HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORK OF A TRANSPORT PLANNERTRANSPORT SOCIETY AND PLANNING

MSc TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND PLANNING (PT)LECTURER: CHRIS MILLS

STUDENT: BABER BEGSTUDENT No.: 3301044

London South Bank UniversitySchool of the Built Environment and Architecture103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AAwww.lsbu.ac.ukTRANSPORT PLANNING AND SOCIETYBaber BegStudent ID: 3301044

Contents1.INTRODUCTION12.CHALLENGES TO SAFER CYCLING IN LONDON13.FUTURE IMPROVEMENT AND LEGLISLATIONS FOR CYCLISTS24.CONCLUSIONS3REFERENCES4APPENDIX A - FIGURES5APPENDIX B - PHOTOGRAPHS7

INTRODUCTIONOver 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 statedAmong 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.

CHALLENGES TO SAFER CYCLING IN LONDONCycling 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 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.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENT AND LEGLISLATIONS FOR CYCLISTSAs 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 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). CONCLUSIONSAs 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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REFERENCES1. The Mayors Vision for Cycling in London, An Olympic Legacy for all Londoners March 20132. Whats Happening on the TLRN? January 2013 http://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/whats-happening-on-the-tlrn/ 3. AECOM presentation October 2014 DJ Hunter, Alan Rodgers4. 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 20116. Bicycle Infrastructure Preferences. A case study of DublinElaine Brick; Brain Caulfield November 20117. What is at the end of the road? Understanding discontinuities of on-street bicycle lanes in urban settingsKevin J. Krizek *, Rio W. Roland September 2004

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APPENDIX A - FIGURES

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

Photo 1: showing shared use sign hidden by traffic lights

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

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

Photo 4: showing discontinuity across a junction

Photo 5: Cycle locker storage on housing estates

Photo 6: Bike hangars for cycle storage on-street

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