Are plans to get Londoners walking on the right track?
The Mayor has declared his intention to make 2011 the ‘year of walking’ and allocated millions of pounds to the cause, but will his proposals see more Londoners making their journeys on foot?
(Media-Newswire.com) - The Mayor has declared his intention to make 2011 the ‘year of walking’ and allocated millions of pounds to the cause, but will his proposals see more Londoners making their journeys on foot?
Caroline Pidgeon AM[1] will lead an investigation on behalf of the Assembly’s Transport Committee to assess the effectiveness of current plans to get people walking and look at what more could be done.
Almost a quarter of all journeys in the capital are made on foot – nearly 6 million trips every day – making up nearly a third of the total time Londoners spend travelling[2].
The Mayor’s Transport Strategy states that he wants to see the share of all journeys made on foot increase to 25 per cent by 2031[3] – an extra million journeys a day.
To help meet this target, the Mayor and Transport for London ( TfL ) have allocated over £200 million over the next three years to ‘Better Streets’[4] - which includes schemes ranging from de-cluttering streets to pedestrianisation - and ‘Better Green and Water Spaces’[5] to improve access to London’s parks, rivers and canals.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, said:
“The Mayor wants 2011 to be the ‘year of walking’ but to encourage more Londoners to make their journeys on foot he will have to carefully tailor his proposals and investment.
“There are real benefits to getting people walking, especially when you consider that Londoners make more than a million trips of less than a kilometre by car every day. I want to identify the best ways to make it easier and safer for Londoners to walk instead, not just next year but in the longer-term.”
The investigation will identify programmes that should be prioritised and any further actions that need to be taken to ensure ‘the year of walking’ results in a sustained increase in walking.
Larger aspirational projects like the London Promenade and Living Streets’ plans to create a pedestrian network[6] in central London will be considered alongside signage schemes like Legible London and local authority initiatives aimed at improving the streetscape for pedestrians, including Walworth Road in Southwark, Exhibition Road in Kensington and ‘naked’ Camden High Street[7].
The investigation will involve site visits and evidence gathering from organisations including TfL, SusTrans and Living Streets. A full report will be published in the autumn.
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The terms of reference of the investigation are:
To explore, with relevant organisations, the different initiatives to make it easier and safer to walk in London which could deliver a sustained increase in walking; and In light of the findings, make recommendations to the Mayor and TfL on initiatives to prioritise in ‘2011 the year of walking’, and any other actions to take to help ensure the ‘year of walking’ leads to a sustained increase in walking. Notes to editors:
Caroline Pidgeon is also Deputy Chair of the Transport Committee. In 2008, there were 5.7 million trips involving ‘walking all the way’ on an average day. This represents 24 per cent of all trips, the same percentage as almost every year since 1996. Travel in London, Report 2, 2010, p5. ( TfL ). Walking makes up about 29 per cent of the total time spent travelling by Londoners. Travel in London, Report 2, 2010, p79. ( TfL ) The total number of trips in London is projected to rise from 24 million to 27 million in 2031 and the Mayor wants to see 25 per cent of these trips made on foot. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy, May 2010, page 36 ( Mayor of London ) The Mayor has dedicated £180 million over three years to this initiative. 18 projects are currently underway with a further 13 in development awaiting funding to be secured ). This funding will come from a variety of sources, including TfL and London Boroughs. Better Streets, Nov 2009 The Mayor has committed £40 million to this initiative and 36 schemes are currently underway. Better Green Water and Spaces, Nov 2009 ( Mayor of London ) The London Promenade project is a proposal to create a new extension to the existing promenade at the South Bank Centre, eastwards from Gabriel’s Wharf, along the south bank of the River Thames, via Bankside, Borough Market, and the Pool of London to connect with the existing jetty at Butler's Wharf – more. One of Living Streets’ priorities is to connect the islands of great public space in central London by developing a network of pedestrian-friendly streets and public spaces, free of barriers to walking and free of traffic domination, where people on foot can relax and feel comfortable. The network could be built up on a step-by-step basis, starting with a central hub such as Leicester Square, and linking it to important nearby destinations like Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and Chinatown. From there, the network would extend outwards to take in the busy pedestrian highways, the main tourist attractions, the great parks, the river, and central London’s mainline stations - more. Many London Boroughs have their own initiatives to enhance streets for pedestrians, including the London Borough of Southwark, which has extensively redeveloped Walworth Road including removing bus lanes so pavement widths could be doubled for pedestrians; the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s shared space schemes in Kensington High Street and Exhibition Road; and the London Borough of Camden created a ‘naked’ stretch of Camden High Street by removing railings, bollards, bins and other street furniture to free up the pavements for pedestrians. In total, London residents make more than 1 million car journeys shorter than one kilometre every day. The south sub-region has the highest car mode share for very short trips, at 24 per cent. Travel in London, Report 2, 2010, p325 Caroline Pidgeon AM is available for interview. See contact details below. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor. For more details, please contact Dana Gavin in the Assembly Media Office on 020 7983 4603/4283. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit, Greater London Authority, on 020 7983 4100.
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