Silvertown tunnel: TfL spends £2m on bike bus that cyclists 'don't want to use'
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Transport for London is spending almost £2m on a “bike bus” to transport cyclists through the Silvertown tunnel, The Standard can reveal. The figure emerged as concerns were raised about the way the shuttle bus will operate when the tunnel opens on Monday April 7 – and after TfL’s own consultation found that many cyclists were unlikely to use it.
Stagecoach was the only firm to bid for the contract, which it offered to run in return for £1,967,010 from TfL. The contract is believed to be for three years. The bike bus – which will not carry passengers without bikes - will be free to use for at least the first year.
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TfL announced on Monday that the Silvertown tunnel, which will link North Greenwich and the Royal Docks, will open in three months. Tolls of up to £4 per journey for car drivers will be imposed – including at the nearby Blackwall tunnel, for the first time in its 130-year-old history.
Cyclists will not be allowed to ride through either tunnel for safety reasons but will be able to load their bike onto the “bike bus” that will operate five times an hour from 6.30am to 9.30pm, seven days a week. However the bus stop it will use on the Greenwich peninsula is on a dual carriageway that is in an “extremely hostile” area for cyclists, according to one local critic.
