This week, London opened two new cycle "superhighways"—long, five-foot-wide bike lanes that run into the city from miles away. The idea was to encourage bike commuting in the area. There were some early reports, however, that the new lanes weren't being respected by motorists.
Poking around YouTube, I stumbled upon gaz545 who, apparently, spends a lot of time biking in London and uploading videos of his trips. And he has new video of the cycle superhighways.
Here's a sped-up video of CS3, which runs from Barking to Tower Gateway. Overall, the route looks spacious, well-marked, and well-protected from traffic. Near the city, however, there are some pretty hairy stretches (all of minute 6, for example).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJeRXkHB1_0
And here's video of the other open superhighway, CS7, which gaz545 takes from City to Colliers Wood. Again, near the city (the beginning of the video) the route is sometimes ill-defined and disregarded by motorists.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLfxDwXIgRs
And here's gaz545 trying out a stretch of CS7 in heavy traffic. This video was taken before the official opening of the route, so some of the marking may not have been painted yet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjImwj_0X0w
I get that they aren't perfect, but I would be thrilled to have these facilities in Los Angeles.
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