In the year preceding lockdown, authorities in London failed to enable enough people to shift away from car ownership and use, a new report has found.
The Healthy Streets Scorecard shows to what extent London boroughs are putting in place five key measures which will dramatically improve air quality and road safety, boost active lifestyles and reduce carbon emissions.
The indicators reflect key targets and interventions outlined in the mayor’s Transport Strategy: low traffic neighbourhoods, 20mph speed limits, controlled parking zones, physically protected cycle tracks and school provision.
The 2020 scorecard covers the 12 months up to March 2020, before boroughs started to put in place emergency measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It concludes that the pace of change shown in the year preceding lockdown was ‘far too slow’.
The key figures include:
- Only a 1% increase in share of journeys made by public transport, walking and cycling
- No discernable overall change in the number of people walking or cycling regularly
- Only 268 fewer cars in London, compared to the target of 250,000 fewer by 2041
- An increase in serious and fatal pedestrian and cyclist road collision casualties (this is mainly due to changes to the way severity of injury is recorded)
The scorecard is put together by a group of transport, health, road safety and environment campaigners, including Sustrans, Living Streets and the London Cycling Campaign.
The campaigners say: “While the results don’t reflect the incredibly hard work which is going in right now to enable more walking and cycling, they do indicate London is failing to enable enough people to shift away from car ownership and use.
“One stand-out result, for example, is that car registrations in London reduced by just 268 over one year, compared to the mayor’s Transport Strategy target which is for there to be 12,500 fewer cars per year, every year until 2041.
“It remains to be seen if the mayor’s current Streetspace plan, and independent action by boroughs to enable more walking and cycling, significantly accelerates progress towards higher scores; it should certainly be used as an opportunity to do so.
“We will need to wait for the results of the 2021 Scorecard to reflect on the outcomes of all this work.”
Was it the boroughs that failed? Or could it have been that the target was no more than a rose tinted wish list by well meaning people? Amazing how often targets are set by people other than those who have to deliver them.
Guzzi, Newport
+3