End of an Immensely Prosperous Era at Old Trafford?

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Sir Alex Ferguson is stepping down as Manchester United’s manager after 26 incredible years at the helm. Under his stewardship, the club won 38 trophies including 13 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles.

Due to his remarkable record, Ferguson has become one of the most widely admired and respected figures in football history. He has won a whole plethora of awards including Manager of the Year the most times in the history of British football. In recognition of his achievements, he received a knighthood in 1999.

Ferguson certainly bowed out in style, with his side beating Swansea 2-1 through goals from Javier Hernández and Rio Ferdinand. An honour guard formed as the veteran manager made his way to the centre of Old Trafford for the presentation of the Premier League Trophy. Ferguson stood on the pitch, clutching a microphone and thanked the masses for their support.

“I have absolutely no script in my mind. I’m just going to ramble on and hope I get to the core of what this football club has meant to me. Thank you to Manchester United, not just the directors, coaching staff, medical staff, the players, the fans, all of you – you have been the most fantastic experience of my life, so thank you. I’ve been very fortunate. I have been able to manage some of the greatest players in the country, let alone Manchester United”, he said.

Ferguson went on to place the importance of the result on his players, remarking that “all the players here today have represented this club the proper way. They won the championship in a fantastic fashion, so well done to the players.” He later placed immense importance on supporting his successor, David Moyes, who will take over at Manchester United when the season ends.

For Moyes, stepping into Alex Ferguson’s shoes could prove an extremely challenging task. Ferguson did endure some difficult moments in the wake of his arrival in 1986, but quickly settled down, leading to success both on and off the pitch. Still, emulating his fellow Scot is going to prove extraordinarily difficult for Moyes.

It has become clear that Ferguson’s expertise will be sorely missed to the point where Manchester United’s long term prosperity could suffer. Is David Moyes the perfect man to take over the reigns? Why not somebody like Jose Mourinho? Both men have advantages over each other. Mourinho has won far more silverware than Moyes and the talented Portuguese manager also boasts immense European experience.

Moyes does hold some key advantages over his rivals, however. He has done well ever since he has joined Everton. His team has consistently finished higher and higher in the Premier League table in recent years. Ferguson was at Manchester United for 26 years and the club appears keen to avoid situations like those of rivals Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, who have juggled with managers over the past few seasons. Mourinho has changed clubs very often over the past decade, working at Real Madrid, Inter Milan and of course Chelsea.

Moyes has been at Everton since 2002 and has been praised widely by other managers for what he has managed to achieve on Merseyside with a limited budget. Senior figures at Old Trafford believe he has excellent ability when it comes to football management, and he is a far better long-term fit for the club. He is a very humble individual, enjoying a healthy relationship with his players and the press. Mourinho has often been labelled arrogant and has been widely criticised in Spain for his attitude to the press.

Manchester United will now find themselves hard pressed to repeat Alex Ferguson’s triumphs. With Moyes, they will have a manager untested in football’s top tier. With Wayne Rooney recently requesting a transfer, future success is far from assured. Is this the end of Manchester United’s prosperity or the beginning of a fruitful new era under the guidance of David Moyes? Time will tell.

Imagenote: Sean McEntee via Flickr

Bicycle Share Scheme on the Way to New York

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The concept has proven extraordinarily prosperous in cities across Europe including Barcelona, Dublin, London and Paris. Bike sharing is now coming to the Big Apple, with 330 stations containing 6,000 bicycles set to open across Manhattan and Brooklyn this month.

While most cities have welcomed the idea of bike sharing with open arms, some New Yorkers have voiced their opposition in an angry storm of protest. What is certainly most surprising is that most of the scheme’s antagonists stem from more traditionally relaxed and bohemian districts including the West Village, Battery City Park and Brooklyn’s Fort Greene.

