Consultation Summary

A1202 Commercial Street loading bay changes

February 2017

[Type text]

Contents

1 Introduction ...... 3 2 The consultation ...... 3 3 About the respondents ...... 4 4 Overview of responses ...... 5 5 Summary and conclusion ...... 6 Appendix A – List of stakeholders consulted ...... 7 Appendix B - Consultation material ...... 9

2

1 Introduction

We consulted on proposals to convert an existing loading bay into a shared use night-time taxi rank and daytime loading bay on the A1202 Commercial Street near Spitalfields Market. The consultation ran from 25 January 2016 to 19 February 2016.

1.1 About the proposals

Our proposal would create a new night-time taxi rank for licenced black cabs to help people get home. The existing loading bay outside property numbers 105 and 107 Commercial Street would operate as a taxi rank Monday-Sunday 7pm-7am. Other vehicles would not be able to wait in the bay during these times.

The existing loading bay hours of operation, 7am-7pm on any day, would not be changed.

2 The consultation

The consultation material was available at https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/commercial-street-taxi-rank

The consultation was designed to enable us to understand opinion about the proposed changes.

The potential outcomes of the consultation are:  We decide the consultation raises no issues that should prevent us from proceeding, with the scheme as originally planned  We modify the scheme in response to issues raised in consultation  We abandon the scheme as a result of issues raised in the consultation

The objectives of the consultation were:  To allow stakeholders and the public to easily understand information about the proposal, and allow them to respond  To help us understand the level of support or opposition for the change  To understand any issues that might affect the proposal of which we were not previously aware of  To help us identify and understand concerns and objections  To allow the respondents to make suggestions

3

2.1 Who we consulted and how

We wanted to understand the views of those living and working near to where our proposals would be implemented. We sent a letter and map to approximately 153 properties and businesses in the area. The extent is shown in Appendix B.

We also issued an email to stakeholders to inform them of our consultation. Those contacted included the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, local politicians and emergency services.

A list of external stakeholders contacted is shown in Appendix A.

The consultation was published online on our consultation website and ran between the 25 January 2016 and 19 February 2016.

Copies of the letter and map we sent to residents and the email we sent to stakeholders are shown in Appendix B.

3 About the respondents

3.1 How respondents heard about the consultation

How respondents heard about Number of consultation respondents Received an email from TfL 7 Received a letter from TfL 3 Read about in the press 8 Saw it on the TfL website 5 Social media 67 Other (please specify) 17 Not Answered 19

4

4 Overview of responses

We asked one question about their support for the scheme. We received 126 responses to consultation

The following tables detail the responses to the question asked.

Do you support our proposal.?

75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Not Agree Partially Not sure No opinion No answered Number of responses 74 4 0 1 46 1

Number of Main issues raised by respondents respondents Harmful effect on the Thursday Antiques 38 Market, for which traders need to load and unload before 7am It will be very bad for the Spitalfields market 20 More official taxi ranks in London the better 18 Taxi rank is much needed in this area 17 Will cause traffic problems 5 This will create noise for residents in the 3 vicinity It is hard enough to load/unload for market 2 workers as it stands without further encroachment from taxis

5

Responses from stakeholders

There were no responses from stakeholders. However, we met a representative from Spitalfields Market to discuss traders’ concerns about the potential impact of the proposal on loading and unloading.

5 Summary and conclusion

Although the majority of people who responded were supportive of the proposal to convert an existing loading bay into a night-time taxi rank on Commercial Street, a number of market traders and residents expressed concern, in particular with relation to the potential impact of the proposals on loading and unloading.

Having considered the responses and discussed with market representatives, we have decided not to convert the loading bay into a night time taxi rank, meaning no changes will be made to the bay as part of this scheme.

We explored the possibility of the loading bay operating as a taxi rank Monday – Sunday 19:00 – 04:00 to allow market traders to use the loading bay outside of these times. However, we concluded that this option would be too confusing for motorists and would lead to enforcement problems.

Instead, we are looking at an alternative location for the taxi rank and we will write to residents, businesses and stakeholders once we have the new designs.

6

Appendix A – List of stakeholders consulted

London TravelWatch AM Chair of the GLA Transport Committee Keith Prince AM Deputy Chair of the GLA Transport Committee Kemi Badenoch AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee Joanne McCartney AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee AM, Member of the GLA Transport Committee AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee Kemi Badenoch AM, Member of the GLA Transport Committee AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee Member of the GLA Transport Committee AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee Steve O'Connell AM Member of the GLA Transport Committee Alison Bell External Relations Manager Richard Berry Scrutiny Manager Rushanara Ali MP Ethnal Green and Bow John Briggs AM Tower Hamlets Councillor Gulam Robbani Ward Councillor Councillor Suluk Ahmed Ward Councillor

Local Authorities London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Police & Health Authorities Metropolitan Police Haringey Safer Transport Team London Ambulance Service London Fire Brigade Service Transport Groups AA Association of British Drivers Association of Car Fleet Operators British Motorcyclists Federation Freight Transport Association Green Flag Group Motorcycle Action Group Motorcycle Industry Association Road Haulage Association London Cab Ranks Committee (Secretary) London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

Other Stakeholders Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID) Age Concern London Age UK Asian Peoples Disabilities Alliance BT 7

Campaign for Better Transport Confederation of British Industry (CBI) CTC, The national cycling charity Disability Alliance Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee EDF Energy Greater London Forum for the Elderly Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Partially Sighted People (JCMBPS) Joint Mobility Unit Living Streets London Cycling Campaign London Older People's Strategy Group MIND National Children's Bureau National Grid RADAR London Access Forum RNIB Royal Mail Sense Sixty Plus Stroke Association Thames Water The British Dyslexia Association

8

Appendix B - Consultation material

Letter

9

Plan

10

Letter distribution area

11