One of the biggest changes in London in recent years has been the recognition that the city is for people, not just cars. From Trafalgar Square in the centre of the city to a 20mph zone in a suburban street, London has become a much better place for those who want to walk.
Achieving this has been helped by organisations like Living Streets, which campaigns for pedestrians, working cycling organisations and Transport for London to make sure that pedestrians and cyclists are not seen as being in competition but that we should design streets to accommodate the needs of both.
But Boris Johnson’s agenda for London is in danger of reversing these developments. It’s a real shame that claimed in his Radio 2 interview with Jeremy Vine that pedestrians are the most dangerous menace to cyclists. The real menaces are the drivers lorries who are not aware of cyclists or pedestrians in their vicinity, and speeding cars. Measures that are good for cyclists usually benefit pedestrians too.
For instance, advance stop lines at traffic lights, which allow a space for cyclists in front of vehicles, also make streets safer for pedestrians. They give them more time to cross safely and help make sure that lorry drivers are aware of any pedestrians crossing in front of them. Boris’s plans to increase the time that vehicles can move compared to pedestrians at junctions could also lead to more pedestrians coming into conflict with cyclists and vehicles as they get tired of waiting an age for the green man and risk crossing anyway.
Cyclists and pedestrians need to work together to improve our streets and provide an alternative to the car for short journeys. London is an ideal city for walking and cycling, and the congestion charge has provided a real opportunity to do more for both these modes of transport. Central London should not be just a traffic corridor where the only concern is how quick and easy it is to drive through.
We can do much more to be proud of our streets and to demonstrate to visitors that our streets and squares are a match for the rest of Europe. Rather than backward-looking policies to make it more difficult to cross the road, we want to see the candidates for mayor setting out their agenda to make London a fantastic place to walk.
One concrete example would be to give Oxford Street to people rather than the buses and other vehicles which currently dominate it. Research conducted by London Living Streets on VIP (Very Important Pedestrian) Day, when all motor traffic was removed from Oxford, Regent and Bond Streets, showed that 97% of visitors felt that Oxford Street was more pleasant without motor traffic. A commitment from Boris Johnson to open up London’s high street to pedestrians rather than vehicles would show that he isn’t just the friend of motorists.
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