The advantages of bike sharing schemes like Citi Bike certainly seem to outweigh the disadvantages. Less traffic on the street leads to cleaner air for pedestrians, less noise pollution and of course, an increased level of physical fitness. So what irked some New Yorkers to the point where one shouted to a chorus of cheers, “I don’t care what they do in Paris, I live in New York City!”

Public hygiene for one. Many residents are fearful that the shiny new bike stations will quickly become urinals for dogs…and perhaps for people as well. Others claimed that the parked bicycles could impede access to apartment blocks for the fire department, creating a risk to public safety.

Opposition was physical as well as verbal. Business owners and residents alike have claimed that the bike stations are destroying precious parking spaces in Manhattan. A restaurant owner staged a sit-down protest when one of the facilities was being installed, and he was almost arrested in the process.

Some flak was directed at Citi Bike’s primary sponsor, Citibank who are investing $41 million in the project. In Fort Greene, leaflets appeared on the new bike stations, proclaiming that “residential landmark blocks are not for advertising or commercial activity”, a move targeting Citibank and reminiscent of the district’s bohemian past.

The struggle to introduce bicycle stands has starkly illustrated to extent to which New York has changed. The criticism is a far cry from the good old laid back New York of the 1960s and 1970s, when entire blocks were bulldozed to create parking lots and streets for the automobile. Today, it sadly seems that cycling is lagging far behind in its popularity as a mode of transport.

Fear and panic of bicycles has even resulted in a lawsuit from the residents of a 100 year old apartment block who fear the value of their building will fall due to an invasion of cyclists on the pavement in front. Knocking down pedestrians seems to be a major fear amongst New Yorkers.

Nevertheless, despite the storm of protest, the scheme is being welcomed by the overwhelming majority of New York’s citizens. Polls suggest around 70% of the city’s population approve of Citi Bike. Initiatives to lessen traffic and pollution in New York have proven successful, such as the pedestrianisation of Times Square.

Prosperity is certainly envisaged for Citi Bank, which should create a quieter, less congested, greener and fitter New York. Hopefully, by then, the scheme’s detractors will have come to realise how beneficial bike sharing really is.

Imagenote: David Hawgood/Wikimedia/CC

Dreamliner Returns to the Skies

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Considering its vital importance to Boeing, Allowing Prosperity has closely followed the grounding of the company’s state of the art Dreamliner. Constructed from lightweight composite materials, the aircraft offers customers vastly improved fuel efficiency blended with cutting-edge technology.

Airlines all over the world have eagerly purchased the Boeing 787, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, where customers have been keen to make savings on their important long-haul routes. Unfortunately, this has not come to pass due to issues with the aircraft’s battery system. Two aircraft suffered battery-related fires in January, prompting aviation authorities to ground the entire fleet until the problems were remedied.

After a major investigation, Boeing has decided to implement a redesigned battery system. The company’s engineers have been dispatched to customers worldwide to carry out repairs on 50 grounded 787s. The work involves encasing the battery within a stainless steel box which should eliminate the problem and any possible risk of fire.

According to the Guardian, Boeing’s manager of regulatory administration calculated that the problems are most unlikely to reoccur. While briefing the National Transport Safety Board, Martin Robinett calculated there was a one-in-10-million chance of a “major or more severe” failure, while the likelihood of a “catastrophic” event was put at one in a billion.

Boeing’s chairman and chief executive, Jim McNerney, has confirmed that fleet wide repair work should be finished within one month while deliveries of new Dreamliners will restart at the beginning of May. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave the go ahead to fix the problematic batteries last week and it was not long before several aircraft were successfully modified. The FAA subsequently issued a formal ‘air worthiness’ directive, allowing modified 787s to fly.

Ethiopian Airlines became the first airline to fly a 787 since the aircraft was grounded when one of their aircraft flew passengers from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on Saturday. An All Nippon Airways 787 also took to the skies in Japan on Sunday for a two hour test flight.

