London's transport Strategy

[craigbroadbent]

"The success of London’s future transport system relies upon reducing Londoners’ dependency on cars in favour of increased walking, cycling and public transport use."
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/our-vision-transport/mayors-transport-strategy-2018
A bit of a long read 163 pages.

[reohn2]

I've not read the report,but it seems a logical step to me to stop cars driving into town and city centres along with improving public transport that's clean and green, and making it compulsory for deliveries either outside working hours when there's least foot fall or using smaller electric or similar powered clean running vehicles.
IMHO the UK for the most part has dragged it's feet on such issues for decades,with public transport and transport strategy in an appalling state in favour of the private vehicle instead of decent,clean,affordable and regular joined up public transport system,that works andd not the hotch potch w now have,it began with privatistion and we know who to blaim for that.

[Pete Owens]

That strategy looks very very good.

There is a relentless focus on reducing the volume of motorised traffic - as opposed to most documents of this nature that have a lot of greenwash about promoting alternative forms of transport to surrounding a strategy that involves building more roads to solve congestion. It is explicit that you cannot solve congestion by traffic management - you have to move to forms of transport that use road space efficiently.

It is serious about tackling air quality - with a plan that involves taking action rather than the typical proposals just to monitor how bad it is.

It is serious about road danger reduction - with a long term ambition to eliminate road deaths - built also a target to reduce casualties by 65% by 2022.

It looks like a more sophisticated charging regime will be on its way + low emission zones.

It recognises the importance of land use planning - encouraging high density mixed-use development.

It does seem to loose its way with the Silvertown Tunnel and other road building in the pipeline in the East of London.

[The utility cyclist]

"The success of London’s future transport system relies upon reducing Londoners’

That would be a far better solution if you ask me

Seriously though how many people in London actually have cars and use them on a daily basis for work.shopping etc? How does that compare to people commuting in from outside the region?
I was chatting with a guy on Sunday and he'd recently moved from London and he and his wife (both in their 30s) didn't own a car and just used public transport, there is probably a significantly high % of people in London in exactly the same boat.

Maybe if the powers that be simply taxed people a ridiculous amount to have a car in London and or to drive through it that would change things and remove the seemingly free/very low cost on street parking (we should do this nationally in any case)

[Cyril Haearn]

The focus should be on reducing travel full stop, not sure how that would work in London but walking is great, I walked 4 km after supper yesterday just for fun

I do dislike hearing 'we should encourage more cycling'*, makes me reach for the off switch
Less motor traffic is the thing, some will walk instead, some cycle (or stay home one hopes), some go by tube*

* Just heard that the DB, German railway, hopes to double the number of passengers carried by 2030, perverse!

[PRL]

The focus should be on reducing travel full stop, not sure how that would work in London but walking is great, I walked 4 km after supper yesterday just for fun

I do dislike hearing 'we should encourage more cycling'*, makes me reach for the off switch

What about the benefits of exercise , walking is surely travel too ? No harm in travel if fossil fuels are not involved.

[reohn2]

The focus should be on reducing travel full stop, not sure how that would work in London but walking is great, I walked 4 km after supper yesterday just for fun

But not everyone is so inclined and cycling is quicker,which,like it or not matters to people,and requires less physical effort.
Mrs R2 has a disability which means she can't walk very far,she'd be on the absolute limit at 4km and would need to rest afterwards.However she can cycle 15km comfortably on flat terrain and she can extend that greatly with the aid of a pedelec.

I do dislike hearing 'we should encourage more cycling'*, makes me reach for the off switch
Less motor traffic is the thing, some will walk instead, some cycle (or stay home one hopes), some go by tube*

The reduction in traffic by a great extent in towns and cities and laws that give self propelled means of transport priority over motors would automatically encourage cycling IMO.

* Just heard that the DB, German railway, hopes to double the number of passengers carried by 2030, perverse!

Why is that perverse?
If the rail network's capacity is doubled then those extra passengers will come from somewhere,I'm supposing that will be from road travel which the greatest proportion will be single occupancy private cars.This is good for the environment,good for other traffic such as deliveries and tradesmen,etc,who need to travel by road.

[reohn2]

Maybe if the powers that be simply taxed people a ridiculous amount to have a car in London and or to drive through it that would change things and remove the seemingly free/very low cost on street parking (we should do this nationally in any case)

I'm assuming you mean to bring their car into the city,which I agree with.
But there needs to be a joined up high capacity public transport system along with such moves,I realise London has good public transport but can it handle the influx such a move would cause?
The same thing needs implementing in all towns and cities in the UK IMO.
There seems to be some moves toward that end but it's at a snail's pace.

[Cyril Haearn]

The focus should be on reducing travel full stop, not sure how that would work in London but walking is great, I walked 4 km after supper yesterday just for fun

But not everyone is so inclined and cycling is quicker,which,like it or not matters to people,and requires less physical effort.
Mrs R2 has a disability which means she can't walk very far,she'd be on the absolute limit at 4km and would need to rest afterwards.However she can cycle 15km comfortably on flat terrain and she can extend that greatly with the aid of a pedelec.

I do dislike hearing 'we should encourage more cycling'*, makes me reach for the off switch
Less motor traffic is the thing, some will walk instead, some cycle (or stay home one hopes), some go by tube*

The reduction in traffic by a great extent in towns and cities and laws that give self propelled means of transport priority over motors would automatically encourage cycling IMO.

