London's recovery starts with you

I fully support road reallocations to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists, with priority given to buses on the remainder. Any cycle lanes on main roads need to be properly segregated from the rest of the traffic. It would make roads safer for pedestrians if pelican crossnigs increased the frequency of 'go' signals for pedestrians.

One thing is a given is that, the traffic will increase. So, all land transport should be electric.

I am in favour of Elon Musk's Boring Technologies solution to take the traffic underground 3D.

For long distance, again in favour of Elon Musk's 5th Mode of transport Hyperloop solution which would also cut down on the impact of Air Transport.

The roads over the land can then be free for electric cars to their last destination, e-scooters (etc...) and walking.

I welcome the development of the 15-minute city.

It would be transformational if we could make London a city for people rather than for cars. We've loved our cars for a long time but they just haven't loved us back. I'm encouraged by the development of low-traffic neighbourhoods and I feel we have to resist the protests of those seeking to turn this into a culture/class war of two opposing sides.

To encourage us out of our cars we need sustainable alternatives. They include low-traffic zones; traffic-calming, cycle-safe streets and affordable public transport. Into the mix we need a strategic approach to bike hire. There's currently a plethora of different bike-hire companies with all kinds of hire bikes littering the pavements, dumped in the canal, chucked in the River etc). Ditto we need effective and easy-to-access car-sharing schemes to discourage us from owning our own vehicles. Zip Car was once very good but seems to have now given up the ghost, abandoning customer service altogether. Let's get these cars off the streets if people can't access them and the company no longer cares. Hopefully, technology in time will make roads smarter, checking speeding drivers, offering electric charging etc.

We need to take a long hard look at the high street. The big London landlords are accountable to their shareholders rather than local communities. Some landlords (like Shaftesbury PLC, which runs greats swathes of Soho) certainly try harder than others, investing in community events, festivals etc. That does deserve recognition and praise. But despite these efforts, Soho is changing fast, losing many of its independent shops and makers because they can't hack the rents. We need to explore how we can re-invent the high street putting local people at the heart of decision-making rather than central government, property developers and offshore investors.

I agree.  In some boroughs of London, many properties are vacant, having been bought to leave just to make a profit when selling later on.  Elsewhere, greenbelt is being torn up and development areas, which could be green open spaces are built on. In centuries past, when London was being built and towns swallowed up by the sprawling metropolis, some forward thinkers set aside land for everyone's well-being.  This needs to happen again.  We need to think locally and not be bullied into developments which no one wants or needs, by people, some of whom will never live in these communities and indeed don't even live in this country. There is a chronic shortage of affordable homes exacerbated by those who only have greed in mind. Sort out the vacant properties first, tax those who own second homes and put that money into rebuilding local communities where it is safe to walk and cycle to the town centre, which meets the needs of its townspeople. Secondly put the pedestrian's needs first and the car last. Block the rat runs, make roads into cul de sacs and let people live next to quiet, clean, green safe places to live. You might want to visit Holland to see how its done. 

Cyclists tend to shop more locally, damage roads less and are compatible with pedestrians. Unfortunately many people are used to one big weekly shop which means large supermarkets. Home delivery is part of the solution to this -- by van or cargo bike. More cycle parking will be essential -- and must include odd forms of bike: children carriers, tandems, trikes and cargo bikes.

Great idea. But many local high streets are littered with gangs, drunks, vagrants and beggars so until this problem is addressed then people will just ignore local trade. You only have to walk up the Narroway in Hackney to see it's fast becoming a total drop outs hangout. You will be stopped every 25 seconds by a drunk, a junkie or a beggar or be intimidated by a group of feral youths and it's a shame as there are some decent shops but people will not go because of this problem. Councils have to take responsibility and sort it out

Fully support the ideal. Business rate reform is probably needed in the short term not medium term. 
If you want to encourage cycling to do shopping you need to address secure cycle parking somehow

I like the 15 minute city idea however my concern is that certain areas will have certain shops and service that doesn't suit nor fit with the local community for example shops who target high end customers or cinemas that will charge £15 a ticket which prices out those in the community. I agree with the business rates change and reinventing that. There should be more affordable retail space for pop up shops and those who may only want the space for a short time due to seasonality. People's shopping habits and taste are forever changing and being bound to a long term lease will only lead to more job cuts or have them sell solely on the internet where costs are minimal. Just like public transport is trying to appeal more to car owners leaving their cars at home, the same needs to be done for companies and owners to be attracted to having a shop rather than just selling online. There needs to be a bit more flexibility, especially for those who may want to try having a shop before committing to a possible long term lease.

As a transport professional and therefore looking from the transport perspective, road reallocations are key. To do this we must re-design our streets around people and away from the 20th Century car-dominated mindset that still befalls the majority of traffic engineers.

Streets are not for cars, particularly High Streets, they are for people i.e. stop prioritising traffic and car flow. High Streets should be re-designed to accommodate maximal space for pedestrian movement and activity (such as shopping, gathering and sitting). Road space should be re-designed to accommodate cyclists with associated cycle parking. Road lanes should also be redesigned (as in the Netherlands and Denmark) to be only wide enough for Buses to pass through with the provision of some taxi drop-off and disabled parking facilities, preferably with side-street loading bays or loading in off-peak hours. 

