Last night I was at an action initiated by Bikes Alive at Kings Cross to protest TfL's lack of support for more vulnerable road-users. Boris Johnson and TfL are absolutely obsessed with 'traffic flow' and determined to cram more and more traffic into the city - a fool's errand. The people that lose out in this are pedestrians, residents of London, cyclists and people that rely on safe crossings and infrastructure just to get around London.
Photo by Sinister Pictures via Demotix
This isn't an issue of just cycling or my own selfish aims of wanting the roads for myself; we should be able to
share the roads. But sharing means that sometimes you have to give the road to somebody else and not just keep it to yourself. Personally I'm fine cycling and walking around London - I'm fast enough and able-bodied enough to 'keep my wits about me' and cycle around London without many issues. But it's not about
me, it's about
everybody.
'Smoothing traffic flow' is a pointless exercise and one that most major cities around the world are understanding, choosing to focus instead on pedestrians, limited vehicular access and city centres designed for people not vehicles. But TfL are absolutely committed to this and continuing with their work to remove pedestrian crossings and other infrastructure that saves people's lives!
TfL's
Traffic Signal Removal Programme in the City of London is a prime example of this. They spent an hour there and concluded that it has 'low pedestrian demand' because although 1865 pedestrians crossed there, 296 crossed on the green crossing signal. This is over 31 people per minute crossing! They take this as evidence that the crossing is 'not deemed to be required' and is 'therefore an appropriate candidate for removal'. They plan to leave the 'dropped kerbs and tactile paving in place to provide an uncontrolled crossing' but remove everything else - so clearly they see a need for accessible crossings in this area?
During their one-hour 'research' they will have mostly seen able-bodied people crossing here, probably mostly young and able to sprint between fast-moving cars. But what about people that
have to cross on the green signal? What about those people that can not move fast enough to cross between moving vehicles? What about people that require the tactile feedback of a crossing rather than being able to see moving vehicles? In my opinion this is an abject failure of the most basic duty of care TfL have for people who rely on these crossings. Why remove a safe crossing for pedestrians just so that vehicles are saved a few seconds?
This is why I was part of the group of cyclists and pedestrians slowing down traffic around King's Cross. This is why I will do my tiny bit to work for a better city for all of us.
