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Critical Mass vs TFL – The Blackfriars Bridge

Oliver Parsons highlights how cycling interests have been ignored by Transport for London in the revamping of Blackfriars Bridge.

By Oliver Parsons

30 Jul 2011, 17:55

On Friday evening I took part in the mass cycling event, Critical Mass.  It happens on the last Friday of the month, every month, in London.  It occurs as hundreds, often thousands of the capital’s cyclists come together and ride en masse across the city.  But it is by no means limited to London, as Critical Mass is a global phenomenon with over 300 cities now having rides.  The aims are not clearly defined and it is really for the participants to take out of it what they will.  However one thing is clear, in riding in a big group like this the cyclists involved are trying to highlight cycling as a form of transport and seek to affirm equal rights on the road as well as putting cycling at the forefront of urban planners minds.

Despite having lived and cycled in London for the last five years, I have tended to give Critical Mass a miss.  I have come into contact with it on numerous occasions but never felt the urge to join.  I have always found it to be a very provocative way of getting across the message that cyclists are here to stay and that more needs to be done for us.  In essence the ride brings traffic to a standstill and often kettles in drivers who try and barge their way through the cyclists as we protect our own.  Watching any of the numerous youtube videos such as this one gives you a sense of it all.  Personally I have watched these videos and thought it all a bit extreme and could empathise with the drivers. However this week was different, there was a message to be spread and it concerned Blackfriars Bridge and the works going on there.

Cyclists have been protesting about the works taking place on Blackfriars Bridge for several months now.  You can easily look up any of the issues on the internet, so I won’t bore you too much with them, but in essence cycling has one of the highest modal shares on the bridge at peak times and the new TfL plans seems to have completely ignored this and they will make it far more dangerous to cycle across.  Whilst to really cap it all off they have decided that the speed limit should be increased from 20mph back to 30mph, to smooth traffic flow, and also will add a third lane.

The London Cycling Campaign have lobbied about these proposed works and gained a lot of support in the London Assembly, in fact it was almost unanimous support.  Sadly on the day when it was to be debated the Conservative members of the assembly staged a walkout, rendering the meeting inquorate, so it was never discussed.  The Conservatives, claiming to support the cyclists, were not walking out as a result of this issue but because they felt hard done by on the various committees. 

Boris Johnson has himself come out and said that the plans need to be readdressed and potentially changed.  Yet despite following all the avenues open to them the cycling lobby has simply been ignored, as works are due to begin as you read this.  This left one option, mass protest, and despite not using the bridge very often, I feel passionately about this issue.  It is another example of urban planners ignoring cycling and pedestrians in our cities and making them prostrate to the car and motoring lobby. 

Again I won’t bore you with the issues around urban planning and shared use of space, but needless to say in Britain we have a very low view of any form of transport that isn’t private motor vehicles and it has created a system in London that is hectic, polluted and unpleasant whether you are cycling or walking and especially if you have children.  For too long this has been the case and the example of Blackfriars Bridge was the final straw for many. Boris talks a good game on cycling in London but in reality he hasn’t changed anything to make it better.

So I went down to the Southbank after work on Friday evening, alone and joined the mass of cyclists waiting, chatting, drinking beers, and ringing their bells.  We then set off from outside the BFI to ride to Blackfriars Bridge.  Almost immediately I felt like my views about Critical Mass were wrong.  When you looked around you, you saw cyclists on every different type of bicycle, some in their suits others in lycra.  There were also long board skateboarders and more.  It was a really broad cross section of society; from dustmen to bankers, there was no defining profile of the participants.  It highlighted what a democratic activity cycling is.  For a relatively low spend everyone can have their own form of transport, which is particularly relevant in the city.  

Before even reaching the bridge, I was chatting away with a lady about my cycling jersey.  It turned out we had been following each other on twitter for the best part of a year; it is strange how these things happen when you get a group of cyclist together.  There was a real feeling of shared purpose and unusually for London, strangers were talking together about the issues and people came together over a shared passion.

Once over the bridge and on Farringdon Road the group did begin to block in cars and bring junctions to a standstill so we could all make it across.  However unlike the videos you see online, when you are part of the experience, you realise just how angry the car can make people.  In reality driving in London is a thoroughly unpleasant experience and you will always be caught in traffic, so why not when faced with a ten-minute delay for a thousand cyclists remain calm and enjoy the music from you radio.  Instead most drivers try and push their way around, some (notably an Audi TT last night) try and speed their way through, which is crazy as he simply had to stop at a red light once he was round.  In this regard taxi drivers, who are usually very good around cyclists, were the worst, seemingly forgetting that Cabbies in Nottingham had their own go-slow protest recently.  It seems to most drivers our right to protest is void once we mount our bicycle.

Having now taken part in a Critical Mass ride, I am very pleased I did.  I felt strongly about the issue and believe urban planners and in particular TfL (who have a lot of previous around ignoring cycling and pedestrians – see other issues around Vauxhall and Elephant & Castle stations) should be made aware of how unpopular much of their work is.  Furthermore it is not the provocative event I thought it was, everyone is allowed to protest and for cyclists this is the most effective means of making our voices heard.  Yes it brings traffic to a standstill across various junctions in London, but Critical Mass has happened on the last Friday of the month in London since 1994, surely drivers know now to simply find a different means of transport for one night a month, perhaps they could hop on their bikes, you never know they might enjoy it.