London safe cycling map took 3,000 hours to build

Aydin Crouch spent over five years and more than 3,000 hours creating SafeCycleLDN, a colour‑coded map of London cycle routes that the London Cycling Campaign has endorsed.

Aydin Crouch spent five years mapping which London roads, paths and parks are safest to cycle. He began the project after friends said they were too scared to cycle and expanded the work from a few known routes into a citywide resource. The map, called SafeCycleLDN, combines hours of field observation with online mapping and input from other cyclists. The London Cycling Campaign has endorsed the map as a useful resource. Key facts: - Aydin Crouch, 34, reports he spent more than 3,000 hours over five years developing the SafeCycleLDN map. - The map uses colour coding to show permanent cycle lanes, paths that are loosely separated from traffic, and roads shared with vehicles; it also notes park routes closed at night and planned cycle lanes. - SafeCycleLDN has been viewed more than 1.3 million times since 2021, with almost 1,000,000 users in the past year. - The London Cycling Campaign helped with early mapping and has publicly endorsed the project as a resource for route planning and campaigning. - The article cites official figures for 2024 showing nearly 1,000 cyclists were seriously injured on London roads, nine were killed, and about 3,800 sustained lighter injuries. - Transport for London told the article it has expanded the cycleway network from 90km in 2016 to over 430km and works with boroughs and third-party app providers to improve routing. Summary: The map aims to make it easier to identify safer cycling routes across London and to highlight where a joined-up network is still incomplete. Aydin hopes navigation apps will integrate his data, and Transport for London says it engages with third-party providers to improve routing and promote the cycleway network.