The first meeting of the NLA Expert Panel on Transport and Infrastructure brought together a group of experts from across the built environment sector to discuss the key priorities to keep London moving.

 

We are in extraordinary times for mobility and movement in our cities. The global pandemic has given rise to a number of fascinating trends and changes in behaviour. 

 

As cities start to reopen the evidence, however, is suggesting significant rises in car use and slower uptake in public transit use. City leaders do not want to see car lead recoveries and are pursuing a range of hard and soft measures aimed at prioritising space for people to walk and cycle safely and use public transport efficiently.

 

It is against this backdrop that the Transport and Infrastructure Panel met. NLA’s remit to us is to provide thought leadership on the future of streets, mobility and accessibility.

 

In the 90 minutes we had available Panel members introduced themselves and identified a series of potential lines of inquiry.

 

The discussion points covered a wide range of issues:

 

1.    Spatial equity and justice in our streets. Are we designing for all?

2.    Providing evidence of the outcomes/ impacts of active travel interventions. Rachel Aldred from the University of Westminster drew our attention to research she has been doing on emerging trends following the implementation of Mini Holland Scheme.

3.    Exploring how we might encourage habit change in relation to car ownership and remove the stigmas and barriers to cycling.

4.    How we fund future infrastructure and what should be the priorities for new transport investment.

5.    Best practice examples in terms of achieving maximum impact for minimum cost.

6.    How we should go about integrating public transport infrastructure into the wider urban fabric and learning from the mistakes of the past.

7.    Freight and logistics space demand.

8.    Managing deliveries and servicing and learning from emerging trends.

9.    The ways in which the City should respond and adapt to the rise in electric car ownership and autonomous vehicles. 

10.  How we deliver sustainable practices based on walking, cycling and public transport in the outer London Boroughs, which traditionally have a very strong car culture.

11.  How we make better use of all our potential transport corridors – road, rail and water.

12.  Precedent in terms of diversifying and intensifying the use of our transport infrastructure.

13.  The future of mobility and the use of big data to for example avoid risk, manage air quality and traffic.

14.  Resurgence of District and local centres and what it may mean for transport infrastructure.

15.  How will our streets and spaces between buildings adapt in the future in response to changing trends.

 

A lot of ideas for the group to explore further. Key themes, however revolved around funding, behavioural change, use of big data and integration of new technology and how we can share data and best practice to dispel many of the myths and conflicts of adopting more sustainable modes.

 

Over the coming months, the group will define some key objectives for the year and develop a series of initiatives to be rolled out into the nla’s Transport & Infrastructure programme.