Cycling "Crossrail" to be created

The Mayor's vision for a "tube network for the bike" Credit: City Hall

The Mayor of London has announced details of his £913 million vision for cycling in the capital.

The Mayor's plans include a so-called "tube network for the bike" - a number of joined up cycle routes, some of which will run in parallel with underground, rail and bus routes.

These will be signed and branded to match, with names like the "Bakerloo Superhighway" and the "Circle Quietway".

Some one-way streets will become two-way for bikes, and cycle lanes will have names to mirror bus routes or tube lines.

But motoring organisations are likely to have thoughts on the Westway losing a lane to vehicles.

And there is another potential hole in the Mayor's ambitious plans - most roads are controlled by London's boroughs not by City Hall.

Sir Peter Hendy, the head of Transport for London, said that the success of the Olympics showed that it was possible to take some space away from traffic without causing gridlock.

12 facts about cycling in London

  • Some councils offer free cycle training to those who have never cycled before or want to brush up on their skills

  • "Boris bikes" or the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme was introduced in 2010 but was actually first suggested by Ken Livingstone after being inspired by the Paris velib scheme

  • There are 570 docking station throughout central London hosting 8,000 bikes . By the end of this year there will be around 11,000 of the bikes in the capital

  • There are 12 cycling super highways in London, the first two of which were introduced in 2010, all leading into central London

  • Regular users of the scheme can register on the TfL website and sign up for one of three levels of access: daily, weekly or yearly. Users are then sent a key in the post to operate the docking stations. Alternatively users can pay for a single trip using credit or debit cards at the docking points

  • Bikes can only be taken on some sections of the Underground. And then only at certain times

  • Cycling is only allowed on designated routes in the Royal Parks

  • Cycling on London’s main roads has risen by 173 per cent since 2001

  • However some one-way streets are actually two way for cyclists in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea

  • In 2002, there were 109 million cycle trips and 20 cyclist deaths in London. Per trip, you had a 5.5million-to-one chance of being killed and a 264,000-to-one chance of serious injury. By 2011, the last full data year, the number of cycle trips had risen to 182 million – but deaths had fallen to 16. The number of trips is now estimated to half a million a day

  • The average London cyclist, using his or her bike 150 days a year, saves just under £800 a year in transport fares, even after the cost of the bike, maintenance and equipment are included

  • A cycling weekend called Ride London will take place in August with a free cycle through the capital on the Saturday and an 100 mile challenge on the Sunday.

Boris Johnson has been speaking to our Political Correspondent Simon Harris about the details of his "cycling vision".