Sustrans Our work in London 2019: Streets ahead A snapshot of 2018 Jan: Caroline Pidgeon AM speaking at Street Talk Feb: Winning two London Transport awards March: Enjoying a ride on Q5 April: Campaigning for change May: Creating traffic-free school streets June: Cllr Feryal Demirci at our councillor event July: Changing lives at Queen Mary Hostel Aug: Topping the news agenda Sept: Transforming local business deliveries 1 Sustrans Annual Review 2017-18 • www.sustrans.org.uk • The page and cover photos: J Bewley/photojb Oct: Creating a more accessible Newham Greenway Nov: Launching our vision for the National Cycle Network Dec: Celebrating our champions and volunteers Sustrans London Review Welcome Contents “Learning to ride feels amazing…When I felt able to Quietways – changing how people travel Liveable neighbourhoods » 3 ride, it felt like I was flying” says Londoner Surinder, We have seen how well Quietways work, where who had been living with cancer, depression and Streets for Londoners » 4 ambitious boroughs have committed to high quality loneliness. She had never ridden a bike before she infrastructure that makes a real difference. We’re Quietways » 5 joined one of the Sustrans community cycling clubs. proud of our significant role in their delivery over the Something as simple as being able to ride a bike Healthy streets » last four years. It has been great to see the opening 7 really can transform lives. of Q2 East and major sections of Q3, Q5, Q6, Q14 Collaborative design » 8 At Sustrans we have been pushing the political and and Q22 in 2018. The changes we are making social agenda for over 40 years, working to create together are helping to solve London’s pressing Behaviour change: schools » 9 a healthier and happier city where people choose problems, including air pollution, obesity, London’s National Cycle Network » to leave their car at home and walk or cycle instead. loneliness, mental health and congestion. 11 Just like with Surinder, we want to make travelling Behaviour change: workplaces » 13 on foot or by bike for everyday journeys easy and National Cycle Network in London enjoyable for all Londoners. Pioneering research » 15 The 16,575 mile National Cycle Network is an Award winners incredible asset across the UK and is as important Connecting people » 16 to London as anywhere else. London is home to We were honoured to win two London Transport 163 miles of the Network, where we have conducted In-house support » 17 Awards in 2018: Transport Consultant of the Year a full audit under the first ever national review of the Making the case for change » 18 and Excellence in Cycling and Walking. Respectively, Network called Paths for Everyone. While most of it they recognise our work with Transport for London is of good quality, this isn’t universal. Over the next How to successfully reduce (TfL) to roll out their £119m Quietway programme 18 months we will be working with partners across traffic in cities » 19 and in bringing Marks Gate in Barking & Dagenham, the capital to develop detailed improvement plans. up to Healthy Streets standards for the benefit of The Network in London will complement the A big thank you from our team » 21 the community living and working there. We’re Mayor’s Transport Strategy. very proud of the commitment our passionate and Forty years ago Sustrans started life by converting professional team put in to achieve these accolades. an old rail route into a bike and pedestrian path – We were also delighted to be appointed to TfL’s a radical proposition at the time. Those roots second Architecture Design Urbanism Panel still feed our passion and charitable aim (ADUP2) framework. This prestigious seal of to create healthier, happier places for approval puts us in prime position to help the the people who live and work in this public sector deliver the best quality streets fantastic city. Let’s work together to and places. It is now even easier turn London into a happier city for for partners to work with us to everyone. create a better built environment for people to enjoy. Matt Winfield, Director, London January 2019 Welcome • Photo: J Bewley/photojb « Previous • Next » 2 Client: London Borough of Bromley W o r Commission: Feasibility studies, community engagement, stakeholder k i n engagement, place making, highways design, perception survey, bid support g w i t h B r o m l e y ’s Liveable s c h o o ls a n Neighbourhoods d r es ide nt s to shap Creating a sense of place where people are prioritised A survey designed by our Research and Monitoring e plans. over cars is critical to an area’s success as a place to Unit (find out more about RMU on p16) gave live, work and spend time. We have been instrumental officers and councillors valuable insight into “Very useful opportunity to speak at a in the development of the co-design and Healthy residents’, schools’ and businesses’ concerns and forum that hopefully makes Bromley Streets approach to place making that helps boroughs aspirations for Shortlands. Our extensive community make walking and cycling safer and a part of people’s engagement demonstrated significant