We need to ignore the myths surrounding the suppression of traffic as it doesn't cause increased congestion, it actually re-trains car behaviours to go a different way or more importantly, by a different transport mode. Also ignore the myth that it disadvantages business whereas non-motorised traffic actually boosts business spending by 40% (see here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2018/11/16/cyclists-spend-40-m…).

Re-designing our High Streets around people, ergo public and active transport users will reduce pollution, increase safety, increase access, boost business and rejuvenate High Streets.

Strongly agree with previous comments : this is a win-win! Tackle climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and public health whilst encouraging local sustainable businesses and job opportunities. Massive thumbs up!

The best way to revive the fortunes of High Streets is a root and branch reform of the rating system.

This is one of the most compelling future visions that I have seen, and there are really no downsides. Everywhere this has been done has shown economic as well as health and social benefits. There are plenty of encouraging examples in London already.  Let's build on these.

Of course people are wary of change and there will be objections. But, once people experience the benefits then they will be less fearful.

 London was built on villages, parks and squares. This is a great model for modernising the high streets for the 21st century.  With the shift to at least some increased working from home and reduced commuting, mixed use communities can thrive with the right support.

Climate change and coronavirus mean that action - at scale and at speed - is a priority. Think things have now got to the stage where we can't let the slowest boroughs hold up progress any longer. If boroughs wish to continue to favour cars over people, then we should work around them. Low traffic neighbourhoods and 15-minute cities will allow for this. 

A strong yes to 15 minute cities (with roads filtered to avoid traffic just passing through and 20mph speed limits)

Consumer habits are changing. That's the first premise you need to analyse. If people are doing shopping online, why do you want to resurrect high street shopping? We should study what people want from their high street. Maybe it is not more shops.

Keep park and ride facilities at all tube stations with car parks to enable access. Provide more disabled and bike parking at tubes and bus stations. Stop building high rise flats which trap people in for covid lockdowns in suburbs. Enable wider pavements for communities to access to provide shops with outdoor areas. Encourage small shopkeepers from diverse backgrounds to set up business with business rate relief for start ups if necessary.  

Careful inter agency collaboration at borough boundaries. Dovetail service providers so streets are not being semi closed and dug up and re dug up all the time. careful with street art but plenty of it. Pavement cafes to include non smoking areas. 

Fantastic! Enough car dominance, it's high time for sustainable and active transportation to be massively encouraged by the administration, and conversely owning a car in London should be made more difficult and expensive, to cover the true costs that are currently just externalities, such as my daughters' projected lung capacity.

Not that we have a choice, mind you. With 2,500 more council homes to be built in Southwark by 2022, and many more coming, if everyone expected to be able to drive around and park as we have unfortunately been used to, nobody will be able to go anywhere.

It really drives me up the wall to see my neighbours go and fetch a pint of milk or do the school run by car. In fact, most private car journeys in London could easily be done on foot or by bicycle.

Active travel, good for you:

Live happier, healthier and longer
Free, or cheaper to buy and run
Short distances are faster than driving
More realiable (no traffic jams or transport delays and cancellations)
Better air quality than inside cars or underground
License/age not required (independence)
Efficiency of including exercise in everyday activities (e.g. school run)
Less road rage, more social cohesion
 

Active travel, good for everyone:

Improved air quality
Increased road safety
Quieter roads (noise pollution)
Reduced congestion
Help the NHS (obesity epidemic) and the economy
Tackle the climate crisis
Encourage others to do the same (positive feedback)
 

Walking could be made more attractive by proper programming of pelican crossings. Now, even when a pedestrian pushes the button to cross, they are made to wait. What is this wait for? Clearly it is the pedestrian's turn to use the crossing, and yet cars that arrive afterwards get priority. 

There are a few crossings that work properly -- I'm thinking of Clapham High Street, where lights change immediately -- so it's not that the technology doesn't exist.

This feels like one of the many instances where car drivers are simply considered to be more important than other road users, and so making pedestrians wait is just the normal thing. I can see no other explanation for the delay when crossing the street.

There's also the problem that when a gap in traffic comes up, even with a Don't Cross signal still showing, any normal pedestrian will cross. Then, some time later, the lights change and drivers have to stop for no one to cross.  

My suggestion to make the lights immediately respond would solve both the unfairness of the timings, and the uselessness of stopping cars when there's no one there.

Regards

Matthew Hendirckson

Can we please stop property developers buying up commercial properties (especially pubs) when leases are up and filibustering the lengthy legal duties to deny local protesters the ability to save their local amenity?

The number of closed down but non-developed businesses I see is a blight on our city. When I enquire why the usual answer is property developers bought it and want to change it into flats. 

The properties are often socially important centres of communities that have nowhere else to congregate. 

The ability for councils to designate a building or business "culturally or socially important" and stop the developers in their tracks would be fab  Having that label on a building will also dissuade opportunist developers with no interest in the area