These two flights will lead to an enormous sense of relief for Boeing, who have not disclosed the cost of the long-running 787 saga. They have stated that they are in daily contact with customers, though details of compensation will remain confidential. Experts have suggested the cost of the battery modifications could run to somewhere in the region of $600 million. The FAA has said that the cost of eliminating problems in United Airlines’ six 787s could cost $2.8 million. Hundreds of cancelled flights and massive revenue losses from affected airlines are almost certainly going to result in a hefty compensation bill for Boeing.

Imagenote: Russavia/Wikimedia/CC

No Prosperous Monday in Europe as Lufthansa Strikes

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Passengers experienced enormous disruption across Europe on Monday as Lufthansa staged its second strike in the space of a month over worker’s pay. Europe’s largest airline cancelled 1,700 flights, leaving just 32 running.

All of Germany’s largest airports were affected, including Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich. 20 out of 1,650 short-haul flights operated as normal on Monday, while a mere 12 out of 70 long-haul flights avoided strike action.

The cancellation of so many long-haul flights was a new feature of this particular strike. Even though the airline offered alternative bookings, the crippling action caused chaos across Europe and even further afield, with an estimated 150,000 passengers grounded.

The scale of the strike was also unusual, given that talks are still in their early stages. Short warning strikes often occur in Germany, but a full scale day of action is quite rare at this stage of negotiations. Indeed, Lufthansa has claimed that the extent of the strike is completely out of proportion with the situation.

Trade union Verdi represents 33,000 Lufthansa workers who are requesting a 5.2 percent rise in pay in addition to reassurances on job security. They are hoping the scale of this strike will put pressure on the airline’s upper management to improve a previous offer which the union labelled “scandalous”, according to Reuters.

That previous offer entailed a salary rise of 1.2 percent, followed by 0.5 percent a year later. Unfortunately, it also failed to take job security into account, resulting in immense dissatisfaction. 2,000 employees kicked off their protest at Frankfurt airport on Monday morning, blowing whistles, chanting and waving flags.

Despite the loud voices of protest, the situation soon quietened in Frankfurt airport. Unlike the previous strike, there was a distinct lack of long queues and chaotic scenes. Most Germans were informed about the action and the majority remained at home. Some foreigners were experiencing difficulty, voicing concern and dissatisfaction at the almost total lack of flights.

When Europe’s largest airline is grounded, prosperity suffers severely, with business travellers and holidaymakers stranded alike. The strike has certainly made an impact on the German economy and Lufthansa will be keen to avoid any repeat of Monday. Both sides are hopeful that a solution will be found in the near future.

Imagenote: UggBoy♥UggGirl || PHOTO || WORLD || TRAVEL || via Flickr

Real Madrid Overtake Manchester United to become World’s Richest Club

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According to Forbes Magazine, Real Madrid has overtaken Manchester United to become the world’s wealthiest football club. The Spanish giants are now valued at $3.3 billion with the Manchester club following closely, worth $3.17 billion. Real Madrid’s arch rivals, Barcelona, come third with $2.2 billion.

The news will come as a blow to Manchester United who have been ousted from the top spot for the very first time since Forbes began compiling the ratings in 2004. Real Madrid fans have many reasons to be optimistic – their club is experiencing a period of unrivalled prosperity. In addition to beating Manchester United in business, they also bested them on the sports field, eliminating them from this season’s Champions League.

Real Madrid’s revenue surged by 76% and Manchester United’s rose 42% from one year ago. Arsenal followed Barcelona into fourth spot with $1.33 billion while Bayern Munich completed the top five. The Bundesliga club is valued at $1.31 billion. The top 20 clubs in world football are worth an average of $926 million. This represents an increase of 26% on last year’s figures, according to Forbes.

In order to compile its figures, Forbes analyses the revenue streams of football clubs including television money, ticket sales and merchandise. These have proven strong outlets for Real Madrid, despite Spain’s economic meltdown. Much of the club’s success has been attributed to billionaire president Florentino Perez. He injected millions into the club, purchasing talented footballers, winning trophies and expanding all business streams.

