The London mayor should support pilot programmes to explore the benefits of borough-wide, default, 20mph speed limits, according to a new report.
The study, by the London Assembly transport committee, found that existing 20mph zones in London had seen a 46% reduction in KSIs, and 42% drop in overall casualties.
It calls on the mayor to divert some of Transport for London’s £63M road safety budget to support a borough-led pilot programme from 2010/11. The pilot would see two boroughs implementing default 20mph limits on all residential roads, but deploying different enforcement methods – such as average-speed cameras – to assess which produced best road safety results and was most cost-effective. Islington’s planned signed-only 20mph zone should also be monitored and incorporated into the study.
The report cited better-than-expected results from Portsmouth, where signed-only default limits on residential roads have showed an average traffic speed reduction of 3mph.
Implementing a borough-wide default, 20mph limit all at once might prevent more casualties and prove more cost-effective than the current piecemeal approach of introducing individual zones, the report found. Even using the least-intensive enforcement would produce at least a 1mph fall in average speeds, and a 5% drop in collisions. The pilot scheme should be set up in two of the eight London boroughs which intend to implement borough-wide default 20mph limits, including Hackney, which has proposed including some of TfL’s roads.
The report urges boroughs to take advantage of changes to the local implementation plan (LIP) process, meaning greater autonomy for boroughs and a move to a formula-based funding system rather than a bidding system. Boroughs can use the funding on their own preferred schemes, without having to seek TfL’s approval as previously.
Jenny Jones, who led the study, said: ‘We are talking about saving lives and improving Londoners’ living environment – surely this is justification enough for investing in a comparative pilot.’
The report calls on the mayor to investigate funding and pilot proposals with TfL, and report back to the committee by October 2009. It coincides with new government proposals, announced as part of its post-2010 road safety strategy, to encourage highway authorities to introduce 20mph limits on residential streets and near schools.
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