Wandsworth Living Streets
@wandsworthls.bsky.social
Campaigning for safe, attractive & enjoyable streets across the London Borough of Wandsworth
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Traffic signals are motor traffic engineering devices for managing motor traffic.
They have no value for human-powered and human scale transport.
This is why some Dutch cities pull them out when they clear out the motor traffic!
They have no value for human-powered and human scale transport.
This is why some Dutch cities pull them out when they clear out the motor traffic!
"Cycle traffic at peak times exceed[s] cars. Despite this, signal timings remain set around motor traffic speeds"
Lime bike boss proposes adjusting traffic lights "to reward safe cyclists" - Cycling News | Bike Reviews | road.cc
The policy director of Lime Bikes in the UK has called on Transport for London to retime their traffic lights to enable smoother, less disruptive journeys on two wheels.Writing in MyLondon, Hal Steven...
road.cc
February 4, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Traffic signals are motor traffic engineering devices for managing motor traffic.
They have no value for human-powered and human scale transport.
This is why some Dutch cities pull them out when they clear out the motor traffic!
They have no value for human-powered and human scale transport.
This is why some Dutch cities pull them out when they clear out the motor traffic!
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Short 🧵from @psimonk.bsky.social and reference to piece by @lauralaker.bsky.social .
The key issue is commitment by politicians to doing the right thing: if they don't really want to do the right transport things, we won't get them!
The key issue is commitment by politicians to doing the right thing: if they don't really want to do the right transport things, we won't get them!
Excellent post about excellent Cllr @mikehakata.bsky.social who has done amazing things on transport in Haringey. At its heart, this piece speaks to so much of work I do day in, day out for @londoncycling.bsky.social on 'political will'. When you don't get visible public backing from leadership...
“I had to go in and face my colleagues who were saying, ‘Mike, what have you done?’”
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
February 4, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Short 🧵from @psimonk.bsky.social and reference to piece by @lauralaker.bsky.social .
The key issue is commitment by politicians to doing the right thing: if they don't really want to do the right transport things, we won't get them!
The key issue is commitment by politicians to doing the right thing: if they don't really want to do the right transport things, we won't get them!
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Meet our sponsor: Voi🔋
At the UK #WalkingSummit, we're exploring emerging technologies which are forging new ways for people to move around towns and cities.
How do we put pedestrians first and create smarter streets for all?
Book your ticket https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4rWkpqZ
At the UK #WalkingSummit, we're exploring emerging technologies which are forging new ways for people to move around towns and cities.
How do we put pedestrians first and create smarter streets for all?
Book your ticket https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4rWkpqZ
February 4, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Meet our sponsor: Voi🔋
At the UK #WalkingSummit, we're exploring emerging technologies which are forging new ways for people to move around towns and cities.
How do we put pedestrians first and create smarter streets for all?
Book your ticket https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4rWkpqZ
At the UK #WalkingSummit, we're exploring emerging technologies which are forging new ways for people to move around towns and cities.
How do we put pedestrians first and create smarter streets for all?
Book your ticket https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4rWkpqZ
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Excellent post about excellent Cllr @mikehakata.bsky.social who has done amazing things on transport in Haringey. At its heart, this piece speaks to so much of work I do day in, day out for @londoncycling.bsky.social on 'political will'. When you don't get visible public backing from leadership...
“I had to go in and face my colleagues who were saying, ‘Mike, what have you done?’”
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
Relentless pressure, threats, and apologies
Four years inside Haringey's street transformation
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Excellent post about excellent Cllr @mikehakata.bsky.social who has done amazing things on transport in Haringey. At its heart, this piece speaks to so much of work I do day in, day out for @londoncycling.bsky.social on 'political will'. When you don't get visible public backing from leadership...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
People really want to believe: we can solve the climate/safe streets problem with electric/self-driving cars, without having to change anything else.
