Millions of Londoners will ignore the ULEZ as it expands into London’s suburbs and continue to use their cars because public transport is so unreliable, a report said.
A lack of sustainable transport options in the corners of the capital, such as trains, buses and well-maintained sidewalks and bicycle routes, forces people to keep their cars for short trips.
The report by the think tank Center for London (CfL) shows that twice as many journeys are made by car in the suburbs of London as in the inner city of London: 38 percent compared to 19 percent of the journeys.
The research also claimed that more than half of car journeys in London’s suburbs are less than two miles, leading to climate change, air pollution and congestion on London’s busy roads.
The new findings come as Sadiq Khan’s much-maligned Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will expand to all 32 London boroughs from August 29 this year, with drivers charged £12.50 daily if their car is not meets the emission standards.
Research shows that 62% of outer Londoners would travel more by public transport if it were more reliable – 38% of trips in London’s suburbs are by car compared to 19% in inner London
Sadiq Khan’s much-maligned Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be expanded to all 32 London boroughs from August 29 this year
CfL’s report says: ‘The difficulties of sustainable travel faced by people living in London’s suburbs have come to the fore this year, with proposals to expand ULEZ and continued problems with the suburban rail network.
‘Compared to central London, outer London suffers from a lack of reliable and convenient driving alternatives (such as public transport links) – with the result that many people find it difficult to give up their car.’
A daily ULEZ charge, running from midnight to midnight every day, will cover areas as far afield as Heathrow Airport, Chingford and Sutton from the end of August in an effort to improve air quality in the city.
TfL hopes that by reducing the number of non-compliant cars in London, air pollution in the British capital will be further reduced.
But expanding the ULEZ zone could only prevent a maximum of one case of lung cancer per year, according to a study commissioned by TfL.
A 197-page document used to justify Sadiq Khan’s controversial decision to expand the hated scheme, which began in 2019, acknowledged that the impact on cancer rates would specifically be “nominal.”
The ULEZ expansion comes amid a wider war on motorists in Sadiq Khan’s London, with 100 kilometers of cycle lanes, LTNs causing chaos and parking lots being gobbled up by parks.
Miles of new bike lanes built since the coronavirus pandemic have helped make London the most congested city in the world, a 2021 study claimed.
And critics have said the measures also block emergency vehicles and have caused problems for local businesses in towns and cities across the UK.
Suggestions have also been made to narrow the space for cars, increasing congestion while many bike lanes are empty.
A daily ULEZ charge, running from midnight to midnight every day, will cover areas as far afield as Heathrow Airport, Chingford and Sutton from the end of August in a bid to improve air quality in the city
Millions of Londoners will ignore the ULEZ as it expands into London’s suburbs and continue to use their cars because public transport is so unreliable, a report said.
In January, the Supreme Court ruled that guidelines from the mayor to promote program expansion were “irrational” and illegal because they failed to secure road access for taxis and the disabled.
The judge said authorities “took advantage of the pandemic” to turn parts of London into car-free zones.
And CfL’s new research shows that transport links are mainly geared towards commuting in and out of central London, with transport within the suburbs of London itself lacking, forcing people to use the car for short journeys.
A survey cited in CfL’s report found that 62 percent of London suburban residents said they would use public transport more often if it were more reliable.
And 45 percent said they would travel more often by walking, cycling or using an e-scooter if there were clearer or wider sidewalks.
Problems surrounding cyclists and pedestrians sharing sidewalk space have been exacerbated by “floating” bus stops that force people to dangerously cross the path of speeding bicycles to get on and off.
MailOnline reported in April that selfish motorcyclists were caught on camera repeatedly ignoring pedestrians at one of London’s many “dangerous” floating bus stops, forcing passengers to take a “leap of faith” through a cycle highway.
Motorists have been hit hard in London and the rest of the UK as councils have removed thousands of parking spaces and replaced them with street furniture, bike sheds and flower beds.
Local authorities are driving the trend, saying cars are unfairly dominating shopping streets and city centers, while businesses think the shift could spell their downfall.
As part of a climate change mitigation plan, South London’s Lambeth planned in February to convert 25 per cent of roadside parking spaces into functions that “enhance community.”
The council also planned to do away with free parking and double the cost of parking permits, which would increase their revenue from £6 million to £12 million.
The Center for London is calling for better infrastructure for walking, cycling and car clubs alongside more rail and bus services to make Outer Londoners less dependent on their cars.
The report’s authors also advocated increased frequency of train services and a new requirement to provide new bus routes to new housing projects to reduce the need for cars.
A cargo bike cyclist and another cyclist swerve towards a blind man waiting at the bus stop and a woman in a wheelchair (right) trying to board the bus at a ‘floating’ bus stop on Lea Bridge Road, in Waltham Forest, north East London on March 29
UK councils are waging a war on cars by removing thousands of parking spaces and replacing them with street furniture, bike sheds and flower beds (photo: a park in Lincolnshire)
Lambeth Council planned to convert 25 per cent of curbside parking into ‘community enhancing’ functions (photo: cars parked in Lambeth)
Claire Harding, interim director of the Center for London, said: ‘There are 5.4 million people living in the suburbs of London, the same number as in Scotland. But many of these people do not have access to the transport options enjoyed by their central London counterparts.
‘Political rhetoric about transport spending in London obscures the fact that millions of Londoners have limited options for getting around their neighbourhood.
“Improving people’s options for sustainable travel for local travel, not just commuting, is at the heart of making London a liveable city.”
Tim Thomas, Head of Transport Policy at Be First, the urban regeneration and social housing firm of Be First, Barking & Dagenham, added: ‘Outer London has been underfunded for years and so local authorities have been unable to build infrastructure to enable sustainable travel .
‘We know that many people living in the suburbs of London want to walk, cycle and travel sustainably, but there are too many barriers they have to overcome.
“We want an injection of investment into active travel in the London suburbs, so that people living there have safe and realistic alternatives to private vehicle travel. Be First is continuing sustainable travel projects in Barking and Dagenham and we are also asking TfL for further investment in our Borough.
‘The Moving with the Times piece summarizes the challenges facing London’s suburbs and we hope this will provide a basis for encouraging more frequent and reliable funding in London’s suburbs.’
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