Mayor of London Transport Strategy - Consultation Process - Many not aware across London

From: [FOI #29175 email]
To: [Greater London Authority request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Mayor of London Transport
Strategy - Consultation Process - Many not aware across London

The Mayor would like to thank you for your interest in his work and he is
keen to answer your query as quickly and fully as possible. As you will
appreciate, he receives very large amount of correspondence but he is
committed to responding to your query within 20 working days.

However, the Greater London Authority (GLA) will only respond to queries
that relate to its work and will refer relevant queries to the appropriate
functional body for them to reply e.g. transport related queries will be
referred to Transport for London (TfL).

Please note that the GLA does not accept unsolicited job applications or
C.V's. Information on current vacancies is available on our website at:
[1]http://www.london.gov.uk/jobs.jsp

Thank you for taking the time to write to the Mayor of London, Boris
Johnson.

Yours truly

Public Liaison Unit

References

Visible links
1. http://www.london.gov.uk/jobs.jsp

Dear Ms Black

Re: Freedom of Information request - Mayor of London Transport Strategy - Consultation Process

Thank you for your freedom of information request of 17 February 2010 about the recent consultation of the draft Mayor's Transport Strategy.

Preliminary Consultation

Consultation on a Mayor's Transport Strategy (MTS) is a two-part process and is an integral part of the development of the strategy. The Greater London Act 1999 requires that a preliminary consultation with the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority Functional Bodies take place prior to a full Public and Stakeholder consultation. The consultation with the functional bodies and assembly on the MTS 'Statement of Intent' (SOI) took place between 18 May and 13 July 2009 (in parallel with the London Plan and Economic Development Strategy (EDS)).

After the SOI consultation a report was prepared for the Mayor outlining the views of the Assembly as well as the other stakeholders and members of the public who responded. The Greater London Authority (GLA), TfL and London Development Agency (LDA) then worked on drafting the full draft MTS, London Plan & EDS documents, which were to be consulted upon in parallel to improve the integration of transport and land use planning. This allowed a coordinated and consistent approach to policy making, using a shared set of assumptions.

Promoting the Consultation

A decision was taken to promote the three consultations (MTS, London Plan, and EDS) in one advertising campaign - Help Shape London's Future. Officers from TfL led on the planning and delivery of promoting the consultation and worked closely with the Greater London Authority and the London Development Agency to agree the key consultation activities. The consultation was promoted using different communication tools including press advertisements, online advertisements, meetings and a 21 date 'roadshow'. The roadshows were a good opportunity for staff to meet members of the public across London and explain the policies and proposals in the strategy and answer questions. This approach was considered the most inclusive way to engage in face-to-face meetings with the public in accessible locations.

The location of the roadshows was determined by the need to include central, inner and outer London within London's five sub-regions (north, east, south, west and central) and at a mixture of public buildings and shopping centres. Dates and final locations were also determined by availability of the venues.

The consultation including the roadshows were publicised in local press titles, borough titles, trade press and black and minority ethnic and gay titles. There were also advertisements in Metro on the following dates 12, 13, 21 & 28 October, 4, 11, 17, 23 & 30 November 2009. Details of the roadshows were also posted on the website: www.london.gov.uk/shaping-london. The roadshows were to encourage members of the public to respond to the consultation and have the opportunity to discuss the policies and proposals in person.

In addition, a press notice was made at the start of the consultation and a number of local and national titles ran stories on transport and featured the MTS. TfL was able to secure features on the MTS in Metro on 16 & 30 November 2009 and 6 January 2010. TfL also contacted the press office, communications and transport teams in each of the London boroughs to raise awareness of the consultation, encourage features and to advertise the roadshows. Advertisements were also placed in local titles (for details see Appendix 1). Further, the London boroughs were offered meetings at the start of the consultation.

To further promote the consultation a web based package was procured. This included icons (Help Shape London's Future) which clicked through to the website and promoted the consultation to over 500 London web addresses and this was further supported by the inclusion of online images on the main TfL pages and a text based ongoing MTS feature posing example questions. Furthermore, the TfL website receives amongst the highest web hits in the United Kingdom. Online images about the roadshows were also offered to London's boroughs to place on their websites.