public support Road and Shortlands a safer place everyday lives. for creating a neighbourhood of Healthy Streets that to live, work and visit.” is attractive, safe and accessible and in line with the We work with boroughs to identify areas that would Mayor’s Liveable Neighbourhoods strategy. best suit Transport for London’s (TfL) Liveable Estate Project Manager, Bishop Challoner Neighbourhood bid requirements, often unlocking Residents’ feedback highlighted the desire for the School huge potential that may not be obvious at first, to borough to aim high and develop more ambitious, create healthier streets for happier people. community-supported proposals – the key to “Cars, cars, cars, why not pedestrians?” bidding for Liveable Neighbourhood funding. Pocket The London Borough of Bromley came to us parks, slowing traffic as well as cycling and walking wanting to explore how a new street design around Residents, commenting on Shortlands Village infrastructure are all part of how we can enable Shortlands Station could improve the quality of life for Parade of shops residents to regain a sense of place for Shortlands pedestrians, people on bikes, wheelchair users and as a village hub, with a lively business scene and families with young children and pushchairs. people prioritised over traffic. “Lights here would enable year 6 to By discussing the issue with councillors and planning Our expertise in design, engagement and behaviour cross independently to use shops officers, we were able to identify how constituents’ change means we can unlock boroughs’ potential to concerns about traffic volume and the lack of and get to school.” meet and exceed the TfL Liveable Neighbourhood signalised crossings, restricting people’s access in and requirements for quality, innovation and ambition. out of the station, could most effectively be addressed. Teachers, commenting on Station Road The resource we have allows us to take the strain We arranged a study tour with councillors and officers Crossing and work in partnership with planning teams to to view some of London’s best cycling and walking create a healthier and happier London. infrastructure, allowing us to demonstrate how bold design decisions can really benefit a community. 3 Sustrans London Review • www.sustrans.org.uk • Photo: Annie Miller • Find out more about our liveable neighbourhoods work here » « Previous • Next » Sustrans London Review Client: Royal Borough of Greenwich Commission: Concept and detailed design Streets for e r r fte o a f ill e H b dy l San Londoners il H y nd Sa Our team of designers is passionate about obtained refuse vehicle specifications to ensure championing ambitious designs that make our streets that designs met their requirements. safer, greener and more welcoming for all users. This “We have worked with Sustrans for Scheme construction was managed by borough approach is shared by many of our partners, including officers, but Sustrans engineers and project many years for project management The Royal Borough of Greenwich who commissioned managers regularly conducted site visits to ensure us to help progress a new cycle link connecting and engineering services to support that construction was progressing as planned, Woolwich Town Centre to Woolwich Hospital. and as per the designs. Feedback was regularly the delivery of walking and cycling This was identified as a key connection from busy exchanged creating a positive, collaborative Woolwich town centre to the hospital, as it was not infrastructure projects, and our relationship and a high quality project. well-served by public transport and suffered from high experience has been very positive. motor traffic volumes, congestion and poor air quality. The scheme is now complete and includes a parallel zebra crossing that gives people on bikes and Work began with a technical review of existing “The engineering services provided pedestrians priority to safely cross a busy road. concept designs, where our designers proposed from feasibility to snagging have changes in line with best practice and to ensure the Widened footpaths, decluttering route was “future proofed” for increased usage. We always focused on the user experience noticed that existing crossings and footpaths were not and a new shared use path across to push for high quality provision, in the places where people naturally wanted to cross Woolwich Common combine to so we designed an environment more in tune with whilst understanding financial how people wanted to move around. create a quieter, less polluted constraints and the local context.” We developed a strong and productive working route for pedestrians and cyclists. relationship with Greenwich’s Transport and Highways Joel De Mowbray, Royal Borough of Greenwich teams as designs were fine-tuned, agreeing material Our thoughtful design, healthy streets expertise and Principal Transport Planner specifications, installation processes and any required regular communication with Greenwich ensured that changes to ensure that designs would be built as we were able to deliver a quality scheme that meets specified.