Camden cycles through the Tube strike

When the London tube strike hit from Sunday 7th to Thursday 11th September, Camden kept moving in style. As trains paused, thousands of residents and visitors hopped on their bikes or set out on foot to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and freedom!

Camden’s open cycle counter data shows just how many people turned to two wheels. Across Camden, weekday cycle journeys rose by 65% compared with the same days in previous weeks, and by 85% compared to one week earlier.

Monday saw the biggest rise with a 78% increase in cycling. Every strike day, from Sunday to Thursday, saw a strong uplift, showing how quickly people adapt when streets are safe and welcoming for cyclists.

The biggest surges came from routes with the borough’s best cycling infrastructure: Tavistock Place, Gordon Square, Gray’s Inn Road and Gower Street. Several sensors in these areas more than doubled their counts, logging thousands of extra journeys each day. Tavistock Place saw 4000 extra cycle journeys on Tuesday of the strike.

How Camden compared with the rest of London

While TfL recorded 5,898 Santander bike hires on Tuesday, up 72% week on week (cyclingweekly.com), Camden counters were up 80% for the same day.

Lime bikes also saw large jumps in morning rides (7–11am): 50%, 58%, 74% and 70% from Monday to Thursday (standard.co.uk). Camden cycle counter numbers were even stronger: 80%, 80%, 104% and 79% over those same days.

A citywide survey by YouGov and Lime found that 21% of Londoners cycled during the strike, and 28% said they’re now more likely to cycle in the future. That’s a positive sign that these moments of disruption can spark new travel habits (standard.co.uk).

Tell us about your ride!

Did you cycle during the strike? We’d love to hear how it went. What worked well, what could be better, and what would make travelling by bike in Camden even more fun and safe.

Share your story with us at suzanne@camdencyclists.org.uk or on bluesky.

🚲 🚲 HAPPY CYCLING ! 🚲 🚲

How we worked out the numbers

We analysed data only from the 100 cycling sensors showing stable readings over the seven weeks before the strike. For each day, we compared the counts against the average of the seven preceding weeks, providing a stable baseline.

This method was more reliable than a comparison with just the week before. The previous week happened to be rainy, lowering cycling volumes by around 15% on Wednesday alone.

You can browse and download the cycle counter data on Camden’s open data portal.