Planning our future London

The area I live in has consistently heavy traffic and awful air quality. I cycle into work and it's really unpleasant - I wear a mask to help with the fumes but there is no cycle lane. More cycle lanes are needed and better public transport between the different areas of South London - you can get into central fast but moving across the south is more difficult and people are therefore encouraged to use cars. Adding bus routes with green buses, keeping bus prices down, and adding traffic measures that make a car less convenient - such as speed bumps, speed cameras, etc. I'd love the roads around me to be greener, more trees and space for walking. But cars feel like they take priority at the moment in my area. If it's not pleasant to walk or cycle, people will do it less.  

I would focus on Red Routes where often they are going through increasingly residential areas. I live on the South Circular in Battersea and the noise pollution is terrible, particularly with noisy engines and motorbikes/mopeds. This is a big problem at night and leads to disrupted sleep. More controls over late night travel are needed

Too many cars sit around most the day taking up space and not being used. Many will park in cycle lanes, which can be incredibly dangerous (especially when you're turning a corner and have limited reaction times). That space should be used for greenery, but in order for us to transition to a greener, safer city, we need viable alternatives for motorists 

Green space should offer better biodiversity and shade, helping to cool the city and make it more pleasant for wildlife. Parks should be well lit and maintained so that they can be enjoyed as a proper refuge.

Better cycling options would make a huge difference, but really all public transport needs prioritising. The air quality is one thing, but building infrastructure to reduce car dependency will also help the city generate money instead of having to repair roads so often. 

The ULEZ is a good idea but we should supplement everywhere affected with practical public transport and cycling options.

On housing, I'm a big fan of pleasant tower blocks that make efficient use of space, but these should be secure, pleasant, and safe above all: no dodgy cladding. Ugly buildings drain the soul, and we should build beautiful,  affordable, practical and sustainable structures so that people respect and love their surroundings.

Think that wall of text covers it - I love this city so much and I really hope the more future-focused trend continues!

We need massive retrofitting of housing. House building is not the whole answer. Better use of existing housing is more important along side building social housing. Let's reduce car use dramatically. Trains and tube are amazing. Busses and active cycling need big investment. Also more green spaces, food growing trees allotments and rewilded spaces. Let's make London the greenest metropolis on earth!

Many people especially women I know say they would like to cycle but too scared due to heavy traffic. Need to creat more of safe segregated bike lines. It’s good for kids. If kids cycle, there would be less parents drive during school run! They are a huge part of congestion and I’m saying this as a parent. The more people cycle, the less cars on the road.  To reduce congestion, should be more bus services too. New building/ block of flats should not be offering parking space unless disabled. 

Cycling is almost always faster than driving or taking the tube.

But I have found the scariest part of cycling is at junctions. Often it seems there will be a great bike lane but it just stops at the junction and you're on your own from there. Even if you are wearing high-vis, cars rarely give way to a cyclist turning right and being suddenly overtaken by a large SUV is quite nerve wracking.

One way the council could alleviate this is by giving advanced signals to cyclists at traffic lights and putting bike boxes on more intersections. Although part of the problem stems from there being far too many cars on the road, the government should introduce more incentives for cycling regular commutes.

People will continue driving until cars become more expensive and slower than public transport. In Barnet where I live, I try to always use the bus rather than the car but I have to leave at least twice as long for bus journeys – the walk to the bus stop, the wait that can be as long as 20 minutes when a bus is delayed, and then the bus sits in the same traffic jam as cars! Car drivers need to see buses whizzing past them as they sit in traffic… And cost-wise, a pay-per-mile scheme will be the best way to make people really think before jumping in the car for every journey.

The only way to reduce traffic, reduce emissions, and create a safer, quieter and more pleasant city to live and travel in is reducing the number of cars on the road. 

Per journey, cars cause the most emissions, the most injuries and take up the most space of any mode of transport available in the city. 

Expanding cycling infrastructure, train and tram services and making more bus lanes would all reduce the number of journeys being made by car. 

A comprehensive cycling network is absolutely crucial to make cycling safe and encourage people who aren't experienced at cycling on the road to use cycling as a mode of transport. 

