Momentum's Autumn Connect 2018
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Momentum’s review of new transport policies Autumn 2018 Welcome The way the world moves. By Design 2. This November marks the first Welcome to the Transport Planning Day, launched by the Transport Planning Society autumn 2018 edition of to raise the profile of transport planning and its role in changing Momentum’s Connect; people’s lives. We’re proud to be transport planners - working with where we take a closer look our clients and industry partners to create forward-looking solutions at the many initiatives that address the needs of the launched over the summer, future city. People are always at the centre of our work and our aim is that it is communities that benefit from our strategies and the and give our views on how recommendations we make. It has been a busy summer for new transport plans and policies. In this special edition of Connect – published to coincide with Transport Planning Day - we take a closer look at six recent initiatives, reviewing what these new policies mean for our clients and the people they will impact transport who will ultimately benefit from them. We also take a more informal poll of our consultants’ views in our article ‘Is the wait for the green man over’. planning and our clients. Finally as we celebrate our sixth birthday this Autumn, we reflect on the changes that have taken place here and in the wider London transport planning context. If you enjoy what you read here, then follow us on LinkedIn and twitter for access to our latest blogs, thought leadership and our views on our ever-evolving industry, the challenges facing the wider world and the reasons why we approach our work the way we do. Keep in touch www.momentum-transport.com Twitter: @Momentum_TC_Ltd LinkedIn: Momentum Transport Consultancy 3. Contents The way the world moves. By Design Vision Zero: Draft London Plan: How TfL aims to A review of the eradicate road deaths Mayor’s plan ahead and serious injuries. of January’s EiP. p.3 p.5 City of London Transport Strategy: Forward-looking changes being proposed by the City. p.7 What’s inside The Road to Zero: The Inclusive this autumn edition Examining the DfT’s Transport Strategy: strategy to make road An ambition to make transport cleaner. UK transport fully of Connect accessible by 2030. p.11 p.13 Is the wait for the green man over? Our consultants’ views on a traffic signal re-prioritisation trial in London. p.15 Six years on... A look back to 2012 as Momentum celebrates its sixth birthday. p.17 1. Vision Zero The way the world moves. By Design 2. But what does this actually mean in practice? Adopting area-wide modal filtering schemes What has to change between now and 2041 to can help to alleviate the problem. In plain reduce those 2000 casualties and deaths down English, this just means using bollards to zero? With the Mayor calling for bold action intelligently! These schemes work by creating and for partners to put Vision Zero at the heart no-through routes to motor traffic, allowing of everything they do, we take a look at three motor traffic in, but not letting it through the transport planning options which could help make area. Access is permitted only to those on foot our streets and neighbourhoods safer, greener or on a bicycle. In restricting motor traffic, and more pleasant places. you not only create safer streets, but also James Dyson areas for people to stop, talk and play. A change in priority A variation of vehicle form People walking, cycling and using motorbikes Written by. by. Written TfL’s Vision Zero action plan highlights that are disproportionally represented within London’s collisions involving HGVs and buses are fatal and serious injury statistics, accounting for disproportionately likely to result in fatality. 80% of all deaths and serious injuries on It therefore makes sense to reduce the number London’s roads. For those who regularly walk of HGVs on the road network wherever and cycle around the city, this won’t come as possible. One way to tackle this can be much of a surprise. The majority of London’s through the way we deliver goods. streets are still hostile to those on foot or bicycle, with the city still suffering with the hangover It’s becoming increasingly clear that the of 60s motor-centric planning. Pavements are future of freight in cities lies in consolidation narrow and protected cycleways are few and far centres. Goods are delivered en-masse between. to edge-of-town centres, before teams of riders on electric-assisted cargo-bikes are For those on foot, the widespread introduction despatched into densely-populated areas to of continuous footways (also known as make deliveries. This not only makes deliveries Copenhagen Crossings) across side roads would more efficient, but also eliminates the need be a welcome change