Author name: Steven Edwards

Peter Walker

Millions of Britons are trapped in transport poverty owing to a lack of alternatives to car ownership, with some spending nearly a fifth of their pre-tax income keeping a car on the road, a study has found.
Those who own a car spend on average 13% of their gross income on it, above the 10% generally seen as the indicator

of transport poverty. For those paying for their car with a finance or loan deal this proportion rises to 19%.
The report, produced by the cycle industry campaign group Bike Is Best, found that about three-quarters of drivers think they will always own a car, while just under half, 47%, believe they have no alternative.

What other innovative public schemes are out there that encourage a decrease in car dependence?

From Monday, 13 February, Queen Victoria Street will close permanently to motor vehicles where it meets Bank Junction.
Meanwhile, a temporary one-way system will be introduced westbound in Mansion House Street, with a diversion route in place for eastbound traffic, including cycles.
The work marks the next phase of All Change At Bank, a City of London Corporation scheme timed to coincide with Transport for London’s Bank station upgrade.

LTNs in London introduced between May 2020 and May 2021 have “typically resulted in a sub- stantial relative reduction in motor traffic inside the scheme area, with particularly strong reduc-tions in Inner London”, the study says.

The borough said the first phase of its Sustainable Streets programme will focus on the roads around Deptford and Catford, with changes due to start next summer.
Better use of pavements and road space will improve local streets and road safety, reduce noise, traffic, and air pollution, and help more people walk, cycle and use public transport, the council states.

Gwyn Topham

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has promised to press ahead with a city-wide ultra-low emission zone to stop people “breathing poison” as he launched a £110m scrappage scheme to help replace polluting vehicles.
Ulez will be expanded to the Greater London boundary in August despite widespread opposition from borough councils, four of whom have threatened legal action.
Drivers of some older petrol vehicles and most diesels more than seven years old have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in London’s Ulez, which was launched in 2019 and expanded to cover the inner boroughs in October 2021.
About 15% of vehicles in outer London would be liable for the charge.

Currently, 94% of kerb space in the borough is allocated to parked vehicles, the council estimates. Under the £31.7m strategy, 25% of kerb space would transfer to “sustainable uses” such as bus lanes, street trees, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), parklets and cycle parking. But some of this space would also be set aside for car clubs and disabled bays.
Cutting parking spaces will result in “fairer and more equal access, community interaction, economic resilience, health and wellbeing ”.

As the 1 year anniversary of the 2022 Highway Code changes approaches, it seems an appropriate time to revisit the changes, exploring how they’ve been delivered, and their impact on active travel uptake.
Of the 8 changes , here we’ll focus upon the 3 ‘H Rules’, those focused on ‘hierarchy of road users’ changes.
Rule H1, “… those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to take care and reduce the danger they pose to others. This principle applies most strongly to drivers of large goods and passenger vehicles, vans/minibuses, cars/taxis and motorcycles.”