Cycle lanes need to be separated from road traffic and can't just end at a borough boundary, ejecting cyclists onto the road, or having cars parking in them. A person should be able to cycle between any two places in the city, just as easily as they can drive.

Make cycling, walking, and public transport the best options for transport and people will use them. Make our car city a thing of the past. 

Limit private cars, ubers and taxis. E.g. discourage driving children to school by creating "school streets"

Bring in car ownership restrictions - people in London simply do not need to drive!

Also, public transport in outer london needs to be better.

I'm genuinely tired of seeing cab and Uber drivers moaning about ULEZ and other initiatives the local government has taken to improve air quality in London. For some reason, these people tend to think their convenience and money-making alternatives are more important than the AIR that goes into their lungs (and their children - ironically, it's the same kind of people who like to have loads of kids but refuse to think about their future).

We desperately need a very strong and detailed educational campaign to get people to understand why this is important.

Pollution in London has gotten so bad that, in certain areas, you can TASTE it in your throat. It's absolutely disgusting. However, 1) professional drivers continue to shout loudly against environmental initiatives and 2) young people (especially young men) continue to believe the most interesting thing they can have and show around is a noisy, polluting, tacky car, accelerating in residential roads like race tracks (which also increases pollution!). In north and north-east London this is getting out of control, even contributing to an increase in Anti-Social Behaviour. Irritating, damaging and just plain sad.

Educate people to understand why vehicles MUST be more efficient and less polluting, and young people to stop glorifying tacky noisy cars and bad road behaviour to try and get attention. Prioritise things that matter and actually make everybody's life more enjoyable. That's how we unite again, that's how society can thrive.

Brent Council added lots of protected cycle lanes in 2020 and then ‘post-pandemic’ got rid of them all. Other boroughs kept theirs ( Hammersmith etc.)  If we want a cleaner Borough for all, cycling needs the top priority and it must be easier and safer for all.  Look at Paris, look at Amsterdam, it can be done, all that’s lacking is political will. 

Keep the ULEZ! People want cleaner air, less asthma, less illness  

Start insulating homes at a national level and replacing gas boilers to lower our extortionate energy bills and clean our air - and a full ban on wood burners - they are reversing progress on cleaner air in cities.  
 

Town planning - massive new Ballymore development going in at Ladbroke Grove on the old gas works. New homes = great. But how many will actually be affordable and for essential workers? Developers always cut the final number.  Where’s the new school or GP surgery for the 8,000 people who will move in? Area is already oversubscribed. Where’s the transport links? It’s on the Paddington line -  why can’t Ladbroke Grove get a cross rail or old oak link? Too many cars will be added to a junction that’s already not fit for purpose. 

All main roads need 24/7 bus lanes & (space permitting) segregated cycle lanes and properly designed junctions (with a cycle phase at the traffic lights?). Remove all parking from main roads. Deliveries vehicles can park on side roads. More low traffic neighbourhoods to stop drivers taking 'short cuts'. Road user pricing. Too many short journeys made by car

The bus lines are not enough to cover the journeys required from Greenwich to North Greenwich. I’ve lived this lack of service being pregnant and with snowy roads. 
 

Besides, a better commute would promote more businesses along the high street (Trafalgar Rd facades are very depressing) but also within the new developments by the river that are beautifully finished. There are currently many commercial units empty.

Train services are very infrequent compared with TfL services in much of southeast London. Move management of them to TfL and increase their frequency. Reduce the cost of the fares on these services.

Extend other TfL services e.g. Underground/DLR/Trams to a wider area. Plenty of road space which is currently dedicated to polluting and inefficient private vehicles could be used to lay tram tracks.

Ensure the ULEZ expansion goes ahead, covering all of London. Consider extending the scope of the ULEZ charge to apply to all petrol and diesel private cars during daytime.

Install push buttons at *all* pedestrian crossings on main roads.

Implement a 20mph speed limit on all residential streets.

We need congestion zones around schools or local/main high street, if public transport or personal vehicle  took passengers from a to b, then rhe remaining journey can be made by  bike, e-scooter mobility scooter or walking  lanes so people can reach their chosen destination, we then would have greener air in each main town high street area.