TfL and boroughs fail to assess their own Quietway schemes for quality, finds Active Travel Now campaign

Research by Active Travel Now shows that TfL have risked wasting £26 million on “Quietway” cycle routes, [1] by failing to run their own quality assurance checks to ensure the 11 quiet routes are safe and welcoming for cyclists.[2]

Active Travel Now asked all London Local Authorities, key stakeholders and TfL, whether they have performed TfL’s “Cycling Level of Service” (CLoS) checks on Quietway routes. CLoS, until very recently, has been TfL’s standard tool to assess the quality of cycle routes. It was developed to ensure cycle routes are safe, comfortable to use and will enable more people to cycle on them.

TfL held no CLoS checks for any Quietways, and has not made it a requirement for boroughs to use them before receiving funds for these routes.

Of the 13 boroughs that responded to Active Travel Now’s FOI requests, only Newham had conducted any CLoS checks. 15 authorities confirmed they had not made any CLoS checks. Two others (Camden and Southwark) have not yet provided information. 19 requests were made in total. [3]

Sean Howes, Coordinator, Active Travel Now said:

“Time and again, cycle schemes that are just paint and signs fail to enable new people to cycle. This is a massive waste of our money. There is no point spending cash on cycle schemes if you don’t check if they are any use. If TfL had checked, they’d know they spent £26 million delivering nearly no benefit to cyclists at all. We can see some improvements but scheme are not consistent nor broadly high enough quality.”

Simon Munk, Infrastructure Campaigner, London Cycling Campaign, said:

“Far too often cycle schemes feature obvious failings, yet still get funded. To ensure cycling money is spent effectively so more people cycle, the London Cycling Campaign has been asking that the Mayor sets a quality bar for funding on all schemes. This underlines how needed it is.”

Caroline Russell AM said:

“I’m really concerned to see that neither TfL nor the boroughs are using quality assurance checks on Quietway designs. If they are not using CLoS (Cycling Level of Service) they should at least be running a Healthy Streets check for critical fails, so that any high risk road danger issues are identified and addressed. If we want eight year olds to cycle to school and more women to get on their bikes for everyday journeys, we have to take Quietway design more seriously.”

Caroline Pidgeon AM said:

“Quietways should not be seen as providing cycle infrastructure on the cheap. There can be no excuse for basic standards not being consistently enforced across the whole length of a Quietway route.

“Boroughs are currently encouraged to follow the London Cycling Design Standards. It is vital that these are turned into formal guidance so as to ensure that minimum standards are followed by boroughs and developers for each and every metre of a Quietway route”.

Notes

[1] Londons Cycling Infrastucture https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/londons_cycling_infrastructure.pdf

Contains spending for Quietway & Central Grid spending, The TFL Quietway network is made up of both Quietway and Central Grid sections spending.

[2] List of Quietway routes are listed on TFL website https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/quietways

Quietway 1 North and South are considered as 1 route.

[3] The full set of FoIs are linked from:

https://activetravelnow.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/tfl-shouldnt-be-at-a-clos-to-explain-poor-quality-quietways/