By ELEANOR MANN, JUNIOR NEWS REPORTER
On Britain’s busy roads, there’s already little love lost between motorists and cyclists.
But drivers are likely to literally see red – after a bike hire company called for traffic lights to automatically turn green for those on two wheels.
Hal Stevenson, policy director for Lime, said introducing the measure in London could reduce the number of riders ignoring red lights.
But Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, called the suggestion ‘farcical’.
Transport for London (TfL) last month unveiled plans to give buses priority at all 3,500 traffic lights they pass in London by 2030. Mr Stevenson welcomed the announcement, but called for the measure to be extended to bikes.
‘Cyclists shouldn’t be left on red,’ he wrote in an article for news website MyLondon.
‘Cycling now accounts for up to one in five trips in central London, with cycle traffic at peak times exceeding cars.
Despite this, signal timings remain set around motor traffic speeds, which can lead to frequent stopping and less smooth journeys for people on bikes.’
The policy director for Lime bikes has argued a measure giving buses priority at the traffic lights should be extended to bikes
Mr Stevenson said TfL has extended London’s cycling network from about 56 miles in 2016 to 267 miles last year.
‘Rethinking how traffic lights are timed could be a natural next step in building on that success’, he wrote.
‘Other leading cycling cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam show what’s possible.
'“Green wave” technology, which rewards cyclists travelling at a safe, consistent speed with a sequence of green lights, has improved safety and rider behaviour while reducing journey times at relatively low cost.
'It could also help address red-light running.’
But Mr McNamara said the policy would be ‘farcical’ as London is ‘incredibly congested’, with traffic ‘slower than it’s ever been’.
He claimed people who hire bikes are ‘incentivised’ to take ‘dangerous risks’ such as ignoring red lights because the companies’ time-based pricing means it is cheaper if journeys are completed faster.
Mr McNamara said he attends road safety meetings alongside members of the ‘white, middle-class cycling lobby’ whose ‘whole obsession is removing vehicle traffic from the roads’.
A recent report by location technology firm TomTom found London was the world’s slowest capital city to drive in last year.
It took an average of three minutes and 38 seconds to drive 0.6 miles in the centre of London last year, the analysis found.
This was partly blamed on widespread 20mph speed limits.
