Night-time bike riding 'socially unsafe' for women

Chances are, if you are both female and a cyclist in London, nightfall prompts some changes in behaviour.

Some women just don't cycle after dark, others go a longer way round to stick to brightly lit roads, or brave high-traffic routes because at least there are other people around.

Nearly a quarter of the city's cycleways - the high quality and strategic routes the mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) sign and pay for - remain largely unused at night by half of the population.

The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) wants "social safety" to be part of route quality assessments and for TfL not to approve or fund routes that fail the test.

A TfL spokesperson said they were "working to better understand how our schemes affect the safety, and feeling of safety, for women and girls".

LCC's report featured case study routes, including one which passes next to Millwall Stadium alongside an isolated railway line where muggings and bike-jackings have been reported; and a "crime-ridden and isolated" underpass in Enfield.

The route past Millwall football stadium was one of the "socially unsafe" cycleways

Experiences of women's after-dark cycleway riding:

• "I rode this once after dark because I was desperate to get off the dangerous local roads, but I will never do it again. I felt so unsafe."

• "I couldn't see far enough ahead to avoid the dangers women fear in lonely places at night, and there is no way to escape."

• "I have given up cycling along the main part of the Greenway after dark.

• "I take a convoluted longer path instead which adds 15 minutes to my journey."

• "Most of my female friends around here only cycle in this area in the summer."

"Socially unsafe" is the term used for routes where there is a risk of harm from others due to factors such as poor lighting and a lack of escape routes.

Research by the LCC Women's Network indicates that 24% of TfL's cycle network goes through "isolated or unlit places such as parks that feel unsafe after dark, especially for women".

More than half of the cycleways have at least one socially unsafe area, with seven being completely unsafe after dark.

The report found one in three women who currently cycle in London stop during winter months or after dark. Half said they were faced with an "impossible choice" between cycle routes on which they feel at risk and using main roads with no safe space for cycling.

Louise Whittle has seen groups of men approach cyclists

One cyclist, Emma Barnie from Lewisham, said she had been on Cycleway 10, beside Millwall football stadium, when "two young guys tried to block the cycle path that I was on.

"I instinctively sped up and managed to swerve up on to the verge right round them and get away.

"Now I'm going the whole way around instead on really busy roads, which defeats the whole point of the cycle path.

"This has completely put me off using this crucial part of the network after dusk and I've changed my whole daily commute and routine."

'Running the gauntlet'

Also from Lewisham, Louise Whittle said her local cycleway was "unusable" after dark.

Ms Whittle, who has been cycle commuting for 22 years, said there were three stretches in particular that are very isolated.

"I have witnessed gangs; a group of men approached my husband when on his bike.

"This route is like running the gauntlet.

"I've been stopped by local police, who specifically warned me from cycling that route after dark. I started using the road alternative, but I've literally had cars crash at the side of me, so have switched again to another route.

"I'm caught between the devil and the deep."

Poorly lit canal-side paths are among the routes women avoid after dark

The LCC Women's Network will be leading an after-dark women's freedom ride in protest on Thursday evening.

Organisers said they would "pass through dark parks, urban graffiti jungles and isolated stretches and ask – why are these part of Transport for London's approved cycle network?".

TfL said it was making improvements to existing routes, "such as the recent lighting upgrade on Cycleway 49 in Ealing.

"We welcome this report from the London Cycling Campaign and will be carefully considering its recommendations," a spokesperson added.