Important posts on Vauxhall Gyratory

Two posts well worthwhile reading:
a) Val Shawross, local London Assembly member, on the subject
and
b) potential for two-way working not shown in TfL's options.

Ironically, by removing the gyratory to make Vauxhall more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists, traffic volume (which must include trips made on foot or by bike) is likely to increase rathet than decrease!

Impossible shout the TfL traffic engineers. But the reality of making a place nicer to wander and cycle around is that more people will make journeys there - just look at the southbank before the London Eye and after. Of course, the engineers may prefer loads of polluting motor traffic over people ambling kind of traffic. Do we really want a motorway style no-mans land to remain in central London, between vibrant Waterloo and the buzzy new US Embassy and Battersea Power Station area?

Motor traffic banned from Waterloo Bridge

 Waterloo Bridge was a pleasure to cycle across today - quiet, unpolluted, spacious. For a moment I thought that TfL were making amends for their disgraceful behaviour on Blackfriars Bridge, but it transpired that no credit was due to TfL - a fire in Aldwych was the cause.

Vauxhall Gyratory set to remain foul

Cllr Morgan has sent around a presentation made by TfL at the end of March.

Please find attached a link to the TfL presentation made on Gyratory on 30 March 2011.

http://urbandesign.tfl.gov.uk/Content/Copy-of-LBL-Members-presentation---Gyratory.aspx

In addition, please find attached link to original Burns & Nice Study
http://urbandesign.tfl.gov.uk/Content/VNEB-PR-HM-Study-Final-Report__Final-V4.aspx

TfL's presentation reflects the Mayor's obsession with smoothing traffic flow rather than achieving modal shift towards more sustainable transport modes. Apparently removing the gyratory isn't a goer as it would require a 36% reduction in motor traffic in the morning forcing motorists to reconsider their mode of transport.
 
Unimaginable, doncha see. It's not desirable to reduce mindless motor vehicle use; we need to maintain the diesel particulate spewing, one person in a car, noisy central London experience.

Don't we understand yet that we need to have loads of road space to be able to have the lorries delivering bottled water to sell in Waterloo Station rather than having Network Rail install taps. This, and having loads of taxis because people who daren't cycle because of the taxis feel compelled to use them, is the priority.

There's not a chance of making Vauxhall and the rest of central London somewhere nice to walk and cycle around.
Meanwhile, TfL have just produced an 'Analysis of Cycling Potential' which says:
Regions expecting significant growth in population and employment have the opportunity to ‘design in’ a high cycle mode share through innovative transport and land use policies

Will the VNEB area be the new Amsterdam - has anyone seen any detailed plans for making this flat, central London area a cycling nirvana?

Thought not.

E&C - public square or (loadsa) traffic flow?

Since at least 2004 the development masterplan for Elephant & Castle has envisaged the creation of a new civic square at the junction of New Kent Road, St George's Road and London Road, with a new 'peninsula' providing escalator access to an expanded Northern line tube station.


Southwark Council's deputy chief executive Eleanor Kelly last week told a town hall scrutiny committee that Transport for London had blocked the plan because it would slow down road traffic too much.
She said that TfL's network assurance team "can't allow that because it would interfere with the traffic flow too greatly".

Read more on the SE1 website.

Meanwhile the BBC reports that DEFRA have said that London's air pollution targets that should be met by 2015 may not be met until 2025!!!

1 Car = 10 Bikes in Lower Marsh

Pop down to Lower Marsh on your bike and you can make use of Lambeth's new car shaped cycle parking: 1 car = 10 bikes.


You may have seen these at an event before but Lambeth are the first to install it on street for regular use rather than for an event. It will be in Lower Marsh for one month rather than permanently because of the forthcoming regeneration scheme.

Richard Ambler, Lambeth's Cycling Officer, says, "Lower Marsh is a good test bed because it has high cycle parking stress and very limited footway space. It is also a good way of testing demand before installing something more permanent. However, I’d like to see if we can install a perment one of these somewhere else in the borough."

Lambeth Council are asking for feedback to be emailed to info@cyclehoop.com

Ambassadors of Global Warming

The Mall was more awash with black cars than normal as I passed through today. In addition to the usual belching black cabs we had shiny black cars by the dozen.

 The numberplates on these executive limousines gave the game away - IND 1, THAI 1, 1 ARG, 1 KW, 1 VEN, 1 YEM, 1 SWE, SVK 1 A, BAM 1, MAK 1, BOS 1 A, GYA 1, 1 EST, 1 CI, 1 SLO, I CZE, TUN 1, ZAM 1, NEP 1 and on and on and on.

Having been driven a mile or two from embassies the shiny black cars were parked up in the Mall  (the photo shows a few parked in the cycle lane) before being driven a mile or two back to the Ambassadors' residences.

 Just for a laugh, here's a Google Map showing The Mall plus 'Embassy' which shows that most of the embassies are within easy cycling or walking distance of the Mall, or a short bus ride.

 TfL recently produced a report,  'The Analysis of Cycling Potential' , which seeks to identify current trips which could reasonably be cycled all the way, but aren't at present. It says:

In total, 4.3 million trips per average day have been identified as potentially cyclable, equivalent to 23 per cent of trips by all modes and 35 per cent of trips by mechanised modes. 

 The Mayor has set an ambitious target to increase levels of cycling in London by 400 per cent by 2026. To achieve this it would be necessary for one in every six potentially cyclable trips to be cycled each day, throughout the year, based on the trip volumes of today.

The report's intro states, "In „Cycling Revolution London‟, the Mayor sets out his vision for London to become a cyclised city: one where people can ride their bikes safely, enjoyably and easily in an environment that embraces cycling. Making this a reality requires that physical and cultural changes are made in the city, demanding further investment, strong partnership working across the Capital and continued political leadership."

Sorry, Boris, I don't think the Ambassadorial elite are interested in showing that kind of political leadership and working in partnership with you to achieve cultural change. They'd rather show off their congesting, polluting toys.

I surrender!

I am grateful to the June issue of 'The Marketer' magazine for flagging up the long-running PedFlag programme in Kirkland, Washington, US.

"The basic concept of the PedFlag is to assist the pedestrian in gaining the attention of the approaching motorist. With the aid of the brightly colored flag that can be held out in front of the pedestrian and/or waved, the pedestrian is better able to attract the attention of the driver sooner by becoming more visible. This is a device that is low in cost and can be installed for pedestrian use in a timely manner. Once the equipment is installed at the crossing, the only ongoing cost is the replacement of the flags. Depending on the location and season, it can be zero to five flags a week. "

Please check out the extraordinary video

The Marketer (magazine of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, no less) featured this as a case study on social marketing for behavioural change and I think you'll agree it's as fine an example of failing to deal with the underlying issue of a motorcentric society as you can possibly find - something the magazine signally failed to note as it twittered on about 'Promotion Problems' in getting more flag use ('The vast majority indicated they felt safe and were sure that drivers could see them') and 'Place Problems' (Others noted that often there were no flags on their side of the street').