Transport for London (TfL) has announced a new programme, managed by Sustrans, that will see a team of new Healthy Streets officers work across London’s boroughs to reduce school-run traffic and encourage greater walking, cycling and public transport use.
Making streets better for everyone
The new team will tackle road danger by responding to local road safety concerns and will support boroughs with local initiatives to raise awareness of new Cycleways and discourage engine idling.
In addition, the programme will promote and support cycle training to improve cycle safety, as well as encouraging people to use public transport in safe and considerate ways.
The work is part of the Mayor’ of London’s plans to increase the number of people walking, cycling and taking public transport to 80 per cent.
Working in partnership to achieve results
The programme will be managed by Sustrans, and officers will also support London’s boroughs with London-wide events including World Car Free Day, Walk to Work Week and Road Safety Week.
This is part of TfL’s wider programme of supporting the boroughs to reduce road danger and improve air quality by creating greener, cleaner and healthier places.
The officers are being funded through TfL’s Healthy Streets budget and are on top of the Liveable Neighbourhoods grants of between £1m and £10m for boroughs to transform local neighbourhoods.
Roll out across London
The programme will begin in Redbridge in the coming weeks, before being expanded out to the remaining boroughs and the City of London in the autumn.
Delivering on ambitious goals
The initiative will help boroughs achieve the Mayor of London’s ambitious Transport Strategy goals, including the aim to have 80 per cent of London’s journeys made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2041. This will improve Londoners’ health, help tackle congestion and will play a vital role in tackling our air quality crisis.
Expertise creates a winning formula
For this programme, we have teamed up with Lucy Saunders, the public health specialist who worked with TfL to design the process for implementing Healthy Streets.
The Healthy Streets Approach puts people and their health at the centre of decisions about design, management and use of public spaces.
Lucy will support the new Healthy Streets Officers to implement the Healthy Streets Approach so they can enable more Londoners to walk and cycle for their everyday journeys.
For all Londoners
We are also working in partnership with inclusive cycling expert Tiffany Lam to address disparities in cycling (for example, based on gender, race or socioeconomic class) and to ensure that the delivery of Healthy Streets is inclusive by design, and therefore appropriate for London’s diverse population.
Her research and expertise, paired with TfL’s network of Healthy Streets Officers, will help create a step-change in how people travel in London.
Alex Williams, Director of City Planning at TfL, said:
“Partnering with the boroughs is absolutely vital if we are to reduce road danger and improve air quality, and transform London into an active, healthy and green city.
"Our new team of Healthy Streets Officers will closely collaborate with the London borough teams to engage with schools, businesses and communities across the capital and encourage safe and sustainable ways to travel.”
Matt Winfield, Sustrans’ London Director, said:
“We are very excited to have been chosen by Transport for London to deliver this change programme and to be setting up a team of Healthy Streets Officers to work across all London boroughs. It is a wide-ranging programme that will make our capital a great place to walk and cycle.
“We look forward to working with partners old and new to make this project a success. Our work is based on evidence that we gather from robust academic research in behaviour change, community engagement and listening to residents.
"We have an extremely strong alliance with Lucy Saunders and Tiffany Lam and are ready to help put Healthy Streets front and centre of communities right across the capital.”
Lucy Saunders, Public Health Specialist, said:
“I am delighted to partner with Sustrans on this venture. They are well-placed to deliver this work for TfL because they were early champions of Healthy Streets and have a huge amount of experience in working with communities to transform London’s streets into places people want to spend time and are proud to call home.”
Tiffany Lam, Inclusive Cycling Expert, said:
“I am looking forward to working with Sustrans to help make cycling and walking feel like an easy, everyday thing for all Londoners.
"Walking and cycling are the best ways to experience cities, and enable you to connect with where you live, work or go to school in a social and enjoyable way.
"Sustrans has expertise in collaborative design, managing complex infrastructure projects across borough boundaries, and delivering a range of behaviour change programmes, which strongly positions it to take the lead in making London’s streets healthier and more liveable.”
Record cycling levels in the capital
This comes at a time when London is seeing the highest cycling numbers on record. Last year saw the biggest increase in the amount of cycling in London since records began, with a daily average of 4 million kilometres cycled in 2018. This is five per cent higher than in 2017.