B - PHOTOGRAPHS

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Photo 1: showing shared use sign hidden by traffic lights

Photo 2: showing design errors in the alignment, lining, and drainage problems

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Photo 3: Over zealousness in the design of this cycling facility

Photo 4: showing discontinuity across a junction

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Photo 5: Cycle locker storage on housing estates

Photo 6: Bike hangars for cycle storage on-street

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Photo 7: Showing segregated cycle lane where the road width has been reduced down
to two lanes of traffic

Photo 8: Showing planters and armadillos being used to provide cyclists with
segregated lane

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