Your questions answered

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) make walking and cycling easier, safer and more convenient by reducing the number and impact of motor vehicles creating low traffic areas which act as healthier and safer routes for all road users.

LTNs prevent motor vehicles from driving through identified areas using modal filters, while still allowing access for pedestrians and cyclists. Modal filters come in two main forms: Physical filters such as bollards, gates and planters; and CCTV-enforced filters using signs and camera enforcement. Overall, LTNs are designed to make walking and cycling easier, safer and more enjoyable.

Yes. All properties in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods continue to be accessible by motor vehicle. However, the routes used to access properties by motor vehicle is likely to be slightly different (or slightly longer). If you choose to walk or cycle instead, you can expect fewer motor vehicles along your route.

Yes. Early in the design process we consulted emergency services including police, fire and ambulance, to ensure that they can access any property. To accommodate this, in some locations we used CCTV-enforced modal filters, rather than physical filters. For CCTV-enforced filters, there is no physical barrier preventing access to a given street, however motor vehicles other than the emergency services will receive a penalty charge notice (PCN) should they travel through.

Both councils want to make the boroughs safer and more accessible places for residents, businesses and visitors, whether they walk, use public transport, cycle or drive. Waltham Forest, like London generally, is growing and expects another 12,000 homes to be built across the borough in the next five to ten years. The borough needs to support and accommodate this future growth as sustainably as possible, while also mitigating the impact of motor vehicles on residential neighbourhoods and busy town centres.

Encouraging and enabling more people to use sustainable forms of transport, particularly walking and cycling, helps ease pressure on our public transport and road systems – which are often operating at capacity during peak times. Enabling more journeys by sustainable modes improves road safety and public health, with research suggesting that if every Londoner walked or cycled for 20 minutes a day, it would save the NHS £1.7bn in treatment costs over the next 25 years. Walking and cycling are also the two cheapest forms of transport and are therefore accessible and inclusive to the broadest range of people in society.

By discouraging non-local motor vehicles from travelling through identified areas, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods can become more pleasant environment for residents to enjoy, while promoting and enabling the use of sustainable and active travel, particularly for shorter journeys.

Independent research has shown that the interventions previously introduced through the Enjoy Waltham Forest programme have encouraged residents to walk more often for short trips. Dr Rachel Aldred of Westminster University surveyed residents across London and found that those living in areas that have received ‘High dose’ Mini-Holland interventions walked on average 34 minutes more per week.

Recent research from the Department for Transport (DfT) has shown that Waltham Forest is the most active Outer London borough for both walking and cycling. More than 40% of adults said they walked five times a week, making our residents the keenest walkers in the capital behind City of London. In 2017, the borough became the best Outer London Borough for cycling and the sixth highest across London, from eleventh the year before.

As street layouts do not perfectly match the borough boundaries, the areas chosen for LTN areas 1 and 2 straddle both local authorities. Newham and Waltham Forest have worked closely together to deliver LTN areas 1 and 2.

Normally we would conduct a public consultation as well as other engagement activities with local people before building a scheme such as this. However due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a huge uptake in walking and cycling, we had to ensure our roads are safe to use, as well as act on advice from central government to change our streets to support sustainable forms of transport.

Prior to the implementation of the experimental LTN scheme, the Councils consulted with key stakeholders including waste collection services, the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, and London Ambulance Service. This early consultation resulted in design changes to accommodate access for these services.

We ran public engagement alongside construction works to create a dialogue with local people and ensure the changes were right for the area. The benefit of running engagement activities alongside a live experimental project was that residents got to see the immediate effects of the changes and provide feedback on actual experiences.

Both Councils submitting bids to TfL’s Liveable Neighbourhoods funding programme for improvements across the Maryland and Odessa areas. As part of our original bid submission in Autumn 2018, we launched a perception survey for the area, in which residents and businesses were invited to tell us their thoughts on issues, problems and aspirations for the area. The perception survey was themed around TfL’s ‘Healthy Streets Indicators’, which form one of the cornerstones of the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy and the Liveable Neighbourhoods programme.

Overall, the key priorities that came out of the perception survey were:

The key issues/suggestions for improvements were:

While the 2018 bid was unfunded, we were encouraged to reapply in 2019 and the perception survey was relaunched with a modified set of questions. Participants in the survey indicated their top three travel modes were walking, cycling and London Underground, and the top three barriers were vehicle speeds, road safety and lack of safe cycle routes.

