London commuters opting to pedal to work

A Londoner crosses Waterloo Bridge in the capital, where bike sales are booming.

For years, Jon Wright considered commuting the 10 miles to work by bicycle. But it wasn't until the terrorist bombings on London's subway and bus system July 7 that he finally decided to make the leap.

"It should have really taken less than the threat of being blown up to make me jump on a bike, but I'm now recommending it to everyone I see, much to their annoyance," says Wright, 32, a hotel manager. He says he has lost 7 pounds and saved $185 a month in public transportation costs.

It's not quite Amsterdam or Copenhagen, where commuting by bike is the norm, but London is quickly becoming a major cycling city. Much of the shift is a direct result of the bombings, which killed 52 people.

On cycling websites, London's new cyclists such as Wright refer to themselves as "bomb dodgers ."

No hard figures are available on the number of cyclists in the city. The Transport for London office estimates cycling has increased 52% in the capital since 2000, based on the number of cyclists crossing bridges over the Thames River.

Still, only 2% of Londoners cycle to work, compared with 20% in Copenhagen and 28% in Amsterdam. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, a bicycle enthusiast, wants to increase cycling 80% by 2010.

"Cycling is the fastest, cheapest, most healthy and environmentally friendly way to get around London, and more and more people are taking it up," Livingstone said by e-mail. "The number of cyclists has doubled over the last five years, while those killed or seriously injured has fallen by 40%."

Under the London Cycling Action Plan, Livingstone envisions transforming London into a world-class cycling city to reduce congestion and pollution. London now has 273 miles of bike routes, half built since 2000. The goal is 560 miles by 2010.

The sudden influx of cyclists after the July attacks took London by surprise. In July, the number of bike commuters was 26% higher than the same period last year, according to the transport office.

On the day of the bombings, which crippled the transportation system for weeks, bicycle shops sold out of their stock within hours. 
 

　

几年来，乔恩·赖特一直在考虑是否每天骑车去10英里外的地方上班。直到今年7月7日伦敦发生地铁和公共汽车恐怖爆炸事件后，他才最终决定从此改骑自行车上下班。

“其实我本不应该等到有爆炸的威胁才决定骑车上班。但是，现在每遇到一个人，我都会向他推荐骑车上班，让他们觉得很讨厌，”32岁的赖特说。他是一家饭店的经理。他说他的体重已经下降了7磅，每个月还节约了185英镑的公交开销。

在阿姆斯特丹或哥本哈根，骑车上班非常普遍，但是伦敦和这两座城市有所不同。现在，伦敦也正在迅速成为一个重要的自行车城市。这种变化很大程度上受到伦敦爆炸事件的直接影响，在那次事件中共有52人丧生。

在自行车运动网站上，像赖特这样新兴的自行车一族戏称自己为“躲避炸弹的人”。

现在还没有可靠的数据统计伦敦到底有多少骑自行车的人。伦敦交通办公室估计2000年至今，伦敦骑自行车的人数比例已经上升了52%，这个数据是基于骑自行车通过泰晤士河的人统计出来的。

但是，仍然只有2%的伦敦人每天骑车上下班，这个数字在哥本哈根是20%，在阿姆斯特丹是28%。伦敦市长肯·里温斯通也是一名自行车运动的爱好者，他希望到2010年骑自行车的比率可以增加80%。

“在伦敦市内穿梭，骑自行车是最快、最便宜、最健康、最环保的方法。越来越多的人开始尝试骑自行车。在过去五年中，骑自行车的人数翻了一番，而在交通事故中被撞死或严重受伤的比例却下降了40%。”

根据伦敦自行车行动计划，里温斯通想要把伦敦改造称一座世界级的自行车之都，这样能减少交通堵塞和空气污染。伦敦现有273英里自行车道，其中一半都是2000年后建造的，伦敦的目标是在2010年之前建成560英里自行车道。

震惊世界的七·七伦敦爆炸事件发生后，大批伦敦人加入了骑自行车的行列。根据伦敦交通部门的统计，七月，骑自行车上下班的人数比去年同期高出26个百分点。

就在爆炸事件发生当天，在短短几个小时之内，自行车商店的存货一抢而空，这次爆炸使伦敦的交通系统瘫痪了几个星期。