After superstars Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham arrived at the club, sales of merchandise skyrocketed. Lucrative television deals followed while a major renovation of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium doubled match-day revenue in the space of five years. Despite Spain’s economic woes, Real Madrid manage to constantly fill their 85,000 capacity stadium. Last year, match day revenue topped $160 million.

One of the strangest aspects of Real Madrid’s sudden surge to prosperity is the fact that superstars are forced to chip in with a portion of their external sponsorship deals. This can often amount to half of a footballer’s external income. Jersey sales are also split, to the chagrin of those involved. Rumours have abounded regarding Christiano Ronaldo’s unhappiness with this strategy, fuelling speculation that Real Madrid’s prize asset may be set to move elsewhere.

Despite the fact that Real Madrid is now the world’s richest club, officials will need to work hard in order to stay at the top of Forbes’ list. Manchester United has twice the amount of overseas fans as Real Madrid, and this is a very important financial opportunity for the Spanish club. Friendly matches in the United States, China and the Middle East have significantly bolstered the ranks of Real Madrid’s fans abroad. It appears that Florentino Perez certainly knows how to run a football club. As long as Real Madrid continue to attract huge audiences and top talent, the club’s days of prosperity are set to continue long into the future.

Imagenote: marcp_dmoz via Flickr

The Australian Feral Camel Infestation: Any End to their Prosperity?

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When most people think of Australian wildlife, they picture iconic animals like kangaroos, koalas, emus and wombats. Few think of the country’s massive and problematic camel population. Since their introduction to Australia in the late 19th century to assist travellers with heavy loads, the camels have traversed the red sands of the outback at a pace of roughly 70km per day. Their numbers doubled every 9 years, finally reaching one million.

In fact, this huge number represents the largest camel herd in the world. The population explosion has caused enormous problems for small communities in the outback. The camels compete with livestock for food and water, often trampling vegetation. They arrive in rural towns and strip the plants bare before proceeding to tear up water pipes and damage property.

Perhaps most worrying of all is the fact that the camels threaten native Australian species. A large herd can arrive at a waterhole used by local animals and drink it dry in a matter of hours. The economic consequences have also proven costly. It is estimated that losses in grazing land due to camels has reached upwards of AS $10m. The problem grew so extreme that the federal government set AS $19m aside in an attempt to control the population.

Various ideas were put forward on how to dent the prosperity of the wandering beasts. Many experts favoured a cull. One particular idea involved shooting the camels from helicopters in much the same way American hunters controlled Alaska’s burgeoning wolf population. Others started capturing camels and selling them overseas for meat consumption and tourism. This proved highly successful but the difficulty and manpower involved in capturing numerous large camels prevented it from effectively reducing numbers.

Some scientists favoured administering camels with some form of birth control. However, this idea quickly lost traction. It soon became apparent that an infertile camel could live on for at least 30 more years – 30 more years of havoc for Australia.  In the end, demands for a cull won out. Hunters working for the Australian Feral Camel Management Project shot the camels at a rate that eventually reached 75,000 per year.

In early 2013, an interesting discussion ensued regarding the allocation of carbon credits for slaughtered animals. The sheer number of camels in Australia results in massive greenhouse gas emissions through flatulence. A private company called Northwest Carbon wanted to kill the camels in return for credits under the country’s carbon farming initiative. However, this was dismissed by the Australian government, who claimed that the company were not providing enough information on how to implement the project. Even though observers remarked that this was a setback in controlling the camel population, initial efforts have indeed proven successful.

The cull, combined with a tough drought, led to a dramatic fall in the amount of camels roaming the outback. By 2013, the population had declined by a quarter, dropping to 750,000. More work will have to be carried out to limit the destruction created by the animals. It is very important to emphasise that Australians do not want to eradicate the feral camel from their country entirely. They merely want to control the population and eliminate its destructive nature. If the cull and drought continues at its current pace, the Australian Feral Camel Management Project will have succeeded in wrestling prosperity away from the camels and putting it within reach of smaller communities in central Australia. Rural Australians have reason to be optimistic.