February 4, 2026 at 1:20 PM
People really want to believe: we can solve the climate/safe streets problem with electric/self-driving cars, without having to change anything else.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
It's incredible how Paris has just absolutely smashed down air pollution (and congestion) in a relatively short time, by taking simple measures like building a truck load of cycle lanes. Lessons to be learnt
February 4, 2026 at 9:21 AM
It's incredible how Paris has just absolutely smashed down air pollution (and congestion) in a relatively short time, by taking simple measures like building a truck load of cycle lanes. Lessons to be learnt
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Excellent read; big thanks to visionary Mike, Carla and Laura for all they have done and do for our children and our planet
“I had to go in and face my colleagues who were saying, ‘Mike, what have you done?’”
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
A glimpse inside Haringey's street space transformation, featuring @mikehakata.bsky.social and @carlafrancome.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...
Relentless pressure, threats, and apologies
Four years inside Haringey's street transformation
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Excellent read; big thanks to visionary Mike, Carla and Laura for all they have done and do for our children and our planet
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
As a former delivery rider (on yer bike 1985-6), a good take by @tynetom.bsky.social.
“The tech companies taking your order have quietly profited from a system where it’s physically difficult to compete and earn a fair wage, except by attaching propulsion systems to bikes which aren’t lawful.”
“The tech companies taking your order have quietly profited from a system where it’s physically difficult to compete and earn a fair wage, except by attaching propulsion systems to bikes which aren’t lawful.”
February 4, 2026 at 8:04 AM
As a former delivery rider (on yer bike 1985-6), a good take by @tynetom.bsky.social.
“The tech companies taking your order have quietly profited from a system where it’s physically difficult to compete and earn a fair wage, except by attaching propulsion systems to bikes which aren’t lawful.”
“The tech companies taking your order have quietly profited from a system where it’s physically difficult to compete and earn a fair wage, except by attaching propulsion systems to bikes which aren’t lawful.”
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
And this is the whole debate in a nutshell. The idea that one person’s entitlement to the shortest possible car route in every direction is more important than the quality of life of the whole neighbourhood, and even the ability of kids to safely walk to school.
February 4, 2026 at 5:53 AM
And this is the whole debate in a nutshell. The idea that one person’s entitlement to the shortest possible car route in every direction is more important than the quality of life of the whole neighbourhood, and even the ability of kids to safely walk to school.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
It's fascinating that medics are making the effort to switch to anaesthetics with less greenhouse effect while people are driving alone in SUVs
When you go in for a medical procedure, the gas putting you to sleep may also be warming the planet. That's prompting regulators and hospitals around the world to move to less-polluting alternatives.
Read more in @bloomberg.com:
Read more in @bloomberg.com:
Why Hospitals Are Phasing Out a Popular Operating Room Anesthetic
Desflurane, which has put patients to sleep for decades, has an outsized footprint, and health care providers are switching to less-polluting alternatives.
www.bloomberg.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:27 PM
It's fascinating that medics are making the effort to switch to anaesthetics with less greenhouse effect while people are driving alone in SUVs
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Inaction in implementing LTN infrastructure is itself a position in this debate.
Either you're happy for people to be killed and injured to save you a couple of minutes on your journey, or you're not. The evidence that LTNs and 20mph zones save lives is overwhelming.
February 3, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Inaction in implementing LTN infrastructure is itself a position in this debate.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
More than 16 years since Eilidh Cairns was tragically run over and killed while cycling along Notting Hill Gate, Westminster Council has come up with a good plan to keep people safe while crossing the road or riding their bikes along Bayswater Rd.
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
Floating bus stops: critics try to halt 'safer' Hyde Park cycle lanes scheme
Concerns have grown that ‘bus stop bypasses’, which improve safety for cyclists, put pedestrians at risk of being run over by reckless e-bike riders
www.standard.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 12:27 PM
More than 16 years since Eilidh Cairns was tragically run over and killed while cycling along Notting Hill Gate, Westminster Council has come up with a good plan to keep people safe while crossing the road or riding their bikes along Bayswater Rd.
