The Future of Transport in London

The Future of Transport in London

By Leslie Kirk, London Press Service Weekly Newsletter

London's role as a world city is its greatest strength. Policies that underpin and reinforce that role are vital if the capital city of the United Kingdom is to exploit the opportunities offered by globalisation which is leading to increasing competition between cities. Those setting the policy framework must ensure that London is equipped to compete in this broad, competitive environment. One of the organisations actively involved in the development of the London Plan is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which, through its London region, has had an extensive input. It enthusiastically backs the strategies being proposed reinforcing London 's status as a world city. This article examines the regeneration of transport in London.

The first city in the world to have an underground train system is reinforcing its world-class standing by shaking up its 21st-century transport structure.

It is all part of a plan to maintain London as a world city and mark a new chapter for the capital of the United Kingdom after an overall strategy vacuum following the abolition of the city's former strategic governing body, the Greater London Council, in the 1980s.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is working with the transport authorities in London to develop its concept of transport development areas, a study in achieving higher density development around transport nodes.

The research by this international organisation - which represents 110,000 members in 120 countries, addressing all aspects of land, property, construction and the associated environmental issues - demonstrates the benefits that can be gained from providing high-density, high-quality, mixed-use (commercial and residential) development around points of greatest access to public transport.

The RICS has produced a publication addressing a number of the key messages essential to bringing the plan to a successful conclusion called: The London Plan - The Big Solution?

Peter Bennett, the chairman of the London Regional Board of the RICS, said: "Around 330,000 people commute into London every day, 90 percent of them by public transport. This emphasises how important it is to get the improvements right. It must be made more efficient to enable people to easily move in and out of London using the transport system."

Joanna Sumner, from the RICS Policy Department at the headquarters in Westminster, said: "The new London government that took office in May 2000 made a decision to contain the anticipated growth within its boundaries and reinforce London's position as a world city."

Ms Sumner said that after two decades of shrinkage, London's population is expanding again and the Mayor of London forecasts that it will be above eight million by 2015.

London has been a world-class city since the 19th century when it became the first city in the world with an underground train system. This was opened in 1863 and was designed to deal with the problems of congestion caused by rapid growth of the city - paradoxically, an identical problem to that of today - the traffic was so bad it was jeopardising the success of the capital's businesses.

The London Underground (also known as the Tube) now has 275 stations and 407 kilometres (253 miles) of track, but as the oldest underground system in the world, much of it suffers from the deterioration of age.

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone says that transport is the biggest single issue confronting the efficiency of the city's economy and the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Transport is one of the most significant factors considered by business when choosing a location. London is also one of the world's most popular destinations for travellers and tourists. Ms. Sumner explained that if the Mayor's transport strategy for the next 10 years is fully implemented, the overall capacity of London's underground and rail systems will be increased by up to 50 percent.

She said: "Two thirds of this increased capacity will come from major new projects to develop new infrastructure. However, there is controversy over how transport infrastructure improvements will be funded. RICS is working on identifying a realistic timetable for phasing in these infrastructure projects with other plans for development."

RICS says the way that the rail and underground networks were developed in London in the 1920s and '30s has left a structural weakness in the central area. Commuter lines terminate on the edge of this area causing capacity problems at the terminals.

A solution used in other cities, such as Paris, has been to extend the suburban rail services though tunnels underneath the central area. There are three schemes in the pipeline that would do this: Thameslink 2000 that runs from north to south; CrossRail that runs west to east; and the Hackney to south-west line that runs from the north-east.

London's Mayor has employed former New York public transport expert Bob Kiley to encourage improvements to the Underground. But government ministers have retained control of it through London Transport whose members are appointed centrally.

So far, they do not intend to hand the network over to the Mayor until a public-private partnership (PPP) deal is implemented.

This would see the private sector taking responsibility for the repair and maintenance of tunnels and tracks for 30 years under a deal costing 13 billion pounds sterling.

Ms Sumner added: "The Mayor and Bob Kiley object to the proposals on the grounds that the management arrangements that would be put in place would make the Tube unsafe and inefficient.

"There is a lower level of car ownership in London than in the rest of the UK - one third of Londoners do not own a car - but it is on the increase. RICS research shows that in common with many of the world's major cities, London suffers from chronic problems with traffic congestion and the projected population and employment growth will make this worse. Average traffic speeds during the working day are 10 miles (16 kilometres) an hour," said Ms Sumner.

It has been proposed to introduce a charge for vehicles entering central London in an attempt to reduce this congestion. A charge of five pounds may be levied between 0700 and 1830 hours and could rise up to 200 million pounds a year. This money will be spent directly on improvements to public transport.

Other improvements are in the pipeline. London is now connected to the European Rail system through the Channel Tunnel rail link. Once the high-speed link between the tunnel and London is completed in 2003, travel times to Paris will be reduced to two hours and 35 minutes.

There are plans to resurrect trams. The Docklands Light Railway, which has had a key role in the regeneration of east London, is to be extended and there will be expanded airport capacity.

Ms Sumner added: "Every day of the working week 6,000 London buses carry 4.5 million passengers on 500 different routes but the problems with congestion make bus travel very unreliable, so the Mayor is looking at new 'guided buses' that take them out of the general flow of traffic."

Peter Bennett reinforced the Mayor's message about transport in London. He said: "Improvements to the transport system are a top priority. Above all we emphasise that future development must be sustainable. It must be in areas readily accessible by public transport and must be founded on sound economic and commercial realities."

Trevor Hines, RICS London Regional Director, added: "RICS, through its London Region, has commented extensively on the proposals for the plan. In our London Plan brochure, we set out our vision for London.

"We enthusiastically back a strategy of growth that will reinforce London's status as a world city. RICS will continue to monitor and actively contribute to the next stages in the delivery of the London Plan."

Source:

London Press Service's Weekly Newsletter, Issue 253, 12 February 2002

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