Author name: Steven Edwards

Department for Transport
In 2019, our roads handled 88% of all passenger travel by distance, the vast majority of it by car or van. Even doubling rail use across the country would only reduce this proportion to 75%, assuming that overall demand did not rise. The roads also carry more than three-quarters of freight traffic, and of course nearly all pedestrian, cycling, bus and coach journeys.
Continued high investment in our roads is, therefore, and will remain, as necessary as ever to ensure the functioning of the nation and to reduce the congestion which is a major source of carbon. Almost half of our £27 billion programme for England’s strategic roads, though often described as for road-building or capacity expansion is, in fact, for renewing, maintaining and operating the existing network or for funds to improve safety and biodiversity, deliver active travel schemes and tackle noise or pollution.

• “We will reduce funding to councils which do not take active travel seriously, particularly in urban areas. This includes councils which remove schemes prematurely or without proper evidence, and councils which never installed them in the first place. As Gear Change said, an authority’s performance on active travel will help determine the wider funding allocations it receives, not just on active travel. We will require more from all local authorities, urban or rural.” (For more on this, see our separate story on funding freezes for some London boroughs and new network guidance below)

Katharine Gammon
From Germany to New York City, this summer has demonstrated the destructive force of floods. Now, a new study shows that many more people will live in flood-prone areas in the coming decade and reveals the population in areas likely to flood is increasing at a greater rate than other places.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature today, used daily satellite observations of floods during 913 large flood events between 2000 and 2018.

Oxford Street and the West End generally is a huge economic powerhouse in the London and UK economy supporting thousands of businesses and millions of jobs.
Long before the pandemic Oxford Street was suffering from a change in shopping habits due to online activity and the attractiveness of centres such as Westfield.
The issue of traffic in the West End is fundamental to dealing with its future.
For too long we have allowed free access to motor vehicles to rat run through our streets with the resultant heavy pollution and an appalling level of collisions.
PETER HARTLEY
Chair, Westminster Living Streets

Last year’s inaugural ride, organised during the Black Lives Matter protests that swept across the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the US, saw 1,500 ride across London from Walthamstow Central to Brockwell Park in Brixton.
The 24km ride is fronted by black-led cycling groups to help drive change and encourage unity and empowerment among the black community.
Participants set off from Walthamstow at 11am and are expected to reach Shoreditch Park between 3-4pm.
With riders of all backgrounds, ages and abilities welcome, the ride supports underrepresented demographics to increase the diversity of cyclists in the capital. 

The Meatpacking District is set to become one of the most walkable neighborhoods in NYC.
After over a year of Open Streets, the Meatpacking Business Improvement District realized the benefits of closing streets to vehicle traffic and decided to make its Open Streets program a long-term neighborhood feature.
After all, the Open Streets program made it possible for the Meatpacking District’s recent L.E.A.F. Flower Festival and outdoor performance series, The Seven Deadly Sins.