[tarpherder]

The first is pretty good I'd say.

That second shot shows nicely why that particular solution doesn't work; cyclists take to the sidewalk as the road is too crowded and dangerous.

[BerislavLopac]

Exactly. I chose both photos carefully; the first one does look okay indeed, but note the location of the bus stop. Unfortunately pedestrians (especially tourists; we're talking about central London here) often don't realise there are fast moving vehicles on that blue strip.