* Just heard that the DB, German railway, hopes to double the number of passengers carried by 2030, perverse!

Why is that perverse?
If the rail network's capacity is doubled then those extra passengers will come from somewhere,I'm supposing that will be from road travel which the greatest proportion will be single occupancy private cars.This is good for the environment,good for other traffic such as deliveries and tradesmen,etc,who need to travel by road.

I do not want even more cycling, it is already very popular in Luebeck
If the DB carries twice as many people in a few years plenty of them will be commuters suffering in airconditioned discomfort for hours on end, using lots of resources and money
People should live near where they work, and helped/encouraged/forced to do so, then they have more time, money, quality of life. The Govt could help too by moving more jobs out of London (Berlin, Paris, Manchester?)

[The utility cyclist]

Maybe if the powers that be simply taxed people a ridiculous amount to have a car in London and or to drive through it that would change things and remove the seemingly free/very low cost on street parking (we should do this nationally in any case)

I'm assuming you mean to bring their car into the city,which I agree with.
But there needs to be a joined up high capacity public transport system along with such moves,I realise London has good public transport but can it handle the influx such a move would cause?
The same thing needs implementing in all towns and cities in the UK IMO.
There seems to be some moves toward that end but it's at a snail's pace.

Well Crosslink* is currently at £70Bn, for up to 200m passenger journeys a year, as of 2015 there were 610,000 cycling journeys on London's roads a day, just think if even 10% of the crossrail cost had being spent on cycling infra and/or simply removing roads from use by motorvehicle and forcing them to divert, cycling numbers could have easily have exceeded the capacity of crossrail.

£70bn, we won't have had 10% of that on ANY cycling infra in the history of the bicycle in the UK, it makes me want to puke

* will raise house prices in places like Woolwich by 40% from 2015- 2020.

[bovlomov]

Maybe if the powers that be simply taxed people a ridiculous amount to have a car in London and or to drive through it that would change things and remove the seemingly free/very low cost on street parking (we should do this nationally in any case)

At the moment, for many journeys, once you have a car it is cheaper to use it. Either cars need to be so expensive (purchase, tax and insurance) that few people want or can afford them, or the cost and inconvenience of using them (petrol and parking restrictions) has to be prohibitive, especially in cities.

I imagine the second option is less unpalatable, politically, as the blame is shared out between various agencies - and the Chancellor of the Exchequer will feel a bit less heat.

Seeing how quiet the London roads are in school holidays, perhaps that is the place to start: the parents driving their children a couple of miles to school, and back. Simply enforcing parking regulations near schools would put off a significant number.

[The utility cyclist]

But it would seem from the actions of some leaders of schools they'll do anything but to encourage cycling to schools. There should be a national policy on forcing headmasters to get their noses out of people's business re helmet wearing and other non essential attire have covered cycle sheds that are secure in every school, let's say taking up half a dozen parking spaces and ban children being driven with 1/2 mile of a school. Make the roads no go areas for motors, bollards that pop up out the road would physically stop any/all motor traffic that isn't allowed.

[bovlomov]

But it would seem from the actions of some leaders of schools they'll do anything but to encourage cycling to schools. There should be a national policy on forcing headmasters to get their noses out of people's business re helmet wearing and other non essential attire have covered cycle sheds that are secure in every school, let's say taking up half a dozen parking spaces and ban children being driven with 1/2 mile of a school. Make the roads no go areas for motors, bollards that pop up out the road would physically stop any/all motor traffic that isn't allowed.

Head teachers interfering in cycling choices seems par for the course, but have there been any schools that have banned pupils arriving by car? It might be considered to be beyond the school's powers, but it's no worse than banning pupils arriving by bike or without a helmet.

They are building an academy school near me, in an area with terrible traffic congestion and little parking. During the planning stage the school trust tried to reassure residents that this wouldn't be a problem. There'll be a car sharing scheme for parents. Nothing I can see about new bus routes or a more frequent service on exiting routes.

But all will be solved by 32 sheffield stands - for 1200 pupils and 110 staff.

[The utility cyclist]

But it would seem from the actions of some leaders of schools they'll do anything but to encourage cycling to schools. There should be a national policy on forcing headmasters to get their noses out of people's business re helmet wearing and other non essential attire have covered cycle sheds that are secure in every school, let's say taking up half a dozen parking spaces and ban children being driven with 1/2 mile of a school. Make the roads no go areas for motors, bollards that pop up out the road would physically stop any/all motor traffic that isn't allowed.

Head teachers interfering in cycling choices seems par for the course, but have there been any schools that have banned pupils arriving by car? It might be considered to be beyond the school's powers, but it's no worse than banning pupils arriving by bike or without a helmet.

They are building an academy school near me, in an area with terrible traffic congestion and little parking. During the planning stage the school trust tried to reassure residents that this wouldn't be a problem. There'll be a car sharing scheme for parents. Nothing I can see about new bus routes or a more frequent service on exiting routes.

But all will be solved by 32 sheffield stands - for 1200 pupils and 110 staff.

Grrrr, disgusting!

[craigbroadbent]

"utility cyclist

Well Crosslink* is currently at £70Bn

Pretty sure Crossrail now Elizabeth line is costing £15bn or thereabouts.