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London Mayor to prioritise active travel and tackle congestionLondon cyclists (CC licensed by Ambernectar 13:Flickr)

London Mayor to prioritise active travel and tackle congestion

Plans to end deaths from left-turning lorries
by Sarah Barth
Sat, Aug 06, 2016 09:30
5

The London Mayor Sadiq Khan is to press ahead with plans for more ‘active transport’ to try to ease the capital’s traffic woes.

The Labour Mayor says more walking and cycling, and less driving, will help to reduce “toxic” air pollution as well as congestion - but accepts improvements need to be made to infrastructure if plans are to work.

Val Shawcross deputy mayor for transport, set out plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street and eliminate deaths of cyclists by left-turning lorries.

Ms Shawcross told the Evening Standard: “In City Hall, I hear him say, ‘How can we progress modal shift? How can we get people into active transport — walking, cycling and public transport?’ I think the result could be a sea change for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Earlier this week we reported how Khan has ordered Transport for London (TfL) to continue work on the CS11 route. Announcing the outcome of a consultation on the route, TfL said it would publish a decision on how to proceed later in the year.

The plans for CS11 have drawn no little controversy with much opposition centring on the closure of four of eight gates in Regent’s Park during the day.

A consultation on the route attracted 6,277 responses, with 53 per cent supporting and seven per cent part-supporting the plans. Of the 37 per cent opposed to the plans, longer delays resulting from the proposed removal of the Swiss Cottage gyratory were said to be “of particular concern.” A number of respondents also objected to the use of raised tables at junctions in Regent’s Park.

Announcing the outcome of the consultation, TfL said: “We are currently reviewing the proposals for CS11 in light of the consultation responses, in order to determine the best way forward. We continue to discuss the potential impacts of the proposals with key stakeholders,” adding: “We plan to publish our response to the issues raised during consultation, as well as a decision on how to proceed, later in 2016.”

Today, in a speech setting out Mr Khan’s vision, Ms Shawcorss spoke of a “pressing” need to pedestrianise Oxford Street before the opening of Crossrail in 2018.

“We do need to remove traffic to make Oxford Street work,” she said. “That is pressing on us now. When Crossrail’s central section opens in 2018, there will be hundreds of thousands more people coming into central London.”

She added: “It’s core activity for us — to make London a great city to cycle, a great city to walk, a great city to work.”

Matt Winfield, acting London director of Sustrans, said: “In terms of a statement of intent, it was as good as you could have reasonably expected. I think it’s exciting that Val was talking about changing the environment for all Londoners.”

London
Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan
Crossrail
oxford street

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5 comments

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burtthebike | 8 years ago
6 likes

"London Mayor to prioritise active travel and tackle congestion"

Most councils do this on paper, but something mysterious happens when they actually do anything, and they spend all the money on more roads.

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congokid replied to burtthebike | 8 years ago
2 likes

burtthebike wrote:

Most councils do this on paper, but something mysterious happens when they actually do anything, and they spend all the money on more roads.

 

The difference here is that it's the mayor, who so far seems determined to pick up where Boris left off.

 

I visited several London borough council websites to have a look at their cycling/active transport policies. Most didn't have anything of note and those that did all depended on grants from TfL for funding anything cycling related.

 

Many boroughs have LCC branches, but the majority seem to be very toothless. I think people need to ask their local councils directly what they are doing, keep asking, and take them to task for doing nothing.

 

I'd also suggest contacting their local big retailers such as supermarkets. Most near me have huge car parks - those have got to be expensive and no doubt that cost is included in the price of their goods. We already have evidence that cycling benefits retailers. Supermarkets are not usually slow to exploit avenues to increase their revenue, so I'm surprised they haven't already twigged that they ought to be doing more to encourage people on bikes to visit their stores.

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crazy-legs replied to congokid | 8 years ago
1 like

congokid wrote:

I'd also suggest contacting their local big retailers such as supermarkets. Most near me have huge car parks - those have got to be expensive and no doubt that cost is included in the price of their goods. We already have evidence that cycling benefits retailers. Supermarkets are not usually slow to exploit avenues to increase their revenue, so I'm surprised they haven't already twigged that they ought to be doing more to encourage people on bikes to visit their stores.

They won't because it's obvious that people in cars can buy more goods. Sure, they'll make a token effort, stick a few Sheffield racks somewhere round the back out of the way and claim they're going green but that's about it.

Avatar
bikebot replied to crazy-legs | 8 years ago
5 likes

crazy-legs wrote:

congokid wrote:

I'd also suggest contacting their local big retailers such as supermarkets. Most near me have huge car parks - those have got to be expensive and no doubt that cost is included in the price of their goods. We already have evidence that cycling benefits retailers. Supermarkets are not usually slow to exploit avenues to increase their revenue, so I'm surprised they haven't already twigged that they ought to be doing more to encourage people on bikes to visit their stores.

They won't because it's obvious that people in cars can buy more goods. Sure, they'll make a token effort, stick a few Sheffield racks somewhere round the back out of the way and claim they're going green but that's about it.

Are you suggesting that people who cycle regularly buy less food per week?

What is true, is that people who cycle tend to shop more frequently. The result is more support for the local highstreet, less for the big 24 hour hypermarkets with sprawling car parks. Basically, what most councils claim they want to support. Fairly sure there's an entry for this on cycling fallacies.

Avatar
burtthebike replied to congokid | 8 years ago
1 like

congokid wrote:

Many boroughs have LCC branches, but the majority seem to be very toothless. I think people need to ask their local councils directly what they are doing, keep asking, and take them to task for doing nothing.

Most local authorities have some kind of cycling advocacy group, whether it be LCC, CUK or a local group, but the one thing these groups all have in common is that they are toothless.  It is virtually impossible to hold local authorities to account for failing to carry out their own policies, and believe me, I've tried.  LAs all have the right policies in theory and spend vast amounts of money producing them and printing them on stacks of glossy paper, it's just that they have no actual intention of carrying them out.

The ombudsman system was relatively good when it started and it was possible to win, but over the years their remit has been whittled down to almost nothing and it is now so narrow that it is incredibly difficult to win a case with them.  We need some much modified type of ombudsman with actual powers to make local authorities follow their own policies.

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