§ Ms HodgeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to issue new traffic management and parking guidance for London. [32297]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonWe have today published new Traffic Management and Parking Guidance for the London local authorities, the Traffic Director for London and the Highways Agency. Copies have been placed in the Library. The new Guidance establishes the framework for traffic management measures and parking controls across London and aims to make them serve a wider set of environmental, social and economic priorities, and to encourage greater use of alternatives to the car.
In particular, the Guidance includes new aims for red routes and parking control initiatives both of which seek to encourage a shift from the use of the car for personal travel to public transport, walking or cycling; and to traffic management programmes which reduce accidents, congestion, pollution and car dependency.
This new approach heralds a shift away from a preoccupation with vehicles and instead places the emphasis on moving people and goods. The guidance gives greater priority to the needs of buses, pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities in traffic management and parking.