‘Healthy Streets, Healthy Travel, Healthy Lives’ – Camden’s new Transport Strategy
The new Camden Transport Strategy (CTS) ‘Healthy Streets, Healthy Travel, Healthy Lives’ was approved at the full council meeting held last night (Monday 8 April).
The strategy provides the policy framework for the council’s transport priorities and schemes, setting out how it will improve the way people can move around the borough in decades to come.
“As Camden and London grow we need to radically change the way we move about to ensure that travel becomes healthier, safer, sustainable and more affordable than ever.
“One of the calls to action of our Camden 2025 plan is that Camden should be a clean, vibrant and sustainable place, with walking, cycling and public transport the best way to get around the borough, and no one should experience poor health as a result of the air they breathe.
“Health and sustainable travel are at the heart of the new CTS: it aims to increase the level of walking, cycling and public transport use and reduce car dependency in order to address the urgent problems of congestion, road danger, poor air quality, carbon emissions and climate change, through a ‘Healthy Streets’ approach.”
To help the council address these aims it will be implementing four action plans to work in conjunction with the CTS, one each for walking and accessibility, road safety, electric vehicle charging points, and cycling. These provide the detailed plans it needs to implement its aims in these areas.
The measures outlined in the CTS will also help the council to meet several London-wide Mayoral targets, including 80% of all trips across London (on average) to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041; for London’s entire transport system to be zero emission by 2050 (2025 for Central London), and to eliminate all Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties across the capital by 2041 (Vision Zero).
“This ambitious plan builds on the excellent work already undertaken and currently under way.
“Examples of this include the delivery of the transformational West End Project around Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street, and the recently completed installation of 70 new electric vehicle charging points across the borough. These will enable residents and visitors to the borough to choose healthier forms of travel, or to move towards using less polluting vehicles.
“We have also recently received confirmation of a successful bid to TfL for a proposed Liveable Neighbourhood project in Holborn. The bid secures £9.5 million towards a radical, transformational scheme in the area to remove the one-way system, improve safety, reduce traffic, and significantly enhance the environment for pedestrians and cyclists.”