LONDON — Feel like living dangerously? Riding a bike in London will soon be more convenient, though it is unlikely to be any less scary.
Riders already dodge the city’s famed black cabs and double-decker buses — to say nothing of other cyclists.
A bike-rental program launched Friday by London Mayor Boris Johnson will add an additional 6,000 bikes to the capital’s congested streets. Under the initiative, cyclists will be able to rent bikes from 400 docking stations around town.
Johnson called it “a new dawn for the bicycle in the capital” — but veterans of the London cycling scene are bracing for a new era of transit mayhem.
Unlike Amsterdam, where bike paths are separated from the road by a curb, in London a white line is the only protection for cyclists.
Still, transport in London is expensive. A single trip on the Tube from Covent Garden to Hyde Park can set you back 4 pounds, or $6.25.
At $7.85 for a seven-day rental, London’s bike- rental plan is a better deal by far. And you’re spared the creaky, sweaty subway system.
Not only are bikes cheaper, they’re faster too.
In a race organized by a popular television show, “Top Gear,” a cyclist beat public transport, a motor boat and a Mercedes in a 17-mile race across London.
