London's Transport Problems and How to Fix Them

Ok London, let me tell you how it has to be.

The road network doesn't work for anyone. It doesn't work for cars, vans, lorries, buses, pedestrians, emergency vehicles or cyclists and everybody hates it. We've built our city around the internal combustion engine and it's time to admit that we've lost something along the way; it's time for change.

So what's next? How do we unclog our cities, cut the pollution, encourage visitors and tourists, boost trade, help small businesses and generally improve the way the city works?

It's actually not all that difficult, it just requires a change of mindset. We have to stop building infrastructure based on the needs of cars, taxis and buses and focus instead on the needs of their passengers. We do this by making it easier to move around the city without using motorised transport, by encouraging walking, cycling and, for longer journeys, tube, tram and train. 

There are a few things we can do:

1. Pedestrianise the busiest shopping and entertainment areas, like Oxford Street, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square etc.
2. Cut the motor traffic on routes that can't be pedestrianised, like Whitehall, Parliament Square, Charing Cross Road, Strand, Kingsway etc.
3. Build fully segregated cycle lanes on the busiest roads, like Victoria Embankment, and add cycle infrastructure at junctions, crossings, stations and bridges,
4. Increase the congestion charge and extend the coverage area to further reduce private vehicle use, 
5. Extend the tram system that operates around Croydon and push it north through Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham where underground coverage is light,

Not easily done, especially in the face of concerted opposition from car drivers (who will call it a "war on motorists") and other vested interests, but it would make the city far more pleasant for everyone who lives in it. 

TfL currently spend £400m a year (source) maintaining the 5% of London's roads for which they're responsible and their brief, for years, has been to keep the traffic moving; they've interpreted "traffic", in this context, as "motor traffic". Anyone who has walked, cycled or driven around some of TfL's major junctions, like Elephant and Castle, can see how poorly this approach has worked.

If roads and junctions aren't pleasant or efficient for drivers why on earth do we continue to build infrastructure based almost entirely on their needs? We have to change the approach. We have to build a network that works for the majority of people using it even if that means discouraging the behaviours that some people currently rely upon. 

Let's aim to get some of the cars off the streets by making it easier to make different choices. There will always be a need for some people to drive around the city but, for the rest of us, for the rest of the time, let's provide some viable alternatives. Let's take the difficult decisions now, start the process and get the city moving.