I have commented previously on the proposed Transport Strategy for the City of London Corporation. It is of course a real stinker. It’s now open for public consultation and I hope everyone who works, lives or visits the Square Mile will respond to the easy on-line consultation which is accessible here: https://www.citystreets.london/ . But anyone can respond to this consultation.

It’s also probably typical of the Transport Strategies that will be adopted by local London Boroughs in London under their Local Implementation Plans (LIPs). It just shows what the Mayor of London is forcing onto the London boroughs.

Here’s a summary of the worst aspects of the Transport Strategy:

• A City-wide speed limit for all vehicles of 15 mph, with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) being used in all buses and public service vehicles to enforce it.
• Priority given to pedestrians, even over cyclists, in most of the City’s streets. Effectively treating different transport mode users differently instead of equally. Are not all people created equal?
• Encouraging the Mayor of London to implement a central London zero emission vehicle zone, or if he does not, doing it themselves for the City, i.e. only electric vehicles would be permitted.
• Reducing vehicular traffic by 25% by 2025.
• Expanding the City’s cycle network with wider cycle lanes.
• Closing some roads to make them pedestrian only, or closing them at certain times.
• Reducing parking, particularly on-street.

Bearing in mind that the vast majority of City workers do walk to work from main line or underground stations, and that some locations are overcrowded, improvement in pedestrian facilities does make some sense. But ignoring the needs of vehicle users is wrong. Very few people drive in the City unless they need to. The City is even going to discourage taxis and PHVs and it is going to work with TfL to reduce the number of buses. Likewise there are proposals to reduce the number of service and delivery vehicles in the square mile.

The proposed 15 mph speed limit is surely not going to be complied with, and that applies to pedal cyclists as much as vehicle drivers. It is very difficult to drive a car at 15 mph or less consistently if for no other reason than vehicle speedometers are not accurate or easy to read at very low levels. Driving vehicles at less than 15 mph will of course increase air pollution so it’s also contradictory to their other transport policies.

In summary this Transport Strategy could have been written by any anti-vehicle lobbyist and smacks of paranoia of the worst kind. This is yet another damaging contribution from the City of London Corporation to the road network in London.

MAKE SURE YOU RESPOND TO THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND GIVE THEM YOUR VIEWS!

Roger Lawson