transport – London Living Streets

1. London LS Meeting. Our next meeting will be held from 6pm to 8pm Monday 14th September 2026. Venue – Front basement room, 75 Cowcross St EC1M 6EL.

The agenda for the meeting is:

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies

2. Carspreading campaign – update: Caz Conneller Clean Cities

3. Pavement parking in London and car ownership and its impact – Alice Roberts.

4. Central London Living Streets group – update Cat Kenyon. The Central London group now has a webpage on the Living Streets groups page at: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/get-involved/local-groups/central-london-local-group/

5. Creating strategic walking networks – Emma Griffin Footways

6. Vision Zero – update inc. How to reduce danger on the TLRN (see pdf attachment).

7. Around the boroughs.

8. AOB and date of next meeting.

The minutes of our previous meeting are here.

2. City of London Transport trends

Summary of travel trends in the City of London over the past few years

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/City-Streets-2025-Summary-Report.pdf

The number of motor vehicles counted has decreased nearly two-thirds since 1999. In contrast the number of cycles counted has increased nearly four-fold since 1999.
Most of the decrease has been observed during or immediately after significant changes or events in the City of London or the global economy, including the introduction of the Congestion Charge in 2003, the Global Recession in 2008-09, the introduction of
Transport for London’s Cycle Superhighways in the City in 2015-16, the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020-22, and most recently the boost in popularity of dockless hire bikes.

3. Research – Cutting traffic cuts vandalism, burglary and violence, research shows

University of Leeds study showing that levels of street crime go up if motor traffic increases – and there is a corresponding drop if traffic levels fall – https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/5987/cutting-traffic-cuts-vandalism-burglary-and-violence-research-shows

4. TfL London on the Move. Document outlining how TfL plans to deliver the Mayor’s Transport Strategy goals, including to achieve Vision Zero and promote active, efficient and sustainable travel

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/londononthemove.pdf

5. Vision Zero and Reducing Road Danger – Attached is the latest research from our friends at Action Vision Zero relating to road danger and Vision Zero in the capital.

A) Speed enforcement in London – here

B) The current position on Public reporting and the Metropolitan Police – https://londonlivingstreets.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/avzbriefing-publicreportingmetpolice-15jul26.pdf

C) Road danger on the TfL controlled Red Route roads (TLRN) and steps that need to be taken to reduce casualties – here

6. Grants for community groups that help get people walking and cycling

TfL has opened applications for grants from community groups that help get people walking and cycling.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mayoroflondon_too-many-londoners-still-face-barriers-to-share-7495127487350292481-8GgX/?rcm=ACoAACNJaB0BrgAYnQ-IWpTPck4vUXAdx0EfuxQ

The link to apply is: https://tfl-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/tfl-and-london-marathon-funding-returns-to-help-break-down-barriers-to-walking-and-cycling-for-even-more-londoners

…and wcgl.london Applications close 28^th Sept.

7. Consultation from TfL about further improvements relating to Cycleway 9 in West London

TfL is proposing changes to make the A315 London Road and High Street, safer for people walking, cycling and using our bus services. The proposals include extending the western section of Cycleway 9 between Syon Park and Hounslow Town centre, upgrading pedestrian crossings along the route to make side roads safer to cross, widening footways and exploring opportunities for more planting and trees.

You can find out more about the proposals and have your say at: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cycleway-9-west

The closing date for this consultation is Monday 19 October 2026.

8. Defending Tower Hamlets LTNs in the Supreme Court – hearing date confirmed for 28 January 2027

News from the amazing Save Our Safer Streets campaign in Tower Hamlets who are currently facing the final hurdle of a Supreme Court hearing in early in 2027.

A group of senior judges will give a final verdict on whether the Mayor of Tower Hamlets acted beyond his powers by deciding to remove the LTN in Bethnal Green without the Mayor of London agreeing to this.

