UCL Press Release

Sixth of London’s streets have room for pop-up cycle lanes

About a sixth of London’s streets are wide enough to accommodate protected cycle lanes, amounting to over 2,000km of track that could be created quickly to improve safety as lockdown is eased, new UCL analysis has found.

Looking at data for every street in Greater London, the researchers found that 2,357 km of streets were wide enough to implement a 2.2-metre cycle lane in each direction, while still allowing room for cars and other vehicles.

If these lanes were installed, it would lead to an eightfold increase of protected cycle routes in London, from the current level of under 2% of all London streets to 16%. TfL guidance recommends that cycle lanes should be at least 2.2 metres where possible.

Dr Ashley Dhanani (The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL), based at the Urban Dynamics Lab, said: “Many Londoners want to cycle to avoid using public transport but are concerned about their safety when cycling on main roads. This new analysis shows there is plenty of space to create cycle lanes on key routes across the city.”

Press Coverage

Evening Standard - Space for extra cycle lanes ‘on 1,500 miles of London’s roads’