Cycling to be faster than driving soon

[jefmcg]

It’s not the traffic, it’s the 20mph speed limit across whole swathes of London - I mean what’s the point of driving?

It's not on A or B roads, is it? Is someone ruining your residential street rat run?

 

[Tin Pot]

It's not on A or B roads, is it? Is someone ruining your residential street rat run?

I had to drive across London for an exam about three years ago, the speed limit in Islington was traumatic.

 

[Too Tyred]

I used to drive to work from Hammersmith to Battersea. Eight years ago, I started riding it. It was always faster on the bike, and I'm a pretty poor cyclist. The best bit was that it would always take a predictable time on the bike, no matter what the traffic conditions were on any particular day.

This! I don't cycle to work for a few reasons but it always amazes me how much different two days at pretty much the same time can be. 5 minutes here and there and the journey can be halved or doubled, I don't understand!

 

[HLaB]

Lol, I went to see a mate last night who is quite a strong sporting cyclist. Despite that he was surprised when I turned up at his on my bike. Its only 4miles across the city. According to my Garmin it took 14 minutes and if I sat in traffic on the same route it'd been 14mins too. I could have tooken the ring road and been 3 minutes faster driving but 2 miles longer

 

[Rooster1]

I can cycle to work quicker than it takes by car already. 5 miles with a queue over a bridge.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Sadly the future has already arrived in Bradford. On a bad day, my commute by car can already take 10-30 minutes longer than on the bike, despite me taking a route that's 3 miles longer on the bike to avoid this hideous and frequently congested 3 lane motorway road and it's 3 diabolical roundabouts. This means on days when I am forced to leave the bike at home, I have my head in my hands weeping at the steering wheel whilst getting 6 MPG and an average speed of 6mph. Even I manage to ride an average 14mph on the bike in hilly bradford. Despite the future having already arrived, I see little progress on the cycle infrastructure front.

 

[Thorn Sherpa]

Certainly my commute through town is faster on the bike, it's only the national speed limit sections I lose out. Commute on a night shift by van is 45 minutes, bike about the same. Early shifts the van is always faster as it's pre-rush hour.

I like the article quoting motoring groups calling for cars to be allowed in bus lanes etc to 'optimise' traffic flow. Next they will be wanting all the cycling infrastructure removed too, all for the all powerful motorcar....

The same as my commute, the section from one side of the town to the other is a lot faster on the bike as opposed to the car it's only when I get on the A19 where I'd be quicker in the car

 

[ColinJ]

It strikes me that all those branch railways that Beeching axed wold be viable nowadays if reopened because the communities they served have grown out of control into commuter towns.

There's no political will to reopen railways yet I bet with modern equipment they would be considerably cheaper to run than in the 1880s.

One example is the Manchester Metro, which runs from Manchester to Bury where it terminates. Yet a track bed exists all the way up Rossendale to Accrington where it could connect with the Blackburn to Burnley line. For part of that distance it is used by a heritage line.

Apparently, plans are actually being made to reopen not one, but two lines between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Clitheroe is now a direct rail journey from Manchester via Todmorden and Blackburn. That line already extends to Hellifield in North Yorkshire but is currently pretty much only used for freight. (I believe there is one passenger train a day each way on summer Sundays?). A full passenger service is likely to be restored in the next few years.

The line from Burnley to Colne should be extended to Skipton. There is 11.5 miles of line missing after the Beeching axe fell in the 1960s, but apparently very little of it has been built over.

It was such a huge mistake to close all of those lines in the first place. Nobody seemed to have the vision to see what the roads would end up like and invest in the railways instead/as well.

If those lines are restored, at least 3 million tons of fuel a year will be able to travel from Liverpool to Drax power station by rail rather than by HGV.

It isn't going to happen to the old Rossendale line though - that is becoming the Valley of Stone cycle route.

 

[Globalti]

You're well clued-up. That's encouraging to read.

 

[fatjel]

10 years ago I would travel about 3 miles from Carshalton to Sutton in South London

At peak times the bike was quicker even back then

 

[mustang1]

While cycling, I am slowed down by drivers more than when I'm driving and being slowed down by cyclists.

I reckon a motorbike or scooter is the best form of transport:
1. don't get sweaty like on a bike,
2. faster than a bike,
3. doesn't get held back (most of the time) by other vehicles.
4. Parking is not bad
5. Cost is comparable to an e-bike (example: a new scooter costs £2000, similar money to a Giant e-bike)
6. Takes you further than an e-bike (I'm thinking about a holiday in Wales)
7. Don't have to spend time charging the batteries
8. e-bike battery loses some of it's capacity

Counterpoint:
1. some of the above points could be invalid with a modified e-bike.
2. running a scooter/motorbike is dearer (tax and fuel) but I'd rather pay for the small amount of fuel it takes rather than having to charge up the batteries).
3. Hey Mustang, you charge up your phone every night don't you, why not an e-bike? True that.

 

[rivers]

While cycling, I am slowed down by drivers more than when I'm driving and being slowed down by cyclists.

I reckon a motorbike or scooter is the best form of transport:
1. don't get sweaty like on a bike,
2. faster than a bike,
3. doesn't get held back (most of the time) by other vehicles.
4. Parking is not bad
5. Cost is comparable to an e-bike (example: a new scooter costs £2000, similar money to a Giant e-bike)
6. Takes you further than an e-bike (I'm thinking about a holiday in Wales)
7. Don't have to spend time charging the batteries
8. e-bike battery loses some of it's capacity

Counterpoint:
1. some of the above points could be invalid with a modified e-bike.
2. running a scooter/motorbike is dearer (tax and fuel) but I'd rather pay for the small amount of fuel it takes rather than having to charge up the batteries).
3. Hey Mustang, you charge up your phone every night don't you, why not an e-bike? True that.

A scooter or motorbike is faster, sometimes. I did an experiment one week back in the spring. One day I took the car to work (11 miles), took me about an hour and 20 minutes. The motorbike took me bang on an hour. Cycling took me an hour and 3 minutes, but it's 5 miles longer as I opt for the Bristol to Bath Railway Path as opposed to the A4. I ate done the A4 a couple of times, and it's taken 40 minutes

 

[screenman]

Unless I can start averaging 34mph on the bike carrying a van full of tools my travel to do jobs is unlikely to be quicker.

 

[mjr]

Getting changed to ride a bike is usually a choice. Plenty of people riding to work in shop colours around here.

Unless I can start averaging 34mph on the bike carrying a van full of tools my travel to do jobs is unlikely to be quicker.

Sparsely populated area that, IIRC.

 

[Johnno260]

I have taken to doing some partial commutes by bike, I drive car to outskirts of the town where I work, then cycle from that point, I have saved a ton of time.