Furthermore, in 2019 Newham Council ran surveys to shape the council’s strategy for parking and transport. Although not specifically related to LTNs, the results showed favourable views on sustainable, active travel. Another survey showed that residents were generally willing to cut down their car use, particularly for short local journeys of around 10 minutes, or up to 20 minutes to take children to school.

As part of the experimental LTN scheme, the Councils delivered leaflets to residents in the LTN areas to keep them up to date on the scheme. We directed residents to an online map-based survey, which ran for over one year to gather the views of local people. We worked with Transport for London (TfL) on their LTN survey which was designed to understand how residents living within the LTN had changed the way they travel locally. And, in summer 2021 we launched a “Design Survey” to to give us more detailed feedback on the overall impact of the scheme, and what additional measures were needed to develop a permanent scheme which is right for the area. We also engaged specifically with schools, businesses and places of worship to gather their views on the scheme. Over the course of the experimental scheme, we received hundreds of questions and comments from members of the public, all of which were taken into account when deciding the future of the LTN scheme and how to adapt it.

Overall, across internal streets and streets surrounding the LTN areas, motor vehicle traffic has decreased in LTN areas 1 and 2 since their implementation, when comparing October 2018 to October 2021.

On internal streets, motor vehicle traffic has decreased significantly. For the small number of internal streets that did have an increase in motor vehicle traffic, the Councils will continue to monitor them, and may deliver mitigating measures such as changes to traffic management or traffic calming. On streets surrounding the LTN areas, overall motor vehicle traffic decreased.

Furthermore, the most recent traffic data show a trend of decreasing traffic volumes, suggesting that people are gradually driving less in response to the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods schemes, and other wider trends.

Motor vehicle journey times should be viewed within the context of the overall objectives of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood programme, which include reducing the number of short trips made by motor vehicles, reducing the impact of traffic in internal streets, reducing road danger, and encouraging a shift to walking and cycling. The reduction in motor vehicles inside Low Traffic Neighbourhoods has made a positive impact on walking and cycling, with significant increases in cycling across both LTN areas.

The Councils consulted extensively with emergency services (London Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, and London Ambulance Service) prior to scheme implementation, and made scheme design changes prior to implantation based on their recommendations.

Over the course of the experimental scheme, the Councils reviewed response time data. Between October 2018 (prior to LTN scheme implementation) and October 2021 there has been no significant change in emergency response times. The Councils will continue to closely monitor emergency response times, and engage with emergency services.

Motor vehicle traffic is recognised as having a negative impact on the quality of the walking and cycling environment, and the LTN schemes have significantly reduced motor vehicle traffic on internal streets in residential areas. This has resulted in significant increases in cycling in LTNs areas 1 and 2 since their introduction.

The Councils recognise that there are further improvements that need to be made to the environment for walking and cycling. We have developed a list of physical interventions to further improve the environment for walking and cycling which will be explored over the coming months.

Overall, across both LTN areas 1 and 2, there was no significant change to bus journey times. For bus routes using streets surrounding LTN area 1, two of the three bus routes had an increase in journey times and one of the three bus routes had a decrease in journey times. On average, bus journey times for routes serving streets surrounding LTN area 1 increased by 7%, which is equivalent to a 16 second increase per kilometre. For bus routes using streets surrounding LTN area 2, one of the four bus routes had an increase in journey times and three of the four bus routes had a decrease in journey times. On average, bus journey times for routes serving streets surrounding LTN area 2 decreased by 5%, which is equivalent to a 16 second increase per kilometre.

The data available show a significant decrease in road traffic collisions across LTN areas 1 and 2 over the course of the experimental scheme. However we acknowledge that such data is typically analysed over a minimum three year period to ensure it is statistically sound, therefore we will continue to monitor road safety data.

Despite the limitations of the data available, the initial findings are consistent with peer-reviewed research that shows reduced injury risks across all modes (e.g. walking, cycling, driving) inside LTNs, without negative impacts on boundary streets.

Motor vehicle traffic speed is a key factor in road safety – how safe a street feels, and how safe a street actually is. LTN area 1 had slight decreases in traffic speeds for both internal streets and streets surrounding LTN area 1. LTN area 2 had slight decreases in speeds on internal streets and a slight increase in speeds on streets surrounding LTN area 2. This slight increase in speeds on streets surrounding LTNs is mainly affected by an increase in motor traffic speeds on the A114 Centre Road, part of the London Borough of Redbridge. Proposals for improving cycling facilities and traffic calming on this road were presented for consultation by Redbridge Council in 2021 and Newham and Waltham Forest Councils will continue to collaborate with Redbridge Council to assist in the delivery of road safety measures on Centre Road.

