Regime change offers London ‘a fresh approach’

08 May 2008

The change of regime at London’s City Hall provides the opportunity for a fresh approach to tackling congestion, according to borough transport engineers, but key manifesto pledges might need a re-think.

The new London mayor, Boris Johnson, has promised both to ‘make traffic flow more smoothly’ and create ‘a London where children and adults feel safe to cycle and walk to school and work’.

His manifesto set out plans to ‘re-phase traffic signals with the sole intention of getting traffic flowing more smoothly’. Ken Livingstone, the outgoing mayor, made 100 alterations to signals at junctions from 2004 to 2006, which Johnson said Transport for London acknowledged had ‘measurably reduced effective capacity’.

Joe Weiss, chair of the London Technical Advisory Group, said Johnson’s election could offer a ‘fresh look’ at this, and other transport problems. ‘You can’t keep on reducing road capacity, choking the capital’s road network.’

But Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly member, stressed that the need to combat congestion would need to be reconciled with making the capital pedestrian-friendly. There was ‘a case for reviewing whether all the traffic signals in the congestion charging zone are necessary’.

Shared-space carriageway areas would be suitable for some areas, such as Soho, where ‘vehicles are allowed on sufferance’. Iain Simmons, of the LoTAG transportation committee, said there ‘are perhaps too many sets of traffic signals’.

A borough-TfL working group had attempted to agree a way of rationalising London’s growing number of traffic signals – 5,800 at the last count. But reducing traffic speeds would be necessary for public acceptance of ‘shared space’ roads. Weiss said that key to cutting congestion would be ‘a root-and-branch review’ of the bus network.

While London’s population is planned to grow by 900,000 by 2025, it was ‘questionable’ whether the increase in bus capacity – including 11,000 new bus spaces for the congestion charge – under Livingstone – ‘was effectively meeting travel demand’.

‘We’ve got back-to-back buses on Oxford Street, on Bishopsgate, and elsewhere with hardly anybody in them,’ Weiss said.

e cautioned, however, that Johnson’s pledge to replace bendy buses with smaller, new-style ‘Routemaster’ double-deckers would decrease road capacity. Faced with an estimated 30% increase in demand for road-based transport, Johnson should introduce trams on certain routes, said Weiss.

Pidgeon, who has campaigned for the Cross River Tram, said: ‘Buses are no longer the answer on high-demand routes.’

Register now for full access

Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.

Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors. Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.

Already a registered? Login

Sign In

Regime change offers London ‘a fresh approach’

buying biaxin

ordering clarithromycin

Register now for full access

Login