The Mayor of London and Transport for London have launched a Walking and Wheeling Action Plan that sets out how Sir Sadiq Khan, TfL and London’s boroughs will work closely to invest in significant improvements to London’s streets over the next decade.
Boroughs are responsible for the vast majority of London’s streets, meaning the plan will be delivered through close collaboration to ensure improvements are felt in local neighbourhoods across the capital.
Walking and wheeling are fundamental to the way people get around the capital, including how they access public transport. Increasing walking and wheeling – especially among children and less active people – will bring major health benefits for Londoners as well as helping businesses, high streets and the economy to thrive.
This new London-wide plan will support boroughs across the capital to identify and prioritise areas for improvement, ensuring schemes reflect local needs and deliver the greatest benefits for communities. By creating streets that work for everyone, TfL and the Mayor aim to make walking a realistic option for more Londoners.
The plan supports the Mayor’s ambition for 80 per cent of trips to be made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2041 – setting out clear actions to boost health, improve safety and support local economies. Walking is one of the easiest ways to build physical activity into everyday life, particularly for people who are currently inactive.
Several major projects are also underway and planned to enhance the walking experience in central London, including the transformation of Lambeth Bridge. Work to improve the junctions to the north and south of the bridge are almost complete, and work on the bridge itself is due to be finished within the next couple of weeks.
TfL and boroughs have also expanded School Streets to more than 800 locations across the capital, helping create safer environments for children, with nearly half of London’s schools now taking part in the Travel for Life programme and more than 1,000 achieving Gold accreditation. The new plan will see blanket 20mph zones implemented across all 800 School Streets locations in tandem with a number of associated road closures.
Since the Mayor’s first Walking Action Plan was published in 2018, TfL has worked closely with boroughs and partners to deliver a wide range of improvements to make London more walkable. This includes adding a new 15-mile Green Link Walk to the Walk London network, supporting more than 100,000 Londoners from diverse communities to access walking and cycling through grant programmes and delivering new and improved pedestrian crossings across the TfL Road Network. Updates to traffic signals have reduced waiting times and given greater priority to people walking, particularly in town centres and around schools, while street works are now managed more effectively to minimise disruption for pedestrians.
Christina Calderato, Director of Transport Strategy at TfL, said:
“Walking is already at the heart of how Londoners get around, but we know too many people are still put off by safety concerns, poor crossings or inaccessible streets. This new plan sets out how we’ll change that by making it easier and more pleasant to walk for everyday journeys, whether that’s getting to school, the station or the local high street. By working in partnership with boroughs and communities, we can create streets that are safer, more inclusive and better for everyone.”
(Picture: TfL)
