Looks like your typical highway map doesn’t it? Except this isn’t for cars, this is the map for London’s new bicycle superhighway system. Check out the full size map with legend here.

From London Mayor Boris Johnson, “These radial routes are set to transform our great city into one where cycling is the first choice for many thousands of Londoners. As well as being good for your health and wallet, encouraging more people to commute to work by bike will in turn help us improve air quality, cut carbon emissions and reduce congestion on the transport network.”

Here are some of the notables:

- The first two of twelve routes (in red on the map) opened on July 19, 2010.
- It’s partially paid for and sponsored by Barclays bank, branded the Barclays Cycle Superhighway (think corporate-named stadiums).
- The City of London plans to invest £116M (~$177M U.S.) on cycling in 2010, £23M of it on the cycle superhighway.
- Around 5000 cycle journeys are currently made everyday on the two routes, with plans to increase to 27,000 by 2013.
- The majority of superhighway lanes will be at 1.5m (~5 ft) wide, textured and painted blue.
- 5000 new cycle parking spaces for the first two routes, with 66,000 new parking spaces overall by 2012.
- The next two routes will open is summer 2011, and the rest by 2015.

An important note is that this is just a start. The first two routes are considered pilots, which you can see in the promotional video below. Many Londoners are already saying the lanes need further distinction from auto traffic, which you can read about in a BBC report, How super? What cyclists make of superhighways. Let’s see what the crowd can do about it. They could also use some branding help from these guys. Stay tuned.