wulfhound

Regarding the ULEZ - to suggest that anybody will be rendered housebound by having to pay ?10 for a trip out in the car is hyperbole. That's less than the daily Oyster cap, less than the petrol to Brighton and back, less than a one-way trip in an Uber. Maybe some will have to limit the number of journeys they make, perhaps one or two trips per week instead of four - but compared against the seriousness of the air quality issue (which has caused life-limiting and, in at least one widely-reported case, fatal illness to kids), I don't think that's disproportionate.

Plus they can't re-time the traffic signals on Champion Hill until sat nav stops sending people down it. It should be on a far shorter phase, to allow DKH extra time, but right now it needs to let everyone out who turned down it in error. From what I understand of the Townley/EDG redesign, the junction signal timings across the area are pretty finely balanced, such that it only takes a few extra vehicles per phase to mightily screw things up over the course of half an hour. The converse is that it only needs a relatively few people to change their minds (sending their teenagers to school on public transport instead of giving them a lift, say) to alleviate the jams significantly.

100% true Abe_froeman, but it's equally short-sighted to believe that the problems caused by over-reliance on private cars are limited to air quality. You're welcome to think of some of those other issues as "agenda", to some of us they'd be better described as quality-of-life.

Feeling safe is certainly a consideration, and not one that should be dismissed. Having said that, the only incidence I know of people getting mugged for/on bikes is school kids, and roadie cyclists getting jacked for expensive and obviously valuable road bikes. In general a relatively fast moving middle aged person on an unremarkable bike doesn't ideally fit the bill of what thieves are looking for.. they don't have time for the usual "lend us a pound" routine. Ebikes usually have detachable batteries, which, while heavy enough that you'd prefer not to carry one around all evening (two or three kilos) by and large render the bike not worth stealing when removed.

Indeed - the problem is that the traffic is exactly when kids need to be walking or even cycling to and from school. It's nice to be able to pick quiet times of day to travel, but schools don't give that option unfortunately.

SE London was supposed to get a Cycle Superhighway - CS6 City to Penge - in the early plans (before they realised that painting blobs of blue paint on otherwise-unchanged "A"-roads didn't end very well). IIRC it was to run from Camberwell Green, over the top of Dog Kennel Hill, down to Goose Green and along Lordship Lane. The plans were dropped very early on - once the paint-only approach became untenable, they figured that (for example) Lordship Lane would be too contentious if it's even physically possible at all. Building all-abilities infra for bikes in the suburbs is politically difficult - traders and bus users complain if you build along the main roads, local drivers do the same if you create cycle routes by closing roads to traffic. The only real success in recent years has been Waltham Forest, where the project is led by a Cllr who recognises that you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, and is willing to incur a degree of unpopularity to get it done... up to and including a protest group (mostly minicab drivers) who held a "mock funeral" for a high street which was to be closed to general traffic. Even though Southwark as a borough is safe Labour, at a ward and seat level there's enough swing that few seem to have the cojones to do what's necessary... resulting in costly, half-baked crap like the Dulwich Village "re-design".

P4 to Herne Hill then Thameslink up to St Pancras; the Thameslink is slower & less frequent than the Victoria from Brixton though, so not much in it I'd guess - depends how long the P4 takes to get from HH to Brixton at that time of day.

Also to stop people cutting the lights at the corner to turn left on to the A21 by cutting through the trading estate.

So they'd pay the charge once on the way out of London on holiday and once on the way back in? Hardly going to break the bank, at least for someone who can afford that kind of a trip in the first place.

This is very welcome. Glad to see it happening.

Get the train to Norbury, it's a long-ish walk, a short-ish bike ride or a cheap-ish minicab from there.

