The mayor of London has been urged to set out more long-term proposals for specific projects – even if they are currently unfunded – in order to meet the capital’s long-term transport needs.
The London Assembly transport committee warned that existing proposals to boost capacity would not meet future travel demand.
Responding to the mayor’s transport strategy statement of intent, it called for more specific projects alongside schemes such as Crossrail and Thames Link, which alone will not keep pace with growth.
London Councils, echoing the committee’s concerns, is urging the mayor to indicate which projects will be funded and completed within the timescale of the strategy, and which initiatives he will prioritise in lobbying the Government for funding. It wants the Chelsea to Hackney line – or Crossrail2 – and a new Thames Crossing to be priorities.
The committee, meanwhile, has demanded a transport strategy for outer London, where the mayor ‘has not yet finalised his approach’.
The mayor is currently reviewing the London Plan and awaiting the Outer London Commission’s findings. London Councils is calling for more orbital public transport in outer London, so commuters can cross suburban boundaries directly.
The committee says ‘hard’ road-pricing schemes should be assessed in the transport strategy, ‘given the scale of the challenge’, and that more detail on the mayor’s plans to reduce carbon emissions from ground-based transport should be included.
Current plans are only likely to reduce emissions from ground-based transport by 10% – well short of the 50% required if the mayor is to meet his target of a 60% overall reduction in CO2 by 2025, the committee says. Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the transport committee, said: ‘The scale of the challenge is so great that radical options, such as pricing incentives, need to be put on the table for proper consideration, alongside schemes to create new capacity.’
Cllr Mike Fisher, chairman of London Councils’ transport and environment committee, said: ‘A clear list of priorities should be drawn up which must put more emphasis on encouraging people to walk wherever they can.’
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