John Chamberlain introduced Caroline Russell as a London Assembly Member and Environment Committee Chair, as well as an Islington Councillor and Green Party Transport Rep.
Caroline started by introducing herself, telling us how she had become a community activist and joined Living Streets as a local campaigner on finding how hard it was to get about the streets with a buggy. She subsequently worked with Cycle Islington e.g. to get a better crossing over Holloway Road at Madras Place. Eventually, in 2014, she was elected as the only Green (and non-Labour) Councillor in Islington. Since 2016 she has been a London Assembly Member working on Transport and Environment and for example, persuaded TfL to trial zebra crossings on bus stop bypasses and to install cycle counters on the Cycle Superhighways.
Comments on Mayor’s support for Active Travel
- The mayor’s Transport Strategy is really good in pushing for Active Travel.
- Lucy Saunders’ work on Healthy Streets has great potential as an approach to avoid a clash between residents and cyclists.
- The Healthy Streets agenda is powerful because it stresses health benefits BUT there are risks:
- risk of not using CLoS;
- risk of watering down provision for cycling;
- will buses trump walking/ cycling?
- Sadiq takes Air Quality very seriously and realises that he must make streets safer for walking and cycling:
- BUT he has allowed Westminster to stop Oxford Street
- implying that ‘he doesn’t get it’;
- He has made compromises e.g. on the Monier Road bridge plan to replace the current cycle/walking bridge from Fish Island to the Olympic Park by a motor vehicle bridge;
- In response to Caroline’s recent Question as to how many kms of cycle routes he intends to install in his first term, he failed to give a number, just listing schemes including Liveable Neighbourhoods.
- BUT he has allowed Westminster to stop Oxford Street
How as campaigners can we get consensus?
Our councillors have been elected recently and being safe, should not fear being bold; therefore we need to make them understand that the whole community needs people-friendly streets, considering how to apply strategic thinking to the following:
- impact of developers on the footway (and on cycle tracks); a good example is the temporary cycle track at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge – where the developers spent on the construction but saved on lane rentals;
- allowing Uber to be uncontrolled;
- dockless bikes as an example of something that can be controlled;
- poor design e.g. cycle-pedestrian conflicts at Highbury Corner and at Archway.
By now we were into discussion and people were trying to work out how to persuade more people to abandon their cars.
Caroline said that she has concentrated on Outer London where giving up the use of a car is unthinkable. So she has concentrated more on Hostile Streets, for example the design of side road junctions with loose corners in which pedestrian have to walk a long way from their desire line in order to cross the road.
She also advised us to campaign on Air Quality as cycling is a ‘bit toxic’. However people weren’t really happy about that as we are a cycle campaigning group and we have achieved some results by a more direct approach.
References to Reports
Hostile Streets. Walking and Cycling at Outer London Junctions. A report from Caroline Russell AM on behalf of the London Assembly Transport Committee
