Transport: On your bike: capital survey says pedal power is quickest

People wanting to get about London quickly should get a bike, a government survey out yesterday revealed.

Statistics from the Department of Transport showed the fastest journeys in and around the capital are those made by bicycle.

Worsening congestion has seen short trips of about five miles from inner London to the centre of the capital in 1996 took an average of 34 minutes by bicycle against 45 minutes by car, 45 minutes by rail and 64 minutes by bus.

Journeys of about 2.5 miles in central London were also best tackled with a bike. Those cycling took an average 18 minutes for such trips, while those in cars took 33 minutes, those on trains took 31 minutes and bus passengers took 38 minutes.

And things can only get worse, unless measures are introduced to restrain traffic. The survey showed that for all journeys except those made by bicycle, trips were slower on average in 1996 than they were in 1993. Car journey times rose by between 13% and 18% from 1993 to 1996.