Peckham Rye over to Ladywell Fields via Brockley Way & Marnock Road is nice outside of rush hour, and the Waterlink is gorgeous. If you go north instead of south on the Waterlink, you end up at Greenwich and can then take the foot tunnel (you can walk your bike if it's busy, they sometimes allow people to ride at quiet times of day) up to Docklands; there's a route that continues along the docks / canals / etc. from there. While it's school holidays and the Camberwell Grove railway bridge is shut to motors, you can also get all the way to Central London's protected cycle superhighway (at St George's Circus) on the Quietway 7 route, it's pretty peaceful outside of rush hour: avoid Elephant & Castle using the crossing at Meadow Row, then aim for Keyworth Street and you'll meet the CSH at St George's. Enjoy the quiet while it lasts, normal service resumes in September. Once you get on the CSH, there's protected cycle track all the way up to Smithfield Market in the north, Kensington Gardens in the west and Canary Wharf in the east. Unfortunately as soon as you're off the primary routes it's everyone for themselves; some of the other stuff that claims to be cycle superhighway really isn't. But it's a nice way to see the sights during the day and at weekends, when the City boy racers are safely at their desks.

There's Wave Load and Wave Start, and they're not the same; Wave Load ends 45 minutes before the actual start. And you'd want to get there maybe 15-20 before the load-in for last-minute snacks, mechanical checks and loo etc.. so subtract an hour from start time and most will be leaving the house pretty early.

Sign on for the Ride London is very early early in the morning, I doubt that 7.39 train will be early enough, but the Night Tube from New Cross Gate to Dalston Junction will save him a few miles. According to the web site they're opening the Rotherhithe Tunnel to bikes from 4am - assuming it will be temporarily closed to traffic, the air in there will be slightly less poisonous than usual - and there's supposed to be a signposted route from the north side of the tunnel. I'm a bit further west so will probably just do Tower Bridge and A11, the main roads are pretty quiet at 5am on a Sunday,

Am I alone in finding it abhorrent that we, collectively as a society, think that the solution to implied danger for women alone in public (and men, at least those not big/strong enough to fight off any attacker) is, essentially, a full metal jacket of armour? It's not the journey that's dangerous, it's the scumbags who attack people. Not everyone wants to breathe filthy polluted air, either. For that reason, I'm fine with the authorities seeking to make life difficult and expensive for those who'd contribute further to that problem purely for a little time saving and comfort. We carried the kids in slings and rucksacks when they were small and needed to sleep a lot, and when they were bigger but still needed a buggy, we'd fold it down and sit them on a lap. There is an awkward age around 12-18 months when they're getting big for the sling, still need more than one nap per day, and need help getting in/out of a buggy, but it's over in the blink of an eye really. Once they're on a one-nap schedule and can climb in/out by themselves, it's fine. Granted, somewhat harder for people with twins or with babies very close in age. That sounds bad enough in a car t.b.h., but simple enough if you're not too far from the Overground. Nunhead to Denmark Hill, across to Clapham Junction and hop on the bus. Assuming, at least, that you're aiming for the relatively central bits of each. The southern side of Putney up by Wimbledon Common is a bit of a mare on public transport - a long walk up a hill from the main bus/rail connections. For buggy aged kids, we mostly used black cabs for that exact reason. Well, mostly public transport but the occasional black cab when it wouldn't work. It certainly focuses the mind.. half an hour longer on the bus because the usual route is out of action, or ?30 for a taxi. Whereas running a car I'd be spending that ?30 every weekend just having it sat there, without even thinking about it. For older kids there are inflatable booster seats that fold down to the size of a water bottle. I don't know what their safety record is, I'd maybe want something a bit more robust for long / motorway journeys, but for a short ride in a minicab they seem fine.

Ah, come on.. compared to 95% of the country, the public transport here is fantastic. I know lots of people who could have a car but choose not to, not because they can't afford to but the expense and hassle simply isn't worth it unless you want to drive once a fortnight or more. Anything less than that and it's an expensive liability.

This feels a bit overstated, TBH - was mine & my partner's reality for quite some years - she doesn't drive or cycle; a surprising number of people with kids don't have the choice of driving (for money, medical or other reasons). Mostly people on the trains are great about helping one another out; the only station which ever gave me real pause for thought was Battersea Park: the staircases there just aren't fit for purpose. That's unfortunately true.. and people are not as accommodating as they might be about folding down, or about buying sensibly sized prams / pushchairs to use on public transport. Some prams are much better designed than others in that respect; the bendy buses were wonderfully accommodating of buggies despite some of their other disadvantages. For that and other reasons relating to Ewwwber, I'm glad of the existence of black taxi apps which work along the same lines. Expensive yes, and those old TX cabs are a major offender regarding air quality, but knowing they're there as an emergency option is really reassuring. They can carry prams, buggies and young kids without a car seat - some special legal exemption apparently.

