A radical project in east London is putting children and young people at the heart of the debate over liveable communities
Harriet GrantThu 19 Nov 2020 11.09 GMT
“I have good memories of playing out,” says 17-year-old Sajidul Islam. “Big games of football with all my friends.” He thinks young people should be asked more often what they like about their neighbourhoods. “But I think they prefer to ask people with degrees.”
His classmate Ahona Zaman describes her journey to school, walking through a dark underpass beneath a dual carriageway. “I love cycling but it’s too dangerous.”
These teenagers in Poplar, east London, are growing up in an intensely urban neighbourhood. Low-rise houses, brightly painted shops and cramped parks push up against the constant hum of the A12. The streets are boxed in by major roads, and cranes and towers fill the skyline.
So you want to set up a low-traffic neighbourhood? Here’s where to start | The Guardian
Our guide to everything from getting council approval to winning over the critics
Laura Laker
Fri 20 Nov 2020
How do I get started?
For all the attention low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are getting, they are very simple things. Strategic “point closures” allow vehicle access to all addresses in a neighbourhood, but reduce through traffic. They can be done with planters, or lockable bollards, or a combination of both.
In London, impressive maps of potential emergency LTNs (funded by the government’s emergency active travel fund) were swiftly drawn up using existing data on housing density, indices of deprivation, access to green space and potential trips that could be converted to cycling and walking. This helped to show where LTNs would best help residents stay healthy and avoid public transport during the pandemic.
Across the rest of the country, Sustrans, the walking and cycling charity, and the London Cycling Campaign and Living Streets have documents to help. But if there aren’t already LTNs in your area, you may have to do some of the legwork yourself.
Low-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just better-off, finds study | The Guardian
Exclusive: authors find ‘no clear social equity problem related to low-traffic neighbourhoods’ after studying slew of projects sparked by Covid restrictions
There is no evidence schemes that try to limit “rat-running” traffic along residential streets disproportionately benefit better-off households, research has concluded, contradicting a common view cited by objectors.
A study of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which have mushroomed as part of efforts to boost walking and cycling amid coronavirus, found that the vast majority of people lived on streets that could be part of such schemes.
Road pricing could offset loss of fuel duty from electric cars | The Guardian
Rishi Sunak looking at how to recoup lost revenues after ban on new petrol and diesel cars potentially from 2030
The government is exploring options for dealing with a £40bn black hole in the public finances, which would result from a proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars within a decade.
Boris Johnson is expected to announce this week the cut-off date for the ban will be brought forward by five years to 2030, in a step designed to underscore the government’s commitment to a green economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the Treasury is understood to be concerned that a faster transition to net zero will require fundamental changes to the tax system to ensure it keeps pace with the economy of the future.
Taxes on motoring raise about £40bn a year for the exchequer from people buying cars and paying fuel duties, accounting for about 5% of total government revenue, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The urgent case for more walking and cycling in the UK: evidence to support LTNs – Transport Xtra
The Walking and Cycling Alliance, comprising Bicycle Association, British Cycling, Cycling UK, Living Streets, Sustrans and the Ramblers, has published a paper setting out the urgent case for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. It uses evidence and case studies from across the country to tackle the urban myths that have emerged around them
The alliance also uses evidence and case studies from across the country to tackle the urban myths that have emerged around them.
Car use will grow as public confidence in buses and trains hits a low – Transport Xtra
A majority of drivers still expect to drive to offices or other places of work in the future, says RAC Report on Motoring 2020
PM and Shapps take on critics of active travel with £175m pot – Transport Xtra
Local Transport Today is the authoritative, independent journal for transport decision makers. Analysis, Comment & News on Transport Policy, Planning, Finance and Delivery since 1989.
The Prime Minister and transport secretary Grant Shapps this week took on the critics of the Government’s active travel programme as £175m was announced for more measures such as segregated cycle lanes and residential street closures.
The grant represents the heavily delayed second tranche of the DfT’s Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF), launched as a response to Covid-19. The EATF name has been dropped, however, with a DfT spokeswoman telling LTT: “The world has moved…
Traffic + Parking 2020: A virtual space for real debate
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen towns and cities across the UK implement an impressive range of emergency traffic and street-scene measures, including pop-up cycleways and wider pavements to make cycling and walking safer. Traffic + Parking 2020 will explore the design of road space reallocation schemes, and discuss how to: promote active travel; measure success; and react to an emotive, and sometimes destructive, backlash against measures such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Lockdown has offered the public a glimpse of what it would be like to experience lower traffic levels and the resultant improved air quality. Traffic + Parking will feature sessions offering insights to policy measures that local authorities can take to combat vehicle-based pollution, including: Clean Air Zones; Low Emissions Neighbourhoods; School Streets; anti-idling schemes; Road User Charging; and Workplace Parking Levy schemes.
A Guide To Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – LCC & Living Streets
The big picture for decision-makers is “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: An Introduction For Policy Makers”
Read that document first, then for more nitty-gritty detail
read on…
This guide is from London Cycling Campaign and Living Streets and draws on expertise from those who’ve designed, implemented and campaigned for award-winning low traf c neighbourhoods. It is a companion document to “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: An Introduction For Policy Makers”,
designed to help of officers, designers and others begin to understand some of the complexities, nuances and capabilities of these schemes in more detail.
The green plan looks good, but the government must live up to its promises | The Guardian
Rebecca NewsomWed 18 Nov 2020
The green plan looks good, but the government must live up to its promises
Elsewhere, Johnson’s plan leaves much to be desired – especially when it comes to funding. Of the £12bn announced, just £4bn is new government money – meaning two-thirds of it is simply recycled from previous promises, or being assumed to be delivered by the private sector. To put this into context, France has already pledged £27bn for environmental stimulus measures and Germany has committed £36bn.
Joint analysis in September by The Climate Coalition, including Greenpeace, WWF, the Women’s Institute, National Trust and the RSPB concluded that at least £95bn of government investment is needed over the rest of this parliament to build back better and deliver a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient society. That includes increasing the provision of public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure, boosting nature restoration and guaranteeing funding to make every home more energy efficient.