We’ve raised £17,500 out of our £25,000 target to cover all our legal costs – so there’s £7,500 remaining before we can fight this case fully in court. Please chip in what you can over the next few months and keep sharing about our campaign with people you know. This really is the final push but it matters as much as it ever did.

9. Kerbside Greening. New report from Possible looking at The Case for Kerbside Greening.

Info about the report – https://www.wearepossible.org/our-reports/kerbside-greening

Download the report – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEz4O5EmiTqFz0HMwMAaDFsNv0GLjA5sYKhGP8IWb7c/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

10. News snippets

A. 12-month report into the impact of the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels – here

B. From the Standard, Camden’s approval of a healthy streets project on Fitzjohn Avenue – here

C. Camden High Street -background to the latest proposals (NB Consultation has now closed) – here

D. Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) council becomes the first UK Local Authority to introduce a parking surcharge for larger cars and SUVs. More here

E. Latest on the Oxford Street pedestrianisation – here

TfL say that they have now begun enabling works to prepare Oxford Street to become traffic free between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street by late October 2026.

F. Examples of reclaiming space from cars across Europe – do look at the amazing project in Antwerp – here

G. TfL punishing Croydon with £2m funding freeze and issues warning to other boroughs – here

Transport for London (TfL) is proposing a number of changes to its Central London Congestion Charging Zone. Some of these are good; others could go further.

Access the consultation (closes 4th August) here: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/congestion-charge-proposals

London Living Streets’ response is as follows if you would like to use any of these ideas in your submissions:

1. Proposal A: Increasing the Congestion Charge from £15 to £18

London Living Streets supports this proposal. However, we propose that the increase matches the rate of increase in inflation since 2020 (when the charge was last increased) and that the new level should be set at that level rather than the below inflation rise to £18 that is proposed.

2. Proposal B: Changes to create a new Cleaner Vehicle Discount. We propose that there is an annual review of the numbers of discounted vehicles that are entering the Congestion Charging Zone (CCZ) to ensure that the discounted rates are reassessed if the increase in vehicles of this type entering the CCZ is higher than projected. We support TfL’s assertion that any motor vehicle adds to “increased traffic and congestion in the CCZ” and in particular is a source of danger and intimidation to people who are walking, wheeling and cycling; the impact of their use should be monitored closely.

3. Proposal C: Changes to the Residents’ Discount for new applicants. We do not support these proposals. With the exception of residents with a disability, the 90% discount is excessive and should be reduced significantly between now and 2030. In general, the public transport options within the CCZ are exceptional and far greater disincentives should be applied to discourage motor vehicle use whether by residents or other users of the CCZ. Over time it should be intended to reduce the discount for residents towards zero.

Other Comments.

a) We strongly support the proposal to move to incremental annual increases to the Congestion Charge as with public passenger transport fares.

b) More generally we believe that to reduce road danger in Central London (where a disproportionate number of road casualties occur), congestion charging should once again be applied in the evening every day of the week. It is against the aims of the MTS and Healthy Streets that people driving motor vehicles should be in effect subsidised to drive into the CCZ at the time of the day when many of the streets of central London are at their busiest and most congested for people walking. The evening charging should be applied up to 11pm.

c) Again, more generally, the pricing of driving in London is not working and TfL/GLA should consider both the introduction of a Zero Emission Zone within the CCZ and also consider the introduction of pay-per-mile charging for driving motor vehicles throughout London. This is needed for many reasons not least of which is how far London is away from its 2030 Vision Zero target. Evidence is increasing as to the impact that traffic volume reduction has on road casualties and more effective measures are needed to reduce traffic volumes across the capital. There is a pressing need to reduce traffic on main roads across London in part to support improved bus journey times.

d) There are opportunities through the Congestion Charge to discourage the use of SUV which tend to increase the congestion owing to their larger size and, as recent research has found, increase road danger especially to people walking. An increased charge should be levied for SUVs.

Tag: transport

TfL Congestion Charging consultation – London Living Streets Response (July 2025)