The Mayor's twitter was also used on several occasions during December and January to raise awareness of the consultation and to encourage people to respond before the deadline. Around 57,000 people follow the Mayor on twitter and this is swelled to an audience of around 250,000 through 're-tweets'. The MTS was also featured in the London Loop e-zine, which is a TfL online magazine, emailed to approximately 100,000 people on 17 December 2009 and 7 January 2010.

Public Information Leaflet & Questionnaire

The public information summary leaflet to support the consultation on the draft MTS 'Help Shape London's Future' was delivered to boroughs and made available in borough libraries, along with the draft MTS. Posters were included at central London bus stations, bus stops and Underground stations promoting the consultation, and this was further supported by leaflets racked at zone one Underground stations (which are heavily used by people from across London). A call centre was also available for leaflets to be sent on demand and the summary leaflet was distributed at all of the stakeholder meetings as well as the roadshows. It was decided that delivering leaflets directly to the 4million residential addresses in the capital, which would be much more expensive, did not provide best value.

Responding to the consultation

The shaping-London website featured a full draft strategy and background information, and an online response facility which included the same questions as the hard copy leaflet and questionnaire (which was also available as a pdf). These questions were posed with the aim of eliciting views on the key transport issues likely to be of interest to the public and included more direct questions on demand management and whether people agree with the proposed removal of the western extension of the congestion charging scheme. Each question provided respondents with an opportunity to provide their own views if they either agreed or disagreed with the example benefits provided for each question. There was an additional free form text box to allow respondents to provide any additional comments. Furthermore, members of the public could write in with their comments or email them directly to a mailbox ([email address]).

Stakeholder Meetings

With regards to invitations to groups, emails were sent to over 500 stakeholders at the start and during the consultation, with an offer of a briefing or with an invitation to a stakeholder presentation. Meetings were held with a wide variety of stakeholder groups representing London boroughs, business, transport, environment, and the third and public sectors.

Moreover, in order to engage with traditionally more 'hard to reach' groups, TfL has worked closely with 'umbrella' groups such as the London Voluntary Services Council and London Civic Forum to promote the consultation to an even wider group of stakeholders, particularly those representing smaller community groups, disability, minority ethnic groups, older and young people; and those who are disadvantaged. TfL has actively encouraged both the London Civic Forum and the London Voluntary Service Council to use their networks to promote the consultation and to encourage representations.

A number of stakeholders held their own meetings encompassing the MTS, the London Plan and the EDS. TfL attended a number of meetings at the request of stakeholders and was able to engage in comprehensive discussions on the policies and proposals contained within the strategy. This level of engagement has resulted in a broad range of views submitted to the consultation.

Managing the Road Network

TfL is responsible for the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), the busiest radial and orbital arterial routes in the capital which carry more than 30 per cent of London's traffic. There are around 9 million car journeys per day on average and although the strategy seeks to encourage a shift to more sustainable modes such as public transport, walking and cycling where appropriate, it is recognised that cars play an important role in the transport network. In outer London, in particular, the car is the dominant mode of transport accounting for 52 per cent of all trips by residents. A growing population and increased economic activity will put further pressure on the road network potentially leading to significantly more congestion and less reliable journey times. Policies to smooth traffic flow aim to maximise the efficient use of scarce road space by maximising the efficient and reliable operation of the road network including investment in intelligent traffic control, minimising the impact of road and street works and maintaining road network assets in a good state of repair. Measures will be introduced to smooth traffic flows to manage congestion and improve journey time reliability for all people and freight movements, and maximise the efficiency of the road system from a business and individual perspective.

Moreover, it is recognised that for some, the car will remain the most efficient mode to make certain journeys and therefore for those who continue to need to drive the Mayor is keen to promote the cleanest vehicles. The uptake of Electric Vehicles (EV's) is a priority, not only for environmental reasons, but also for the associated economic and job creation opportunities.

