Summit talks to smooth the way to less disruption on London’s roads

Three quarters of all roads in capital to be covered by London Permit Scheme early next year

A major summit attended by the Mayor’s Office, utility companies working in the capital, Transport for London, and the boroughs will discuss how to improve the flow of traffic in the capital today (12 March).

 Seven more of London’s boroughs are expected to commit to introducing the capital’s roadworks permit scheme at the summit. The Mayor’s transport advisor, Kulveer Ranger, will also urge boroughs to sign up to the Mayor’s Roadworks code of conduct.

 Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: "Congestion on the capital's roads impinges on Londoners quality of life, especially when caused by seemingly abandoned roadwork sites or over zealous traffic signalling. I urge all those at the summit to work as a team to tackle the congestion conundrum so that Londoners no longer have to sit for hours fuming in the fumes."

London’s new roadworks permit scheme will be central to discussions at the summit. Transport for London will report that since its introduction in January they have received around 7000 applications for permits on their roads. They have been able to refuse over 1000 for a variety of reasons, which was not possible before and is already helping reduce disruption.

Sixteen boroughs introduced permitting in January and two more are set to in April. But a further seven are expected to agree at the summit that they will aim to bring in permitting. If successful then three quarters of the capital would have greater ability to coordinate when utilities are able to dig.  Greenwich, Harrow, Lambeth, Newham, Richmond, Southwark and Waltham Forest councils are all expected to make applications to the DfT to allow them sign up to the London Permit Scheme.

The Mayor’s Code of Conduct for Roadworks will also be on the summit’s agenda. The six main utility companies in the capital are all signed up to the code, which complements the permitting scheme. A progress report released by TfL last month reported more ‘joint working’ between the utilities and found that they had double the amount of work taking place outside of peak hours on London’s major roads. A toughened version of the code launched in February has committed the utilities to a range of targets to reduce the disruption of their work on Londoners lives.

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s Transport Advisor, said: “Roadworks cause  36%  of traffic delays and cost London’s economy an estimated £1billion every year. The Mayor’s Office is leading a concerted effort to improve the road network and reduce the frustration roadworks cause Londoners. We want to improve road conditions for all road users whether vehicular, cyclists or pedestrians.

“Around 95% of the roads in London fall under the control of London’s borough councils and it is vital we work as closely as possible with them on this. Today’s announcement that more boroughs are committing to joining the London permit scheme is welcome; but both I and the Mayor call on all London boroughs to sign up to our Code of Conduct for Roadworks. “

Since the Mayor’s election he has launched a concerted effort to smooth traffic flow in the capital. As well as permitting and a code of conduct he has launched a programme to review the performance of traffic signals and remove them where necessary. The Mayor’s office are also looking into the potential of pedestrian countdown systems on traffic signals that make signals more efficient by providing pedestrians with clear information about how long they have to cross.

Garrett Emmerson, Chief Operating Officer for London Streets, said: “The Mayor and TfL are fully committed to reducing unnecessary delays and congestion on London’s roads. This summit allows TfL, the London boroughs and utility companies to discuss not only how we can reduce disruption caused by roadworks, but also how we can work together to help smooth traffic flow across London. To have nearly three quarters of London’s borough councils either committed to or already implementing the London Permit Scheme is a testament to the importance of such a scheme to the Capital. We continue to work with the remaining nine boroughs across London to get them to agree to sign up to the London permit scheme by the end of 2010.”

Chairman of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Mike Fisher said: "It can be extremely frustrating for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians as well as residents and businesses to find the same road has been dug up again for yet another utility company to carry out work. The permit scheme puts boroughs back in the driving seat by giving them powers to co-ordinate road works so delays and inconvenience are kept to a minimum, so we are delighted that more boroughs across London have agreed to sign up to this highly beneficial scheme."

Ends

Notes to editors

• TfL, the Mayor’s Transport Advisor, Kulveer Ranger, and London’s borough councils, utility companies and other key organisations will meet at Transport for London’s (TfL) Managing London’s Road Network Summit on 12 March to discuss better planning and coordination of roadworks in the Capital.
• Greenwich, Harrow, Lambeth, Newham, Richmond, Southwark and Waltham Forest councils are all expected to make applications to the DfT to allow them sign up to the London Permit Scheme. This would  take the total number of London boroughs operating roadwork permitting schemes across London to 25, which, together with TfL’s network will, cover 10,773 kilometres, or 76 per cent, of all roads in the Capital.
• Once approved by the DfT, the additional seven boroughs will join TfL and the City of London, Westminster City Council, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Hounslow, Islington, Lewisham, Redbridge and Wandsworth who implemented the scheme on 11 January 2010. Croydon and Bromley will launch their schemes on 1 April 2010.
• Under the scheme, utility companies and other organisations that want to dig up roads have to apply for a permit before they can begin.  Permitting enables boroughs to plan and coordinate the timing of roadworks, providing greater opportunities for multiple companies to work on the same sections of road simultaneously.
• In April 2009 the Mayor agreed a voluntary Code of Conduct for Roadworks with the five largest utility companies working in London that has already resulted in better managed roadworks. On 25 February 2010, Southern Gas Ltd also signed the code, meaning that the six main utility companies across London are now fully committed to reducing disruption caused by roadworks in the Capital.
• During the first six months of the Mayor’s Code of Conduct for Roadworks, the number of roadworks taking place only outside of peak hours on the TfL road network more than doubled (compared to the same six months in the previous year),rising from 1,224 hours in May-October 2008 to 2,451 hours in May-October 2009 - helping to cut delays on London’s roads.
• It also found that there has been a reduction in the number of works inspected that required improvement for safety reasons; and only a small number of sites were now failing to display standard information signage.
• Last month, the six main utilities companies in London met with TfL and the Mayor's Transport Advisor to agree a toughened up version of the Mayor’s Code of Conduct for Roadworks. This more robust code aims to improve the performance of utility companies in repairing roads where work takes place, as well as improve their response time to reported problems.
• Utility companies are using the Mayor’s Code of Conduct as a template for a national Code, which is evidence of London’s leadership in this area.
• TfL is continuing to engage with the Department for Transport on the Department’s proposed increase in Section 74 overstay charges and on TfL’s proposal to introduce a lane rental scheme on the TLRN, which will allow charging of utility companies if they want to dig up targeted parts of London’s major traffic arteries during peak hours.
• Londoners can find out what roadworks are planned in their local area by visiting the LondonWorks website at http://public.londonworks.gov.uk
• Since April 2009 TfL has committed to review timings of 1,000 sets of traffic signals a year and continue at that rate for six years (until 2015/16).

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