Same. It's almost like the Government aren't really interested in tackling speeding and are happy with the status quo.

Councils get the fines from (relatively harmless) parking offences. Speeding fines go straight to the Treasury, not even the police get a look in. Am not sure who gets the red light camera fines - probably TfL as they operate all traffic lights IIRC. So guess which gets enforced to the letter and which gets ignored.

Many years ago I had a back-street route from Clapham Junction area to Epsom via Wimbledon Park, Raynes Park, Worcester Park & Ewell West. You could do similar starting from Tulse Hill: head west towards Tooting Common, down to Furzedown, cut across from Furzedown towards Wimbledon and then follow the railway line south staying south of the railway and north of the A298; turn left at Raynes Park and stay roughly parallel with the railway. Pretty quiet the whole way, but if you're talking commute it's a very long way for a regular route - 15 miles minimum. I'm keen, but I think I'd aim to cycle somewhere half way with a decent direct train service, Wimbledon probably.

The shopping parade at the southern end of Bellenden is really rather pleasant with the much reduced traffic. Would be interested to hear whether traders find business is up or down overall during the closure.

If you don't fancy cycling the whole way, Honor Oak and Peckham Rye stations are both within half an hour's walk depending on where exactly on Upland you are. The Overground / Jubilee journey to Green Park is regular (every 7-8 minutes at Honor Oak Park) and fairly brief, 25 minutes. Both lines do get unpleasantly crowded at the absolute height of rush hour but are fine the rest of the time, so if you have some flexibility in arrival time, use it to your advantage. There's plenty of buses along the Rye towards the station but they're not that much quicker than walking. Handy in wet or wintry weather though. From Peckham Rye you're spoilt for choice: Overground to Canada Water every 15 minute then Jubilee; Southern to London Bridge & Jubilee; Thameslink to Blackfriars & District; or SouthEastern to Victoria & District. The National Rail services don't have the best reputation for punctuality or reliability - and deservedly so - but with so many to choose from you can't go far wrong. IIRC they were piloting Brompton bike rental docks at Peckham Rye station which can get you home station in under ten minutes without breaking a sweat. Not sure if that's still going but worth looking in to it. Honor Oak on the other hand is over a big hill from you.. not really any point in cycling that, you'd be better off going to Brixton or the whole way in to town - further but basically flat.

"We know half of the traffic on Southwark roads starts and end outside Southwark. Their was talk of camera enforced filtered permeability - open for Southwakr residents registered vehicles during schools runs and charged or banned for non Southwark registered vehicles - we're talking about residential streets not A & B roads." Even as an avowed supporter of filtered permeability, that's an odd idea. The restrictions are most needed at school run time (and in term time) as that's when the most vulnerable of road users are trying to get from A to B. Allowing borough residents to use cut-throughs but not others favours those making shorter trips by car - exactly those journeys which are most likely to be possible to shift to walking / cycling. If camera enforced filtering does become a thing, it needs to operate on far smaller "cells" than borough-wide - similar in size to the CPZ zones - to reduce the number of vehicles cutting through to a point that makes those minor roads usable by kids walking / cycling to school independently, and ordinary mums / dads cycling to the station after drop-off. Effectively making those minor roads access-only at specific times of day. It's pretty much essential if the Quietways are ever to live up to their name.

Different boroughs, different budgets. Very much agree though.. while personally, by the time I've ridden to Brixton or Kennington, I might as well bike the rest of the way, I can understand others not wanting to. And especially once you start talking e-bikes - there's no way I'd leave a ?1000+ bike locked outside either of those tube stations. I reckon dockless hire bikes like OFO would do a roaring trade along the EDG - Herne Hill - Brixton corridor (a bit heavy & poor gearing for going over Dog Kennel Hill, but fine on the flat). Anyone know if Southwark will be adopting them? Seems the phone app and no-strings T&Cs appeal to youngsters in particular.

Thousands a year dying prematurely due to bad air, kids having their lung development stunted, and y'all are talking about... money.