Transport for London (TfL) will take immediate steps using new and improved strategic management, technology and communication to tackle the problem of congestion in London head-on. The measures being announced include better communication directly with road users to allow them to plan their journeys, and better collaboration to reduce disruption from roadworks.
As part of the plans, the Mayor is also setting out specific measures to increase the reliability of bus services, including investing £50m in bus priority schemes.
Sadiq Khan said: “Ensuring people can get around our city easily and efficiently is vital for London’s future prosperity. We need to be much smarter in how we use our roads and tackle the causes of congestion head-on. Today I’m setting out practical and immediate steps we can take to reduce disruption, including better prioritising buses on our streets, better information for road users, and substantial improvements in how roadworks are coordinated.
“It’s now crucial that these changes are implemented alongside our longer-term plans to make cycling and walking more appealing. Ultimately, while today’s plan sets out some important practical steps, we can only tackle congestion in the long term by making public transport more affordable, and making cycling and walking more appealing choices for all Londoners.”
As well as outlining measures to improve the reliability of bus services, the plans announced today include reducing disruption caused by planned or unplanned incidents, and improving journey time reliability so that all road journeys have minimum delay in any traffic conditions. The Government will also be lobbied for greater powers to manage roadworks including increasing the scope of fixed penalty notices and legislating around the use of cranes and hoardings that impact on the road network.
Specific measures announced to tackle congestion include:
- Ensuring that the infrastructure that supports the road network, including traffic signals and road surfaces, are reliable, faults are minimised and repairs are carried out faster
- Communicating better with road users to allow people to make more effective decisions about their journeys based on the most accurate and up-to-date information
- Collaborating more efficiently with local authorities, utility companies and developers to reduce the impact of planned roadworks.
The plans are targeted at easing the immediate congestion problems facing London. This is alongside other more long-term strategic approaches being developed as part of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, due to be published in Spring 2017.
