London Environment Strategy consultation

http://sensiblepolitics.beep.com/carfreenetwork.html
Car Free Network For Walkers And Cyclists:
I had a good look around and seen the dire and dangerous state of our ecology I know we need to stop creating CO2 and other pollutants. Driving produces 25% of them. If we as human society intend to survive we have to not only stop polluting but actually have a carbon negative economy. So sadly, cos they are fun and useful, think cars will have to go.
Also recent figures say the car pollution in London is killing 29,000 people each year, that's mostly children with asthma and old people with bad lungs, so your kids and parents.
So given that why aren't we asking for a viable alternative to the private car, or even what City Hall calls Health Streets, a network of car free routes for walking and cycling. They are TFLs first and second priorities but are being given £770M compared to £15B given for planet (and our lives) destroying pollution.
So I am interested in a network of car free routes and very happy to volunteer my road as the first step in life saving carbon free network.

I think what stops most people from walking, cycling (or using public transport) more is the ownership of a private car parked outside their house! If it's there, fixed costs paid, people will use it. I strongly believe that if you target car ownership, you'll increase sustainable methods of transport automatically, and people will wonder (like us) why they ever thought they needed one. No more than one parking permit per household (none if you have off-street parking), reclaimed road space to be devoted to segregated cycling and bus lanes. Parking permits should be priced to reflect the real cost of the land occupied by vehicles, including the opportunity cost of other uses that land could be put to.
I had a private car myself until 2000, when I didn't replace it after a period of living without abroad. It was immediately obvious that I had never needed it anyway! I had used it to drive to my parents (an easy - and quicker- train ride) and to go to the supermarket (replaced with a shopping trolley!) I had more of a job convincing my husband, who likes cars. I persuaded him that, with the money we saved, on the few occasions we actually needed one, he could hire himself an Alpha Romeo. In the end, he contented himself with a very flash bike (that cost the same as a car, but he's lost a couple of stone and has never been so fit). We are members of Zipcar, which we use about 5-6 times per year, all we actually need.

What stops me walking: it is often unpleasant to walk because of the pollution, noise and danger of being surrounded by traffic and reckless drivers. I walk as much as possible but know that I would walk much longer distances if it felt safer and more pleasant, particularly when I am with children.
What stops me cycling: safety and bullying, that takes the subtle form of some drivers putting you just slightly at risk so that they don't harm you really but your stress levels are nevertheless very high.

I heard of an idea to put overhead cycle tracks above all the railway lines. I would love that, cycling along quietly above street level, at tree top level. It would be completely separate from the street traffic, and even young people who are just learning to cycle and old people who might like to go a bit slower could cycle on them perfectly safely.

It is all very well thinking more space for cycling and segregated cycling lanes would be good - and it would if you take a narrow view of the issue - but you are likely to increase vehicle congestion and so pollution (see the new arrangements exiting Hyde Park at Lancaster Gate as an example
).

I tried cycling to the gym a few times - I used to do it when I lived near Chiswick and had a relatively quiet route, but now I live near Hammersmith and the route to the gym was along a busy road.

I was terrified every time that some driver would road rage - especially on sections where roadworks made my side into a single, narrow lane and so I tended to stick more to the middle of the lane to stop drivers overtaking too closely.

Often I felt drivers were trying to pass very close to me.

So I stopped cycling and took the bus instead.

What we need is more education for drivers (e.g. an ad campaign, and in the driving test) so they respect cyclists, and more cycle lanes.

A parking space is around about the size of a bedroom in London, which would cost at least £6000 per year to rent.
So a parking space on a street with a permit for £150-300 per year is basically being subsidized by the rest of the population who don't have cars, but have to put up with the lower productivity of a congested city.

I would like to see street parking removed on one side of the street to create
- more cycle super highway artery's
- more bus lanes

There's a lot of suggestions for more segregated cycle lanes, however what if some roads were just classified as bicycle priority roads.

- paint and sign the whole road
- the road would still be mixed use BUT
- on a bicycle priority road its illegal to overtake a bicycle with a vehicle.
- bicycles can use the whole lane.

this means that traffic flows at the speed of a bicycle, nobody can get frustrated or road ragey because its the rule.

Since Sadiq Khan became mayor, there's been a slow down in building good cycling infrastructure which as lots of comments say is key to get people cycling just as good pedestrian infrastructure helps pedestrians. What happened to the east west cycle highway? So, improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and remove road space for drivers as driving is an incredibly inefficient and harmful way of getting round the city. Extra congestion charges with the funds put back into active travel and public transport. I like the idea of stopping parents driving their kids to school by restricting access to roads near schools. Disappointing to see the draft Environment Strategy so thin on walking and cycling.

I gave up my car to use public transport and to walk more. In my area the pavements are often in a bad state, this is compounded by cars being half parked on them, one day a week bins are left on them, and then cyclist use them too plus children with scooters going to school.
In some parts the pavements are so bad `i walk in the road when the traffic calms down. I can certainly walk faster on the road because the surface is much better. I have noticed a few more cycle lanes but absolutely no improvement in any pavements or parking management to clear the pavements for walkers instead of cars.

I love cycling in London and have done so for 20 years but safety is a big concern, I'm especially nervous after being hospitalised after an accident last year and I regularly see near misses and dangerous behaviour from motorists. I feel that supporting cycling is not high enough up the agenda, both in terms of funding and attitudes of the public, police, local councils and TFL. Segregated cycle lanes are the only thing I've witnessed making a real difference, everything else (e.g. painted on cycle lanes) are not worth the effort - I'd rather see 1 mile of segregated cycle lanes than 100 miles of painted on lanes.

I also see a lot of people driving their kids to school (I live near 2 schools and have one child in school), double parking at drop off points, etc. This makes it a lot more dangerous for other parents who want to walk or cycle their kids to school. It's also been exacerbated recently as local schools have been removing the distance criteria on entry criteria meaning pupils are travelling from further afield and more likely to drive. I would love to see (minor) roads near schools closed (or 'exit only' for residents) for 30 mins before the start of school, this would discourage parents from driving kids and encourage them to cycle or walk.