City Hall could miss London key environment target

Mayor Sadiq Khan could be on track to miss one of his environment targets

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is forecast to miss a key environmental milestone in his mission to discourage Londoners from using their cars, his deputy has admitted.

The target was set out in his 2018 transport strategy for 80% of all trips in the capital to be made on foot, bicycle or public transport by 2041.

But according to officials at City Hall, the mix of journeys in the capital is currently expected to fall below the interim target, of 69.3%, set for 2030.

The deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance, said they were forecast to fall "slightly short" of that figure.

Inside the construction of the Silvertown tunnel

He told the London Assembly on Wednesday: "The latest figure we have for London as a whole is 61.5%.

"Our target for 2030 is 69.3%, so closing that gap between then and now is the overarching priority that we have.

"We’re currently forecast to fall slightly short of that."

"Our target for 2030 is 69.3%, so closing that gap between then and now is the overarching priority that we have. We’re currently forecast to fall slightly short of that."

'Good for green target'

The deputy mayor also explained there were also parts of the capital that were already "way ahead" of target such as the City of London but admitted this was slightly unfair as it was the square mile.

He added another way of meeting that target was to create a second Superloop network of express bus services - a pledge in Mr Khan's recent election manifesto.

Mr Dance was asked by Green assembly member Caroline Russell whether the opening of the Silvertown tunnel next year could "undermine" the mayor’s efforts to reduce traffic levels.

But the deputy mayor said he did not think it would "at all" detract from Mr Khan’s targets, so long as the tunnel’s tolling was set at the correct level.

"At the moment, there’s one bus route that you can use to cross the river," he said.

"That bus route is often stuck in traffic. It’s stuck in traffic because the Blackwall Tunnel is vastly overused for the road capacity for vehicle crossings in that part of London.

He added that the Silvertown tunnel would enable cyclists to cross the river for free "certainly for the first year".

He added that they would monitor cyclists' use of it as well.