TfL Routing Sense Check

[numtumfutunch]

Hi

I need to get from Kings Cross to the Imperial War museum later this afternoon

Im an experienced cyclist and comfortable on the bike in London

My usual route would be across to just before the University on Tavistock Place, then head south on the west side of Russell Sq through Covent Garden to the Embankment and Westminster Bridge

Out of interest Ive just looked at the TfL journey planner which gives a fast, medium and 'safe' route

Safe is quite a long way east and Ive discounted it

Medium heads down Farringdon Rd and across Blackfriars Bridge. Theres a bit of nav to be done until it hits the cycle lane on Farringdon just before Clerkenwell and so Id probably need to have my phone handy, unfortunately I will not have a Garmin. Id welcome advice on if this route is really better/safer than my usual please

And finally the fast route goes past GOSH - all good to this point - then takes me on Kingsway over Waterloo bridge then round the IMAX roundabout which I really dont fancy

Thoughts welcome, and thanks

[qwerty360]

My experience of it is limited (only done similar route to TFL's fast recommendation once in the dark going towards Waterloo, and missed cycling/bus infra on Waterloo bridge (roadworks + dark + rain - it was clearly accessible somehow, but I couldn't tell you how...), but generally the river crossings are now fairly well set up for cycling;

Reality is that however you do it, if you have to get across the river your probably going to end up on a big, busy junction; I don't think the IMAX roundabout was significantly worse than Westminster bridge (where I have nearly been taken out by a bus and a motorbike illegally turning right from Embankment within 10s of each other...).




Personally I find the TFL routing to not be particularly good; As usual with a lot of these systems its way, way too eager to route several miles out of your way to use cycling infra rather than a direct road where traffic is only doing 5-15mph...


I doubt it makes much difference which way you go; the biggest issue is probably making a wrong turn when the routing tries to take you down a set of backroads with a dozen turns to avoid a parallel major road despite heavy traffic meaning your probably safer on the major road because you're second only to motorbikes in terms of actual speed along it...

[numtumfutunch]

Thanks, thats useful

I'll stick to my normal route

[balise]

I tend to follow routes I know - they're safer than having to look around and work out where to go.

Coming south from Farringdon over Blackfriars Bridge is a good example, the route is fiddly and there are lots of cyclist who know exactly where to go.

On new routes I use a map app with spoken directions playing into my headphones - not perfect but useful