How a myth about London bike lanes and congestion took off

Analysis: delving into news stories linking congestion with cycle lanes shows how troubling myths can escape into the wild

Fairly early on Monday morning last week I got a call from a radio station: could I come on to discuss a study showing London is the world's most congested city, and this is because of cycle lanes. Hang on, I replied - say all that again?

As it turned out, I never appeared (someone else got the part). But, intrigued, I looked into the research which supposedly showed all this. And that was when things started to get strange.