Imagenote: Luca Zappa via Flickr

Prosperity of the Phone box Petering Out?

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Phone boxes, phone booths, payphones – call them what you want, it looks like their days are numbered anyway. They’re definitely an endangered species in every 21st century urban environment, with observers constantly predicting their demise and disappearance from our street corners. Has the smartphone revolution consigned the quintessential phone box to obsolescence?

While many people would say yes, New York is saying no. The Big Apple once had upwards of 35,000 phone boxes. Today, that number has fallen drastically to just 11,000. That’s 11,000 phone boxes in a city with 19 million inhabitants. These days, public phones in New York lie neglected and disused, covered in graffiti. The city is due to overhaul its payphone network in 2014 and has held the ‘Reinvent Payphone challenge’ in a bid to revolutionise the phones, which have remained largely unchanged for decades.

The criteria for winning entries were connectivity, creativity, visual design, functionality and community impact. In the end, 125 physical and virtual prototypes were submitted in total from urban planners, designers and technology experts. Judges selected six winners, one of which will bring New York’s antiquated payphone network into the 21st century.

One entry, called ‘the Beacon’, won the prize for best visual design. Standing 12-feet tall, the Beacon will be equipped with LED screens, enabling it to bring in substantial advertising revenue. The screens could also be adapted during public events like the NYC marathon or the Saint Patrick’s Day parade, providing runners or crowds with useful information. The lower level of the unit will serve New York’s community with local message boards and of course, the public phone.

The decidedly minimalist ‘Smart Sideways’ prototype won out in the best functionality category, acting as a WiFi hub, cellphone charging point and giant touchscreen. The entire unit is a mere six inches wide and extraordinary thin. It’s all powered by solar energy and collects information on foot traffic, rainfall and temperature. As of yet, New York has not chosen its new phone box, if that term is still applicable.

One thing has become readily apparent throughout the ‘Reinvent Payphone challenge’, and that’s a burning desire to narrow the gap between the cellphone and the payphone. As a result, the new designs submitted to the event feature charging points for cellphones and WiFi to ease the burden on the cellular network. As attractive as this may seem, and as promising as public databanks certainly are, immense scepticism is still sweeping across the city.

Of course, cellphone technology is progressing extraordinarily quickly. Even though most of the prototypes submitted to the challenge seem cutting-edge and state of the art, it is quite possible that swift technological advances will also render them obsolete, in much the same way as standard phone boxes. This would mean a substantial investment to modernise New York’s payphones with little or no return on that investment. Would it make more sense to abolish the concept of payphones entirely and fully embrace mobile technology?

Most analysts believe that some form of universal phone access is still necessary, despite age and cost. The original idea behind the payphone was to provide universal communicative access to everyone, especially the vulnerable and poor. In its current state, however, the phone box will never survive. It’s time for the public payphone to follow the cellphone into the 21st century and undergo a vital technological evolution – namely data. Scepticism abounded when cellphones first went online – over zealous data charges coupled with a poor and slow network initially deterred users.

However, the creation of an efficient data network, well-designed apps and readily affordable contracts transformed the cellphone experience. Google Maps, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks are becoming vital 21st century navigation and communication tools. Yet they aren’t available to everyone, just computer, smartphone and tablet owners. Far from the phone boxes’ prosperity petering out, a much needed facelift and leap forward could completely reinvent it. A phone box revolution could lead to a universal mobile technology revolution. All eyes are now on New York and the outcome of this exciting experiment. Will the phone box become extinct in the next decade? Time will tell…

Imagenote: Simon Pearce/Wikimedia/CC

Airbus and Boeing Secure Major Deals

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It has been a busy week in the battle between Airbus and Boeing for dominance of the skies. While the bitter rivalry between the two companies will centre on the advanced fuel-efficient and wide-body Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 for the foreseeable future, both made major gains in the narrow-body market in the past week.