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
This is an example of exactly why every organisation representing older and disabled people should be very sceptical of driverless taxis. 👇
Lovely taxi driver at the vets the other day. Came in and carried very elderly frail lady's cat carrer out to the car and settled them both in the back.
February 3, 2026 at 9:41 AM
This is an example of exactly why every organisation representing older and disabled people should be very sceptical of driverless taxis. 👇
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Its good to see more of the busy roads controlled by TfL being set at 20mph in London. These are where the greatest motor/people interactions take place and have the biggest potential to lower speeds and casualties for drivers and people outside of cars.
haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/lowering-spe...
haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/lowering-spe...
Lowering Speed Limits Programme
The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are committed to Vision Zero, eliminating death and serious injury from London’s roads. The Vision Zero Action Plan sets out our ambition and next steps to achieve this. It details our plans to reduce road danger, including
haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk
February 3, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Its good to see more of the busy roads controlled by TfL being set at 20mph in London. These are where the greatest motor/people interactions take place and have the biggest potential to lower speeds and casualties for drivers and people outside of cars.
haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/lowering-spe...
haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/lowering-spe...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Secure By Design = "no, you cannot have a permeable street grid or pedestrian shortcut. What if someone mugged an old lady and escaped down the lane?"
It is a risk-based approach to urban design which fails to consider any positive possibilities of any feature of the built environment.
It sucks.
It is a risk-based approach to urban design which fails to consider any positive possibilities of any feature of the built environment.
It sucks.
February 3, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Secure By Design = "no, you cannot have a permeable street grid or pedestrian shortcut. What if someone mugged an old lady and escaped down the lane?"
It is a risk-based approach to urban design which fails to consider any positive possibilities of any feature of the built environment.
It sucks.
It is a risk-based approach to urban design which fails to consider any positive possibilities of any feature of the built environment.
It sucks.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Being able to cross the road where you need to is fundamental to making high streets and buses operate too.
“Jaywalking is permitted in London. In 1966, the police tried to crack down on it, but gave up after three months.”
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe
Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Being able to cross the road where you need to is fundamental to making high streets and buses operate too.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
The victim blaming of people walking or cycling and injured or killed in road collisions is off-the-charts shocking.
It seems motor normativity is so ingrained that people desperately clutch at the language of “accidents” or worse just blame the victims.
It seems motor normativity is so ingrained that people desperately clutch at the language of “accidents” or worse just blame the victims.
February 2, 2026 at 9:15 PM
The victim blaming of people walking or cycling and injured or killed in road collisions is off-the-charts shocking.
It seems motor normativity is so ingrained that people desperately clutch at the language of “accidents” or worse just blame the victims.
It seems motor normativity is so ingrained that people desperately clutch at the language of “accidents” or worse just blame the victims.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Look, people are still asking exactly the wrong questions about self driving cars, especially in the UK. Our cities roads operate on one, and only one, principle - the threat of violence from motorists towards pedestrians (1) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe
Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Look, people are still asking exactly the wrong questions about self driving cars, especially in the UK. Our cities roads operate on one, and only one, principle - the threat of violence from motorists towards pedestrians (1) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
The Transport and Health Science Group – in partnership with the NIHR School for Public Health Research – have organised a series of webinars on transport and health.
These webinars are open to all colleagues.
For more details see www.transportandhealth.org.uk/transport-an...
These webinars are open to all colleagues.
For more details see www.transportandhealth.org.uk/transport-an...
TRANSPORT & HEALTH WEBINARS 2026 | Transport and Health Science Group
www.transportandhealth.org.uk
February 2, 2026 at 5:19 PM
The Transport and Health Science Group – in partnership with the NIHR School for Public Health Research – have organised a series of webinars on transport and health.
These webinars are open to all colleagues.
For more details see www.transportandhealth.org.uk/transport-an...
These webinars are open to all colleagues.
For more details see www.transportandhealth.org.uk/transport-an...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Surely the question needs to be who are self driving taxis a benefit for?
Not taxi drivers obviously.