Air quality (measured as nitrogen dioxide pollution) has slightly improved overall since the introduction of the LTNs, with slight improvements in both LTN area 1 and LTN area 2. Two of the eight count sites did show a slight decrease in air quality, and six of the eight sites showed a slight improvement in air quality. The site on Leytonstone Road, the street that shares a boundary with LTNs 1 and 2 shows a 7% improvement in air quality over the course of the experimental scheme.

The design of the LTN schemes included removal of a small number of car parking bays. This was necessary on safety grounds to ensure that in the immediate vicinity of any modal filter, people driving motor vehicles have a reasonable space to perform turning movements within the constraints of the street dimensions, and in limited circumstances, to provide minimum passing places on streets with longer stretches of car parking on both sides, leaving less net width between parking bays. Parking permit data was reviewed against on-street availability in the area when developing the scheme, and this will continue to be kept under review.

Overall, modal filters have resulted in significant reductions in motor vehicle traffic inside LTN areas. Regarding the modal filters with no physical barriers, compliance has improved significantly in the months following implementation and by mitigating issues raised by residents.

At modal filter sites enforced via lockable bollards and other physical features, there have been some recorded non-compliance with the modal filters by people driving motor vehicles onto footways. At multiple sites, this has been addressed via the installation of additional fixed bollards on any remaining gaps greater than 1.5m. There have also been multiple incidents whereby lockable bollards have been unlocked and removed illegally by people seeking to access routes by motor vehicle. In all cases, these barriers have been quickly replaced. The installation of additional enforcement and/or ANPR cameras to aid enforcement and deter this activity is being investigated to mitigate the issues raised.

Newham Council has secured funding from central government’s ‘Levelling Up Fund’ for some greening and other public realm improvements in the LTN areas. TfL has also made additional funding available for public realm and greening improvements specifically for LTNs, to aid with their transition to permanent schemes, with funding of up to £500k available for specific LTN enhancement projects.

Specific complementary projects may include:

Waltham Forest Council has identified a list of potential scheme improvements to be investigated and where possible delivered, which directly respond to feedback from residents and our analysis of traffic and environmental data. These include:

There has been no significant change in reported crime or anti-social behaviour since the introduction of the LTN schemes. The Councils will continue to monitor these data and seek to address any issues that potentially arise.

Regarding police response times, the Metropolitan Police were consulted prior to the delivery of the experimental scheme, resulting in installing CCTV-enforced modal filters with no physical barriers to ensure quick access for police vehicles. Modal filters with physical barriers are still accessible to police on foot, cycle and motorcycle.

Any risk from motorcycle or cycle based crime has to be weighed against the benefits of reducing overall volumes of motor traffic in terms of public health outcomes (physical activity, exposure to poor air quality, noise, social cohesion) and on the climate emergency (reduced GHG emissions). There is no feasible design solution that restricts access to motorcycles that also enables access for all types of cycle (including cycles adapted for use by people with mobility related disabilities) which require 1.5m gaps for the Councils to fulfil their public sector equality duties.

Regarding ‘natural surveillance’ of the street, the LTN schemes support increased pedestrian and cycle access, with associated street-level interactions amongst neighbours. Research demonstrates that residents’ sense of caring for an area is stronger in low motor vehicle traffic environments.

People often think that removing parking or access into nearby residential areas will have a negative impact on local businesses, however high street surveys show that whilst people who cycle don’t spend as much as a car driver per trip, they visit shops more regularly and spend more per week.

It is acknowledged that the routes that businesses, organisations or individuals need to follow to access each property may have changed as a result of LTNs. It is also acknowledged that understanding of the traffic management changes introduced that affect route for motor vehicles is likely to take time to embed in delivery and servicing operations, but any issues with deliveries and servicing arising from incorrect route planning are likely to diminish over time as operations adapt. Both Councils support initiatives to reduce the number of delivery vehicles, including the switch from motor vehicles to cargo bikes which can ride through LTN modal filters.

By making our streets feel safer, cleaner, less congested, less polluted and by providing places for people to enjoy, people are encouraged to spend more time in their local areas and over time choose to walk and cycle more. Investing in walking and cycling projects can increase retail sales by 30% according to research by TfL, the GLA and Living Streets.

The Pedestrian Pound – Living Streetshttps://www.livingstreets.org.uk/media/3890/pedestrian-pound-2018.pdf

https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/media/3890/pedestrian-pound-2018.pdf

Walking and Cycling – The Economic Benefits – Transport for London

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-cycling-economic-benefits-summary-pack.pdf