Memorandum by the London Transport Users
Committee (WTC 59)
WALKING IN TOWNS AND CITIES
1. The London Transport Users Committee
(LTUC) is a body established under the Greater London Authority
Act 2000. It is the statutory watchdog, representing the interests
of users of transport provided, procured or licensed by Transport
for London, the Underground, Heathrow Express, Eurostar and the
national railways in and around London. Its remit requires it
to consider the interests of pedestrians.
2. Walking is both the most sustainable
mode and the most space efficient. In urban areas it should, combined
with public transport, particularly buses be the mode of choice
for the majority of journeys. By its nature walking is most useful,
and most used, over shorter distances. Thus its encouragement
would increase both local activity and the use of public transport,
which in turn would improve urban areas. Walking involves physical
activity and so is necessarily healthy, though there are, of course,
safety issues for pedestrians that need to be tackled with slower
speed and other safety initiatives. An increased modal share for
walking will reduce dependency on cars.
3. As such there should be a presumption
in favour of policies and proposals that support walking. Along
with public transport, cycling and road safety improvements, walking
should receive the overwhelming majority of public funding. In
urban areas walking will compete for space with cars, especially
parking and success in increasing modal share will undoubtedly
mean restraining the car. Town centres and cities should adopt
the transport hierarchy adopted by York placing the pedestrian,
cyclist and public transport user firmly at the top of that hierarchy.
It is often said that conflict may arise between buses and pedestrians
or cyclists and pedestrians in pedestrianised areas. We believe
that with good design these modes can and must co-exist in town
and other centres which the pedestrian, cyclist, and bus user
wish to access. This is vital if these modes are to be given a
relative advantage over the private car. The walking element of
any public transport journey should be regarded as an integral
part of a quality journey. People may refuse to use good public
transport if the route to the bus stop, train or tram is intimidating
and of poor quality.
4. The decline in modal share of walking
is partly a result of generations of land use and transport policies
designed to accommodate and facilitate private motor transport,
often at the expense of all other modes. Little regard was paid
to the impact of these policies on other aspects of quality of
life in towns and cities and has undoubtedly been a major factor
in reducing the amount of walking. Increasing affluence and the
willingness of society to accept the external costs of private
transport has meant that private cars are within the financial
reach of much more of the population. Perceptions of security,
especially for women is another factor as are the seemingly unrelated
changes in how society operates, eg parental choice in education
and the centralisation of public services. The propensity of politicians,
local authority professionals and funding mechanisms (the TPP
process) to concentrate on major infrastructure projects to solve
transport problems has meant the less glamorous modes have been
ignored. The majority of walkers in towns are women and those
with least political influence. It is not a coincidence that walking
has therefore been regarded as the Cinderella mode.
5. The main obstacles to encouraging more
walking is the sprawling nature of car dependent development that
has meant that the alternative modes are at such a disadvantage
compared to private car. The success of policies to create an
Urban Renaissance in our traditional town and other centres will
require complementary land use planning policies to restrain car
dependent development in other areas. Parking taxes at out of
town shopping centres is one such restraint suggested that has
not, unfortunately, been adopted by Government, but it is essential
if further flight of economic activity from town centres is to
be stemmed.
6. The promotion of walking will be assisted
by the World Square, pedestrianisation and Home Zone programmes,
etc. There should be a presumption in favour of 20mph speed limits
in residential and other heavily used pedestrian streets. Planning
guidance, the Government's Walking Strategy and Local Transport
Plan Guidance support and promote good practice. The Local Transport
Plan process should be a particularly effective tool to determine
the real, local improvements that will promote these modes. However,
all this best practice, much of which has been around for many
years, has yet to persuade and empower local authorities to adopt
the radical measures necessary. The recent low key (near non-existent)
launch of the Government's walking strategy and the focus of the
10 year transport plan on major infrastructure is sending the
wrong messages to local authorities. The Government's change in
emphasis away from traffic reduction to congestion reduction will
discourage more walking in towns and cities.
7. The ability of local authorities to,
in effect, ration road the space available in towns to the motorist
and reallocate it to the more space efficient modes is limited
by very vocal local opposition from either or both traders and
residents. This difficulty is compounded if complementary land
use planning and taxation measures to restrain car dependent development
are not available to them.
January 2001
|