It started when Airbus announced two massive deals for the sale of 351 A320 aircraft to Turkish Airlines and Lion Air, an Indonesian budget airline. After emerging from relative obscurity, Lion Air has started expanding at a rapid pace and the firm placed an order for 230 737s in 2011, the largest order in Boeing’s history.

Now, it is turning to Airbus and has secured a deal for 234 A320 series aircraft. The contract is valued at $24 billion and it’s the very first between Lion Air and Airbus. Interestingly, Lion Air is banned from flying in the European Union due to safety concerns and it will be interesting to observe whether the Airbus deal will overturn that ruling.

Turkish Airlines ordered 117 A320 series aircraft –  25 A321s, 4 A320 NEOs, 53 A321 NEOs and options on a further 35 A321 NEOs. This represents the largest ever aircraft order by a Turkish airline and deliveries are due to start in 2015. This will bring Turkish Airlines’ fleet to 375.

Not to be undone, details started emerging several days later of a major deal for Boeing. Ryanair signed an order for 175 new Boeing 737s in New York, worth approximately $15.6 billion at current list prices. Presently, the Irish airline has 300 aircraft and the new order will increase this to 400, as older aircraft will be retired. Capacity will increase by 25% to 100 million passengers by 2018, according to Ryanair.

The Boeing 737-800 has a list price of $89.1 million but large orders incur steep discounts. Ryanair’s controversial chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has a reputation for securing bulk aircraft orders at bargain prices. Some analysts believe Ryanair may have secured the 737s for as little as $40 million apiece, though Boeing and its customer are remaining tight-lipped on any details.

According to Reuters, O’Leary said that “this deal embeds our cost advantage and pricing advantage over our European competitors and they all understand that”. He went on to say that “hopefully, it will help refocus people’s minds on the fact that Boeing continues to deliver great aircraft and is growing strongly, rather than a minor issue on the 787”. Indeed the timing of the order may prove crucial for Boeing who are struggling with their next-generation 787 Dreamliner after battery units went on fire. Even though the Airbus A320 is being upgraded with more fuel-efficient engines in 2016, O’Leary maintained that the extra 9 seats in the Boeing 737-800 would prove more valuable to his company in the long run.

These massive orders are going to prove hugely beneficial to Airbus and Boeing in a time of tremendous economic uncertainty. According to French President Francois Hollande, the Lion Air and Turkish Airlines deals are going to create 5,000 new jobs over a 10-year period. Ryanair confirmed that their 737 order will lead to 3,000 new jobs for pilots, cabin staff and engineers, enabling the airline to expand at a rate of 5% per annum over a period of several years.

So it appears that prosperity abounds for the ferocious rivals. The next chapter in the battle between Airbus and Boeing will be written about fuel efficiency. The Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 will be one the frontline, as will a whole host of new generation 737s and A320s.

Imagenote: Adrian Pingstone/Wikimedia/CC

Falkland Islanders Choose to Remain British

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In a message of defiance aimed at the Argentinean government, the people of the Falklands Islands have voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory. The question put to the electorate of 1,650 was: “do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom?”

The turnout was 92% despite horrendous weather conditions and all but three of the islanders voted yes. The landslide ‘yes’ was expected and is being viewed as a display of unity by the population of the isolated islands in increasingly challenging times. Argentina’s government dismissed the poll as illegal and the country’s senate is now working on a motion to reject the result.

The government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Fiery commented on the situation with typical fiery rhetoric. “We must denounce this trickery that pretends to represent the popular participation of an implanted population. This publicity stunt has no validity for international law,” said Senator Daniel Filmus, a close collaborator of the president, according to the Guardian.

