London May Soon Have More Bikes Than Cars at Rush Hour

According to a new report by Transport for London (TfL) car levels in the city center have plummeted while bike numbers have risen sharply, creating a pattern that could soon see the latter overtake the former during rush-hour. Looking closely at the figures, it’s specifically the rise in bike numbers that is most striking. As cycle commuting in the city becomes more popular, bikes are taking more road space than ever.

Not that drops in car numbers aren’t impressive in their own right. According to the report, the number of rush-hour cars in Central London has more than halved since the millennium. In 2000, an average of 137,000 drivers entered the Central London cordon every day. By 2014, that number had dropped to 64,000. The slump in Central London car numbers is substantially thanks to the city’s congestion charge, introduced in 2003, which saw vehicle numbers drop steadily in the years following.