The 39 stations across the five Olympic boroughs — Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest — have a total of 212 parking spaces for the 132,512 passengers who use the stations daily, an average of one space for every 625 passengers.
Chris Peck, policy co-ordinator of the Cyclists' Touring Club, said: “We know cycling is pretty much ignored in the Olympic boroughs and that is symptomatic of the problem.
Cycling "pretty much ignored in the Olympic boroughs"! For all I know that may well be true of Greenwich, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham, but I cannot stand idly by and allow Mr Peck’s scurrilous attack on the London Borough of Waltham Forest to pass without comment.
Cycling is up by more than 80 per cent in Waltham Forest, which offers scientific proof of its magnificence as an area for cycling. Further scientific proof, based on irrefutable statistics, is that Waltham Forest has 20 miles of cycle lanes and another 20 miles of quiet routes. And Mr Peck has himself helpfully pointed out that cycling in London is (it's another scientific fact) 2.9 times safer today than it used to be.
As the Council proudly says on its website
Waltham Forest Council has been one of the leading local authorities in London in its commitment to introducing cycling facilities over the past decade. From 1991 when it first agreed the London Cycle Network to be predominantly on main roads, the Council has regarded cycling as a key mode of transport to be integrated into all its road schemes.
The Council has won four awards from the London Cycling Campaign since 1997 – two for best cycle routes and two for its cycle training and bike recycling schemes. It has also won a joint award from three government departments for its Bike to School Scheme in secondary schools and in May 2005 won the London Transport Award for cycling awarded by the Robert Gordon University in Scotland.
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is a veritable paradise for cyclists and this blog is proud to feature on a daily basis its superb infrastructure, thoughtful design, exquisite maintenance, helpful signing, safe cycling environment, considerate drivers, and extensive and well-maintained cycle parking facilities. As can be seen from the photograph below, taken on Westbury Road E17 only yesterday, Waltham Forest has superb cycle parking, fully in keeping with the Olympic spirit of pushing human endeavour to its physical limits.
