And on a slightly different note, can I just mention that bloody idiot
pedestrians who casually walk across crossings a good 4-5 seconds
after their light has gone red, are equally, if not more so, to blame
for congestion in cities. But do they get fined? Do they ****. I've
not heard of a single prosecution for anything like the offence known
as jaywalking in the states.

Charing X road (outside Leicester Sq tube) is a favourite for that one.
Almost cycled into one (pdestiran) there today, they were not even looking
if any traffic was coming (me on my bike + big Mercedes).

It's that exact area that I was thinking about actually. Particularly the
Cambridge Circus junction approaching from Holborn on Shaftesbury Avenue,
and crossing Picadilly Circus (well, right next to it anyway) from Great
Windmill Street, going over to Haymarket. The timing of the traffic lights
is designed to let approximately x cars through, and it is a right royal
pain in the neck when ignorant pedestrians reduce this on many occasions to
less than half what it should be.

Peter