I suspect not for people walking and cycling.
Does the UK really want to be a testbed for self driving cars with all the risks they entail for 3rd parties?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Not taxi drivers obviously.
I suspect not for people walking and cycling.
Does the UK really want to be a testbed for self driving cars with all the risks they entail for 3rd parties?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe
Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Surely the question needs to be who are self driving taxis a benefit for?
Not taxi drivers obviously.
I suspect not for people walking and cycling.
Does the UK really want to be a testbed for self driving cars with all the risks they entail for 3rd parties?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Not taxi drivers obviously.
I suspect not for people walking and cycling.
Does the UK really want to be a testbed for self driving cars with all the risks they entail for 3rd parties?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
On this day in 1952, the Daily Mirror was up in arms about zebra crossings. Drivers were getting off on technicalities where a stripe was the wrong size, for example.
"Zebra crossings were introduced to save lives, not to provide barristers with a chance to exercise their legal skill".
"Zebra crossings were introduced to save lives, not to provide barristers with a chance to exercise their legal skill".
February 2, 2026 at 9:56 AM
On this day in 1952, the Daily Mirror was up in arms about zebra crossings. Drivers were getting off on technicalities where a stripe was the wrong size, for example.
"Zebra crossings were introduced to save lives, not to provide barristers with a chance to exercise their legal skill".
"Zebra crossings were introduced to save lives, not to provide barristers with a chance to exercise their legal skill".
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
One of the most notable aspects of the convenience-for-car-owners v. basic-safety-for-everyone-else debate that occupies so much of public discourse across this country is how little embarrassment the side that should be ashamed of themselves seems to feel.
This is such a great letter in the letters page of Westminster Extra, well done tonHelen Jones of W2 - zoom in to read the full business! Stick this in your pipe and smoke it certain residents associations … 💨💨
There’s an important piece by local resident Helen, who says she rarely cycles along Bayswater Road as it feels too unsafe, but would finally feel comfortable riding along it if the scheme came in. Well done to Helen for speaking out. So given this is really taking off...
February 2, 2026 at 10:45 AM
One of the most notable aspects of the convenience-for-car-owners v. basic-safety-for-everyone-else debate that occupies so much of public discourse across this country is how little embarrassment the side that should be ashamed of themselves seems to feel.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Similarly the idea doing half a job as a compromise (leaving open routes/times). It isn’t! The haters still hate, those on minor displacement roads resent it & supporters feel let down. Comprehensive LTNs are most effective & politically clearer. To govern is to choose.
February 2, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Similarly the idea doing half a job as a compromise (leaving open routes/times). It isn’t! The haters still hate, those on minor displacement roads resent it & supporters feel let down. Comprehensive LTNs are most effective & politically clearer. To govern is to choose.
Reposted by Wandsworth Living Streets
Some in Hackney have suggested resident exemptions to improve support for LTNs but it just confuses the aims, lessens the effectiveness & turns a clear intervention into a complex ‘scheme’ that has to be enforced, leaving nobody happy.
The only thing I would add to this debunking is to acknowledge that it is unusual to provide permits that can be used to bypass filters a certain number of times.
It sends out an odd message. Would have been better to have normal bus gates and fully stand behind the decision.
It sends out an odd message. Would have been better to have normal bus gates and fully stand behind the decision.
Ok, let’s do this🙄
We’ll start with an explainer covering:
🕒What is a 15-minute city
🏫What on Earth is going on with Oxford
👽Where the conspiracy theories have come from
And then we’ll look at the Telegraph article
🧵
1/25
We’ll start with an explainer covering:
🕒What is a 15-minute city
🏫What on Earth is going on with Oxford
👽Where the conspiracy theories have come from
And then we’ll look at the Telegraph article
🧵
1/25
February 2, 2026 at 8:17 AM
Some in Hackney have suggested resident exemptions to improve support for LTNs but it just confuses the aims, lessens the effectiveness & turns a clear intervention into a complex ‘scheme’ that has to be enforced, leaving nobody happy.