Planning our future London

Emphasis on improving public transport with electric buses would benefit cleaner air and public health, as well as offering mobility to a large number of people who have problems moving around  [or simply attending hospital appointments], whether mothers with young children or elderly people.  Social cohesion and mobility equity would  result from a better electrified bus system across the capital.  

Please don't improve cycling at the expense of bus users and pedestrians. I'm not able to cycle as I have poor balance and spatial awareness, and my bus journeys keep getting slower and slower as cyclists are given priority over everyone else, and when they're not, they just take it. Nearly hit by cyclists at Elephant and Castle every morning while crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing even though (a) the signal is on red for bikes and (b) there is a separated cycle lane taking up most of the pavement. Cycling for me is a magic bullet for me only in so far as it might kill me.

Living in central London there appear a great many lanes.  I pay tax on my car, why shouldn't cyclists?  That is my point

I've just got back from Copenhagen where everyone cycles - both rich and poor - because their is safe, segregated, high-quality, linked-up cycling infrastructure. Copenhagen has similar weather to London, yet people cycle there come rain or shine. Why? Because it's cheap - so much cheaper than owning and running a car. It also helps keep you healthy, reducing medical costs and sick days, it's a more efficient use of space on the roads (so perfect for a growing city) and with cargo-bikes it's an increasingly flexible means of transport. It's even good for your mind; kids who cycle to school can concentrate for longerThere will always be some jobs for which a larger vehicle will be required - or distances that are not reasonable to expect the average citizen to travel by foot or bike - but for everything else, bikes is the way to go. But in order to do that we need to invest properly in cycling infrastructure - which will benefit not only cyclists, but everyone in society (freeing up the roads for those who have to use a car, improving overall population health and saving money).

You cannot have too many cycle lanes, but they need to be protected where cyclists share the road with drivers - and paint is not protection.

Make more bus priority lanes and junctions. Buses being held up by car, van and truck drivers is not good, and provides no visible incentive for drivers to become bus passengers.

20 mph speed limit everywhere in London - and enforce it.

(Oh, and bring back public toilets!)

Cycling is the closet thing we have to a magic bullet for all sorts of issues. It's good for physical health and mental health. It's democratic as it's accessible to a wider range of people compared to most alternatives. It's help reduce carbon emissions and it reduces sound pollution. We need to do a lot more to enable people to access what is essentially a life-changing mode of transport. Creating streets which enables cycling through protected cycle tracks also has the additional benefit of allowing us improve our public spaces for those walking by putting in seating and greenery where they didn't exist previously. In order to do this, we must be bold and remove space from car - especially parked ones which sit there on average 96% of the time (according the RAC Foundation). Even on the so-called Cycleway 1 route, parked cars hamper what could be a half decent route. London has completed some fantastic schemes to enable this shift, but it was a long, long way to go to create a proper network of protected routes. We mustn't slow down - this is just the beginning.  

There are too manyb cycle lanes.  Who pays for them?  Not the cyclists.  Yes, we need cleaner air but at whose expense.

For West London build Crossrail 2. So much traffic is through traffic, that is not stopping in the towns but using them as a rat run. Yes many of the roads may be A roads, but the volume of traffic has increased many found in recent years. For example, getting from SW London to Heathrow, Gatwick, Croydon etc to Heathrow is difficult. East to West is very easy, North to South virtually impossible. 

I think the most simple improvement would be more litter bins in busy areas. The biggest problem with busy areas is that litter will pile up unless there are bins close by as most people from littering is providing bins. In some less clean areas of London this in combination with street lighting is a major barrier to have people walk.

Moreover having TfL offer an overground/ Elizabeth style alternative to network rail on the main lines out of London would help a lot as fares and an inconsistent service prevents people from traveling by rail into the city. Network rail should offer services similar to the semi fast Elizabeth line services and services within London and local trains being run by TfL would be a major incentive as the fare would be much lower. Since TfL effectively took over the GWR main line for the Elizabeth line doing something like this for other main lines out of Waterloo, Euston, Victoria, Kings Cross etc. That would be a cheap way to expand TfL and make journeys in the capital a lot easier. Moreover, network rail would continue to operate the terminus meaning new TfL stations for a fee.

Improving connections between existing infrastructure should also be a priority. Reinstating disused railways and connecting lines with buses would be crucial to prevent people from needing to change in zone 1. Allowing people easier access to more tube/rail lines or a tube/rail line means that there would be less journeys in busy areas of the network and less people using inconsistent and slow buses in semi central areas.

Bus connections around outer London and a frequent and decent bus shelters are the best way to get people out of the cars and more content with ULEZ. Just make using a bus as easy as possible and improve comfort for the people waiting as the wait is the main barrier to using a bus and people will pay a lot to avoid it proving how bad it is. Moreover, just more routes meaning less changes would be another great way to improve transport.