Car clubs, cycling/walking zones and personal consultants who talk people out of their cars, are just a few of the ways in which the greens aim to reduce traffic and pollution in Outer London.
Siân Berry, the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor, visited Richmond with local Green Party member, Matthew Linden on 8th April. She believes that investing in ‘persuasion’ could not only stop traffic growing in outer London, but could reduce it in town centres by as much as the congestion charge has already achieved in central London.
The Greens also wants more emphasis on the little things which help people to make the shift to sustainable living, with Transport for London offering more personalised and practical support for people who want to take up cycling.
Greens on the London Assembly have already used their power over the London Mayor’s budget to push through schemes where a hundred thousand Londoners are being offered personalised travel consultancy every year. Advice is offered to individuals and families about their current travel arrangements and the sustainable alternatives.
The Greens want all Londoners to benefit from this service. A similar approach in workplaces, covering a hundred and fifty thousand employees in London businesses in the last year alone, has led to a 14% switch away from car use.
Much of this has been achieved by people starting to car share, working from home some days of the week, or taking a cycle training course.
Another green budget gain has been making school travel plans a priority and these have led on average to a 7% shift away from car use on the school run. Over 10,000 new cycle parking spaces have been put in school in recent years.
Siân said: "We have to improve public transport, walking and cycling, but we also have to do more to persuade people to travel in a more sustainable way. That is why all Londoners should benefit from a service which offers them advice on how they could switch to more sustainable and affordable forms of transport.
"Talking people out of their cars actually works, especially when we are improving the alternatives at the same time."
The biggest change to Londoners lives will be the growth of car clubs. With a big push from the Greens on the London Assembly, London now has three quarters of all car club members in the country. The Green transport manifesto promises a car club vehicle within five minute walk of all Londoners, not just in Zone 1.
Siân said: "Selling your car and switching to a car club vehicle can save people thousands of pounds every year. Car club members are also more likely to use public transport, as they think about the real cost of driving by comparing it directly with the tube, or bus fare. Car clubs are good for your pocket and good for the environment."
MORE GREEN POLICIES TO IMPROVE TRANSPORT IN OUTER LONDON:
Cheaper, better public transport
- A 20p fare cut to all bus and off-peak Tube fares.
- Extending the Freedom Pass for pensioners to give 24-hour free travel to pensioners, and defending free travel for under-18s.
- Extending the 30% student discount, currently only on travelcards, to all fares.
- London Overground services extended and improved to serve South and West London and create a full orbital ‘Rail Ring’ with better links between outer London boroughs. There is strong demand for new orbital services, as shown by the volume of traffic on the M25 and North/South circular roads.
More support for walking
- Pedestrian areas in every town centre, with local people empowered to choose the best improvements for their area.
Action on safety and congestion
- A 20mph speed limit across London, except on a small number of major routes.
- No more one-way systems and gyratories; the worst 12 removed by 2015, all removed by 2025.
- Rapid expansion of car clubs, with a club parking space within 5 minutes of every home by 2011.
- Oppose an ever-expanding c-charge zone and explore more sophisticated options, targetting London’s most congested streets.
A model city for cycling
- Triple the budget for cycling again, to at least £150m/year by 2012.
- Free bikes across the capital, not just in central London, by 2011, following the Paris Velib model.
- More cycle routes, closing the gaps in the London Cycle Network by 2010, then expanding it further.
The Green transport manifesto for London is available to download here: www.greenparty.org.uk/files/reports/2008/transport.pdf