An official report into the success of Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTNs) schemes throughout England – ordered by Rishi Sunak last year as part of his “pro-car” plan to stop them being installed – which concluded that they are effective in reducing traffic and generally popular among residents was buried by Downing Street, government sources have claimed.
According to sources close to the Guardian’s Peter Walker, after the findings of the report, which was scheduled to be published in January, pointed to LTNs or active streets schemes being more successful and popular than expected, government advisors requested that it be permanently shelved.
However, another government source has disputed this claim, arguing that the report is expected to be published soon and that it was “categorically not the case” that it had been suppressed.
The Department of Transport’s review into LTNs was commissioned by Rishi Sunak in July 2023, at the time the prime minister declared that he was on the side of motorists, claiming that “the vast majority of people in the country use their cars to get around and are dependent on their cars.”
After ordering the review, Sunak was accused by Cycling UK of using LTNs as a “political football” ahead of the next general election, with the charity’s CEO Sarah Mitchell insisting that people want to reduce their dependency on motor vehicles and that interventions such as LTNs enable them to do just that, and that it was “lazy to label LTNs as anti-car”.
> Rishi Sunak accused of seeking to exploit division over LTNs as he orders review of schemes
However, despite Downing Street’s hope that the review would bolster their anti-LTN stance, its findings, seen by the Guardian, paint a rather different picture.
According to the copy of the report viewed by Walker, polling carried out by the DfT inside four sample LTNs found that in general twice as many residents supported them as opposed.
Of the over 1,800 residents surveyed across the four schemes, located in London, Birmingham, Wigan, and York, and all installed since 2020, 45 per cent supported the traffic-calming measures, compared to 21 per cent who opposed them.
In each of these schemes, the percentage of pro-LTN residents was between 19 points and 31 points higher than the percentage of those against them. Perhaps most notably, 58 per cent of residents polled did not even know they lived in an LTN.
> Government falsely claimed it blocked low-traffic schemes, documents suggest
Meanwhile, the report’s study into the effectiveness of the schemes – which aim to prevent through traffic and increase safety, encourage walking and cycling, and reduce pollution on residential roads either through the use of barriers or cameras – also dispelled opponents’ arguments that LTNs simply displaced traffic onto other roads.
“The available evidence from the UK indicates that LTNs are effective in achieving outcomes of reducing traffic volumes within their zones while adverse impacts on boundary roads appear to be limited,” the report said.
“There are tensions between evidence and perceptions,” it added, noting the vehement opposition against the schemes throughout the UK.
“There appears to be limited evidence of adverse impacts on boundary roads, but residents are more likely than not to think that schemes have added traffic congestion and queues to these nearby roads.”
Where there have been issues, particularly with emergency services, these tended to be when the schemes had been rushed through or were new, with issues tending to ease over time, the report noted.
According to the report, while the Met Police and one ambulance service reported initial problems, “LTNs do not adversely affect response times for emergency vehicles” overall.
It also found that the schemes have encouraged people to walk and cycle, as well as tending to reduce road danger and street crime, though their impact on the journey times of people with disabilities was mixed.
> Rishi Sunak is “on the side” of drivers – What happened to Britain’s “golden age for cycling”?
At the same time Sunak announced in July that he was intending to review LTNs, as part of his plan to end the so-called ‘war on the motorist’, transport secretary Mark Harper claimed – an assertion which was later found to be erroneous – that LTNs were setting “people against each other”, “banning” cars and “making it difficult for motorists”.
In response, Cycling UK Sarah Mitchell argued that it was “lazy to label LTNs as anti-car.”
“Rather than attempting to pit drivers, cyclists and pedestrians against one other through divisive rhetoric, and turning low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) into a political football, the government should be celebrating their popularity and success,” she said.
“Evidence shows LTNs are overwhelmingly popular, and their support only increases once they’ve been implemented and people see the benefits.
“It’s lazy to label LTNs anti-car, people want to be less car dependent. Liveable neighbourhoods give people the opportunity to drive less and cycle more, consequently enjoying cleaner air, safer streets and less traffic and congestion.”