Service design · Transport for London × Royal College of Art · United Kingdom · 2014

Cycling in London, for people who don't feel invincible.

Role
Research and service design, with the Department of Service Design at the Royal College of Art.
Users
Londoners of every level, especially the ones who don't cycle because it feels dangerous.
Scope
Research, service design, a route system, app, pocket map and street signage.
Status
A concept for TfL, the London Cycling Network.

London felt hostile on a bike.

How might we help Londoners feel safe to use bicycles as their main way to commute?

The problem

The health and environmental benefits of cycling are real. In London, safety concerns get in the way.

Many see the city as unsafe and hostile for cyclists: heavy traffic of buses and lorries, and very few dedicated cycle paths.

Main barriers for cycling

  • Perception of danger.
  • No unified voice to support them.
  • Borrowing infrastructure. Cyclists share roads built for buses and cars.
A cyclist crossing a red road marking that reads Keep Clear, seen from above

Who stays off the bike

Families with young children, people carrying shopping, office workers, new residents, and people with physical disabilities.

They are the people the network had to work for.

Part 1

Listening on the street.

We filmed people who share London's roads and asked them about the current situation of cycling in London.

People's voice: who we heard, and the word that stuck

A TfL bus driverInvincible
British CyclingRoute planning
A cyclist, mother of twoAware, plan the journey
A Barclays bike userDangerous
A taxi driverSmall vision
Wheels for WellbeingPerseverance, freedom, exercise, love
Paper cut-out cyclists, a red bus and a taxi on a table

The question, reframed

How might we encourage Londoners, through information and support, to make safer journeys?

Not one cycle lane for everyone. A set of alternative, personalised routes for cyclists of all levels, with a strong focus on safety.

Part 2

One network, three kinds of route.

Route planning, navigation, information, resting and parking, for every stage of the journey and every level of confidence.

Three types of safe routes

Green routes

  • Fewer vehicles
  • Through parks
  • Child friendly

Blue routes

  • A mix of streets
  • Connected to other routes
  • Along commercial streets

Red routes

  • Fast and direct
  • For skilled cyclists
  • Combine with the Tube

Same start, same destination. Each cyclist picks the route that fits their confidence and their trip.

How people find their route.

An app and a pocket map to plan, and clear signs and local hubs once you're on the street.

The illustrated London Cycling Network pocket map for North Kensington, 2014, held in two hands
The pocket map, North Kensington edition. It explains green, blue and red routes in drawings anyone can read.
A phone showing the London Cycling Network inside Citymapper, powered by Transport for London
The journey planner, imagined inside Citymapper and powered by TfL.
The other side of the pocket map: North Kensington with green, blue and red routes, hubs and a legend
The map side: routes by colour, hubs, Tube stations and cycle shops around Notting Hill, Holland Park and Paddington.

Main solution areas

Safety

Route classification: green, blue and red.

Information

A navigation system across app, map and street.

Integration

Routes that connect to each other and to the Tube.

What a cyclist uses

  • Journey planner appPlan by route type.
  • Pocket map by areaOne for each area of the city.
  • Low-impact street signageFollow the colour on the street.
  • Community hubsPlaces to rest and park, near the heart of local communities.

Who it was designed to benefit.

Supported by the community and powered by its users. With London's dynamic and opportunity-rich landscape as a backdrop, the aim was to make cycling a more personalised and enjoyable way to get around the capital.

Three people cycling along a canal towpath in London

Cyclists

A personalised route for every kind of trip.

Other road users

Dedicated space for cycling, so bikes, buses and cars can share the city.

Local communities

Hubs near the heart of each neighbourhood, and better connections between them.

TfL

A network that respects the different needs of everyone who lives in the city.

These are the intended benefits of the concept, not measured results.