Indeed, President Kirchner has been pressing to reassert Argentina’s territorial claims over the Falklands, while the country’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom questioned the island’s capacity to survive 8,000 miles away from London. After approaching the United Nations for support, Argentina has upped the ante substantially by persuading fellow South American countries to turn away ships registered in the Falklands and subjecting any companies dealing with the islands to sanctions.

Meanwhile, the islanders celebrated the result of the referendum long into the night. CNN carried a quote from Sharon Halford, a member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. “My vote is yes. … I believe we are like other people in the world, and we are entitled to determine our own future. … I think it’s dreadful that someone like Argentina should be trying to deny us that. They obviously don’t care what their own people think, but worldwide, everybody has the right to determine their own future and why should we not be the same.”

British foreign secretary, William Hague, stated categorically that all countries should accept the result of the referendum. They should also support the Falkland islanders in their attempts to develop their home and economy and wish them every success in their efforts. However, his comments are unlikely to change opinion in Argentina where 89% of the population supports the sovereignty claims of Buenos Aires.

Why are both countries so enthusiastic about these isolated and seemingly barren islands? They have been long viewed as a strategic stopover for shipping with a wealth of natural resources. These include lucrative and unspoiled fishing grounds along with a growing oil-drilling industry.

Of course, the islands became so prosperous and coveted during the 1980s that Argentina invaded the territory, resulting in the 1982 Falklands War. 255 British soldiers and civilians perished in the conflict, while 645 Argentineans lost their lives. Argentina’s rejection of the referendum result is almost certain to inflame tension in the South Atlantic but two things are sure. The islanders want to remain part of the United Kingdom and their prosperity is going to continue under the British flag for the immediate future.

Imagenote: John 5199 via Flickr

London’s Cyclists Set for Prosperity?

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London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, hasn’t always been popular with the capital’s cyclists. True, he cycles to work every day and implemented a successful bicycle sharing scheme. However, he quickly attracted the ire of fellow bike-users after claiming that 62% of accidents in London where cyclists were killed or injured were as a result of the rider breaking the law. When it emerged that the statistic didn’t exist, Johnson failed to apologise for his false statement.

He also irritated cyclists further when he appointed a supportive journalist named Andrew Gilligan as his “cycling commissioner”. Apart from riding a bike, he did not seem qualified for the position. In hindsight, it now appears that the cynics will be proved wrong. Johnson, Gilligan, and Peter Hendy, London’s transport head, have been mulling some groundbreaking ideas.

London is a massive city. With more then eight million inhabitants, the United Kingdom’s capital has been forced to confront the issues of heavy traffic and pollution head on. In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced in an attempt to eliminate some of the city’s traffic problems. This has proven groundbreaking for London. Boris Johnson and transport officials are ready to implement another plan, one which could reshape London for decades and give the city back to the people.

Generally, it’s no secret that urban society is constructed for the automobile, and London is no exception. The mayor is planning to change that, remove even more cars from the capital’s streets and get more people cycling. If more people travel around the city by bicycle, cars will become fewer and fewer, smog will disappear, and more seats will become available on the tube and bus network.

The core of the plan is the so-called “Crossrail for the bike”, a 15 mile bike lane across central London. Sections of the Embankment and the Westway will become the realm of the bike, affording cyclists scenic views and most importantly, safety. The whole plan will cost around £900 million and see the extension of cycling lanes to the suburbs in a grandiose plan aimed at Londoners ditching their cars. Done correctly, it is hoped that these plans could become a template for most British cities.

Infrastructure for cycling in London and other cities was very much an afterthought of the urban planning process. However, Johnson now wants the bicycle to become the core of London’s transportation strategy. Can it be done? It will take a monumental effort to increase the number of cyclists to match those in Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Somebody needs to think big and speak up on behalf of cyclists. A cycling revolution is very much possible and for London’s riders, it looks like prosperity is just around the corner. Boris Johnson could yet prove the saviour of the cyclist in London.

Imagenote: Gerry Lynch/Wikimedia/CC