Road space on major roads must be switched away from cars to prioritise people and cut traffic, said Green AM Sian Berry at Mayor's Question Time on Thursday[1].
Switching road space away from cars will cut traffic and create more space for people, making it easier and safer for Londoners to walk and cycle. Sian urged the Mayor to adopt a systematic target to achieve this.
When questioned, the Mayor said: “I don’t pretend we can't be going further and faster, so happy to have that conversation.”
Green London Assembly member Sian Berry says:
We need to cut car traffic as fast as possible and switching space away from cars is one of three key ways to do it, along with better public transport services and sending the right signals with prices.
“There’s a potential to lead change here. If new roads create new traffic, the opposite is true as well and if the Mayor is serious about reducing car traffic, he needs to consider more space for people on our main roads.
"That means wider pavements, safe space to walk and cycle and giving Londoners the ability to reclaim their neighbourhood streets.
The Mayor has previously committed to a target to cut car traffic in London, adopting a goal that just over 1 in 4 journeys currently taken by car should be made in another way by 2030. [2]
The Mayor’s 'London Streetspace' programme, designed to increase space to accommodate walking and cycling, led to a limited reduction in space for road traffic, roughly the equivalent of one per cent of the area covered by all the red routes that the Mayor controls across London.[3]
Notes to editors
[1] Watch the full exchange on Mayor’s Question Time, 21 July 2022: https://webcasts.london.gov.uk/Assembly/Event/Index/2f91396d-b286-4356-94cf-ebf9a2069ea6?in=2022-07-21T11%3A44%3A51.560Z&out=2022-07-21T11%3A50%3A38.969Z
[2] “car traffic must reduce by at least 27 per cent in London by the end of the decade” Mayor announces bold plans to secure a green, clean future for London, Mayor of London press release, 18 January 2022: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-announces-bold-plans-for-a-greener-london
[3] The total area of the Streetspace schemes is based on an MQ, and a calculation based on the space allocated for cycling. https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2022/0075 The area of the red routes is based upon a TfL published data set for the area of the Transport for London Road Network. https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=47796e8a9c8e4f3cab85f7325317b3ca