and begin to shift priority for oversized vehicles in areas with a heavy towards pedestrians rather than motor traffic. pedestrian and cyclist presence. On these crossings, motor vehicles are required to give way to people on foot. Cycleways can Changing mindsets also be incorporated within the design, reducing We hear a lot about new technologies in the the likelihood of ‘hook’ collisions. Area-wide filtered permeability, transport world, however achieving Vision Zero De Beauvoir Town, Hackney will require some back-to-basics behavioural Area-wide filtered permeability change through simple design interventions, Rachel Aldred of the University of Westminster rather than looking for silver bullet solutions in Back in July, Transport for London (TfL) recently wrote about the increased danger faced the form of emerging technologies. announced its Vision Zero action plan, a by pedestrians in residential areas. In theory, the road to Vision Zero document which outlines how it aims to Her research* found that for every isn’t necessarily a difficult one, we eradicate all deaths and serious injuries mile driven on a minor urban road, already know how to reduce road there are 17% more pedestrians danger. We have built excellent from London’s roads by 2041. With more killed or seriously injured than for a than 2000 people killed or seriously cycleways, we have filtered streets mile driven on an urban A-road. to great success, and we have injured on London’s streets every year, For slight injuries, this rises to 66%. made the first steps forward with With apps such as Waze and Google Maps it’s a necessary and admirable move. now commonplace, residential ‘rat-running’ cargo-bike deliveries. Change will has the potential to intensify, increasing the risk only be delivered if there’s an faced by pedestrians, and particularly children. unwavering commitment to rethinking the motor-traffic driven status quo by everyone involved within the urban and transport Continuous footway, DHL cargo-bikes, planning industry, from policy Walthamstow London Article 1. *www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/jmuen.16.00068 makers to practitioners. Vision Zero 3. Draft London Plan The way the world moves. By Design 4. Earlier this year Sadiq Khan published his Draft London Plan, and in August a revised version (adopting minor suggested changes) was released. In advance of an Examination in Public starting in January 2019, here we provide a snap-shot of the key transport messages David Hart within the (August 2018) Draft London Plan. The Plan repeats many of the words and phrases we have seen much Written by. by. Written of during Sadiq Khan’s tenure as London Mayor, such as ‘Good Growth’ and ‘Healthy Streets’. The general approach is commendable; looking to help shape a more inclusive London and also promoting measures that will help deliver the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, which is largely progressive and sending London in the right direction. The echoes continue with reference to the The transport chapter of the Draft London (perhaps over-zealous use of the word) Plan highlights the importance of promoting ‘revolution’ of how people get around the city, ‘Healthy Streets’ within development, with each drawing on the ten ‘Healthy Streets’ indicators. development demonstrating how it will deliver The key transport driver is the goal for walking improvements that support the ten Healthy (great!), cycling (great!) and public transport Streets indicators. Part of the initiative is for (the right direction, but historically nothing new, Londoners to undertake at least 20 minutes so perhaps waters down the Mayor’s ambition) of active travel each day and the aspiration to accommodate 80% of all trips in London by that the dominance of vehicles is reduced; 2041. Compensating for a reduced (75%) target that vehicular traffic speeds are also reduced; in Outer London, this means that in central and that safer driver behaviour is encouraged London, the 80% target is stretched to 95% by design are also key themes. ‘Vision Zero’ and in Inner London, 90%; reducing Londoners’ is a long-term target of reducing danger so that reliance upon the private car is the key message there are no deaths or serious injuries on – certainly for central areas. London’s streets (see our Connect article on page 3). The ‘next generation’ of road-user With the work that Momentum has done charging is mentioned, but (as we found in the previously looking into the feasibility of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy) it is disappointing River Thames to provide a way of transporting that any firm plans for a comprehensive Article 2 every-day goods into central London, it is good overhaul of the Congestion Charge in London to see recognition of the strategic importance of are not yet forthcoming.