Encouraging Cycling

The Mayor is keen to mainstream cycling as a transport mode by making it more attractive and safer. Relative to other cities, London has a low cycle mode share. The strategy aims to increase cycling to achieve a five per cent mode share which could deliver a number of benefits including improved health and environmental and congestion benefits. Cycling can offer fast and reliable journey times. Rates of cycling in outer London are currently lower than in central and inner London and TfL analysis suggests that around two thirds of the potential for increased levels of cycling is in outer London as about half of all car trips in outer London are less than two kilometres. It is also recognised that there are challenges including safety and behaviour and therefore the strategy will support the cycling revolution by providing better information and training to promote behavioural change and further improve infrastructure to make it easier and safer to travel by bike.

Funding

The MTS is a statutory document, developed alongside the London Plan and Economic Development Strategy as part of a strategic policy framework to support and shape the economic and social development of London over the next 20 years.
The MTS is intended to be a high-level strategic document to 2031, and does not include details of funding for schemes beyond TfL's current ten year Business Plan (to 2017/18). Funding for new schemes beyond 2018 has yet to be agreed. The MTS contains a number of proposals for seeking continued and additional funding to secure the investment necessary to support London's continued growth and contribution to the UK economy, including seeking investment capital from central Government and business.

Thank you again for writing.

Yours sincerely

Richard McGreevy
Transport Projects & Policy Manager

Dear Greater London Authority,

It has become apparent that many organisations and members of the
public across London were not aware of the recent consultation into
the Draft Mayor of London Transport Strategy.

Many boroughs did not take any steps to publicise the consultation,
and profess no details of any awareness campaign within their
boroughs.

Please explain the steps that the GLA took apart from TfL to make
the public aware of consultation into the Draft Mayor of London
Transport Strategy.

(1) What publicity was undertaken by TfL and by the GLA?

(2) What was published that explained the Draft Strategy and the
consultation process and how were these made available?

(3) What steps were taken to try to ensure a balanced cross-section
of the public was made aware of the process?

(4) Where were leaflets distributed, and how was this decided?
What analysis suggested this would lead to a fair and balanced
distribution across the community?

(5) What steps were taken to ensure that hard-to-reach sections of
the community, such as those who travel exclusively by private car,
were made aware of the consultation process and encouraged to
participate in it?

(6) What consultation discussions took place between the GLA and
TfL over how this process would operate?
To what extent was the authority consulted over the detail of the
consultation, and what views did it express?

(7) Is the authority happy with the consultation process?
Was the authority happy that the online questionnaire was so
flagrantly biased?
Was the authority happy that were responders allowed to pick as
many as they chose from an uncosted wish-list?

(7) What steps were taken to inform and involve organisations
likely to have an interest?

(8) What programme of meetings was organised?
Did the authority ask TfL to attend public any meetings of the
authority, and how many did receive reports on the consultation
from TfL?

(9) How many meetings took place between TfL and the authority as
part of the consultation process?
What about with local groups across London?

(10) What pre-consultation took place with interested parties to
ensure that the process was fair and balanced?

(11) Does the authority support a MTS consultation on the Draft
Mayor of London Transport Strategy that offers so little for the
driver - private motorist or professional driver of taxi, minicab,
van, lorry or bus?
How important are private drivers in the overall use of transport
across London?
Has the authority expressed concerns over this unfair and
unbalanced aspect of the consultation process?

(12) Does the authority support a MTS in which the promotion of
cycling within the draft MTS does not also include warnings on the
dangers of this mode?
Does the authority support the proposition that a mass switch to
cycling would be beneficial justified, and on what evidence?

(13) Does the authority support a MTS consultation in which
costings of various suggestions were not put forward, so that the
public could see how much tax each would entail?

(14) Does the authority support a MTS consultation in which there
was no question on the level of subsidy that each mode should
receive?

(15) Does the authority support a MTS consultation in which no
question is asked as to whether the users of a mode should bear
all, most, some or whatever proportion of the costs of providing
that mode?

(16) What representations has or will the authority make regarding
the consultation process into the Draft MTS as a result of this
enquiry or otherwise?

(17) Please provide a copy of the authority response to the MTS.

Yours faithfully,

Ruthlyn Black

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