Proposed routes for bicycle "superhighways" serving London commuters.

New Yorkers already envious of London’s congestion pricing system have a fresh reason to look wistfully overseas. A few hours ago, London Mayor Ken Livingstone unveiled a £500 million ($940 million) program to build extensive new bike networks and launch a Velib-style bike-for-hire system. Bike Biz has the scoop:

With the introduction of a central London bike hire scheme with 6,000
bikes available every 300 metres, cycling will be accessible to many
more Londoners and will become a fully-funded part of the public
transport network for the first time. This is not quite a Velib scheme, but it’s a start.

There will also be new commuter cycle routes from inner and outer London and cycle zones around urban town centres.

In a statement released this morning, Livingstone cast the program as part of a historic shift away from automobile use, and cited Paris as inspiration:

The aim of this programme is nothing short of a cycling and walking
transformation in London. We will spend something like £500 million
over the next decade on cycling – the biggest investment in cycling in
London’s history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can
cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to
where they want to go.

The cycle hire scheme in Paris has proved a huge success, and I
have now instructed Transport for London to work with the London
boroughs and interested parties to develop and implement a bike hire
scheme in central London, accessible to all Londoners. By ensuring that
Londoners have easy access to bikes in the centre of the capital, as
well as making our city a safer and more enjoyable place to cycle, we
will build upon London’s leading position as the only major world city
to have achieved a switch from private car use to public transport,
cycling and walking.

The Independent, Bike Radar, Reuters, ePolitix, and This is London all have coverage of the plan.

There are five components described in the Mayor’s announcement:

• A Central London bike hire scheme, similar to the recently
  launched Paris scheme, with up to 6,000 bikes located across docking
  stations every 300m so Londoners and visitors have quick and easy
  access to a bike. This will be supported by a series of easily
  navigable routes so that people can enjoy London’s sights by bike.
• Around a dozen radial Cycling Corridors for commuters to provide
  high-profile, easy to follow cycling streams into central London.
• The creation of a series of Bike Zones for shoppers and the school
  run in Inner and Outer London, with cycle priority streets, 20mph speed
  limits and quick, clear and simple routes that link key local
  destinations and open parks and waterways for cyclists.
• The expansion of the Legible London signage system to help people
  make short trips around the capital on foot, rather than driving, or
  taking the bus and tube.
• Working with the London Boroughs on the establishment of 200
  Streets of Gold – urban makeovers which link key local destinations
  like stations, schools and shops in inner and outer London with high
  quality walking facilities, delivering improved pavements, seating and
  crossings alongside regeneration measures.

Image: This is London