If you want to cross the Thames downstream of Tower Bridge by train it's easy.
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An Overground, three Jubilees, two DLRs and a Crossrail, all but one of them built in the last 25 years.
If you want to cross the Thames downstream of Tower Bridge by road it's more restricted.
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A narrow tunnel from 1908, a twin-bore that's often choked, a new tunnel they haven't finished yet, a ferry that struggles to run twice an hour and a whopping bridge way out of town.
But if you want to cross the Thames downstream of Tower Bridge by bike it's, well, sub-optimal.
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» The Rotherhithe Tunnel is technically open to cyclists but it's a nightmare and few risk it.
» Thames Clippers take bikes, but at £3.80 a time it's no bargain.
» The DLR doesn't allow bikes at peak times.
» You're supposed to wheel your bike through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, plus both lifts are out of action.
» The Dangleway is free for bikes on weekdays before 9.30am, but the rest of the time it's a whopping £6.
» The Woolwich Ferry, as previously established, struggles to run twice an hour.
» You're supposed to wheel your bike through the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, plus one lift is out of action.
» Crossrail doesn't allow bikes at peak times.
» The QE2 crossing is free but impractically far out of town.
So the new SilvertownTunnel, though controversial, provides a genuine opportunity to improve cross-river connections, not just for vehicles but also for public transport and for cyclists. Indeed it was part of the permission granted for building the tunnel that cyclists would be amongst the beneficiaries. So what do you think? Separate bike tunnel? Dedicated bike lane? Alas not.
"While developing the Silvertown Tunnel scheme, we considered whether cyclists could use the tunnel, either by sharing the bus lane or via dedicated segregated cycle infrastructure. After careful consideration, we decided that walking and cycling would not be permitted through the Silvertown Tunnel for safety reasons. In addition, providing a segregated lane and larger tunnel would add substantial additional cost and would be unlikely to provide significant benefits as the environment inside the tunnel was unlikely to be attractive to cyclists."
Fair enough, If making the tunnel wider to accommodate bikes would have increased costs "substantially" then it doesn't sound worth it. Banning bikes completely is more draconian, because I'm sure some cyclists would have been happy to take the risk, but riding 1.4km underground with exhaust fumes and HGVs doesn't sound in any way attractive.
That said, spending £186m on a link cyclists can't use would be ridiculous, so...
"As part of the permission granted for the construction of the tunnel, we therefore committed to investigating and delivering an alternative cross-river facility for cyclists and pedestrians, to be delivered by tunnel opening in 2025. We have been considering different options to provide cyclists with a dedicated facility to cross the river in this part of London."
They did consider a ferry service.
This option would require significant investment in piers and boats to ensure they are cyclist friendly and ready for use by 2025. Additionally, a privately operated ferry service is unlikely to be free of charge, and our modelling data suggests that there would be low uptake amongst cyclists. The initial capital investment, as well as the ongoing operating costs required by TfL to operate a ferry service is not currently affordable within budget constraints and therefore overall, this option does not represent good value for money at this time."
But there's no money, and there's especially no money for an expensive ferry service cyclists might not use so this option's dead in the water. It's only four years since TfL scrapped plans for a footbridge at Rotherhithe, proposing perhaps a ferry service instead, and now ferries are also off the table because that's how far public finances have been squeezed and we're all making do with crumbs.
And hence a consultation launched this week to seek answers to all sorts of questions about how that shuttle bus service might run.
• "the type of vehicle which could be used and the implications this has for the number and type of bicycles that could use the service"
You can't pile bikes on a normal bus, you need a bespoke vehicle or perhaps something with a trailer on the back. But a cheaper option might not be able to cope with all types of bike, and if the vehicle's too much hassle to use then people won't.
• "the location of drop off/pick up areas, and the route which could be taken by the service"
The obvious place for a pick-up spot would be at either end of the tunnel, but those aren't especially accessible or convenient locations so TfL are actually thinking about the northern one being near Royal Victoria Dock (think City Hall) and the southern one being off Millennium Way (think Odeon IMAX). Both are near Cycleways but also a bit off-piste, so the risk is that people think "I'm not cycling there to catch a bus!". A third pick-up point is being considered closer to Canary Wharf (think Blackwall DLR) but that would require a circular shuttle service using both the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels with a consequential increase in journey times.
• "the associated journey times, timetabling and operating hours of the service"
They're thinking six times an hour, but at certain times that might be too often and at other times too little. And when should they start in the morning and when should they stop at night, because cycling happens at all hours but equally you don't want to end up transporting air.
• "whether the service will be free of charge or users will pay a fare"
The consultation makes it clear that a free bus may result in "a lower-quality service in response to financial constraints" whereas charging a fare could allow "more frequent services, better vehicles or longer operating hours". The underlying assumption is that "ongoing public subsidy" is a bad thing, which feels a bit Tory, but at least they're asking what cyclists think. Plenty of evidence already suggests that cyclists don't use the existing paid-for crossings, so being asked to pay a fare for the shuttle could easily backfire.
To my mind there's an obvious solution which is to build a giant bike-carrying machine across the river between the two ends of the Silvertown Tunnel. It'd be ridiculously expensive to construct, a blight on the skyline and you'd never get agreement for it. But the good news is it's already been built and it's already carrying bikes because the obvious solution is the Dangleway.
All the cabins are bike-sized, indeed you can take your bike on the Dangleway "at any time". It starts early in the morning and continues running until late at night, so even atypical commutes are catered for. It aligns so perfectly with the route of the Silvertown Tunnel that its location looks almost deliberate. And it's so lightly used, especially during the week, that there'd be ample room to transport every cyclist who turns up.
Admittedly it gets busy at the weekend but not so busy that TfL have ever banned bikes from using it. Admittedly queueing behind dozens of families from Essex could get tedious, but so could piling your bike onto the back of a shuttle bus. And admittedly paying £6 per ride could put people off, indeed it already does, but there's no reason why cyclists should continue to pay it. TfL recognise this because they already allow bikes aboard for free before 9.30am on weekdays, a fact they don't widely advertise. Why not waive the fare and make it free for cyclists all day - it's not like it'd significantly lower existing income.
The Dangleway was always meant to be a public transport link so let's use it as one! Let's not faff around with bespoke shuttle buses and the expense of vehicles and drivers, let's open up the aerial bike-transporter without another penny needing to be spent. We could even solve the problem two years before the tunnel actually opens, that's how perfectly the existing infrastructure fits the brief. The Dangleway is the Silvertown solution that's hiding in plain sight, and hurrah its time has come at last.
