Spending on London road infrastructure to rise to £3.8bn

Date: 5/12/2012

The budget for road infrastructure in London could be doubled to £3.8 billion over the course of the next ten years.

In its Business Plan (TfL) Transport for London has outlined how the money would be spent, with £900 million going on cycling safety initiatives.

An extra carriage is to be added to all London Overground trains under the proposals as well as driver-less Tube trains operating on the Piccadilly Line by 2022.

Money for such forward thinking projects would come in part from the government as well as from the revenue gained from above inflation rises in fares across many forms of public transport.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said that the plans would be a driver for economic growth and new jobs in the capital.

He said that a "steady and sustainable stream of funding" would come from the government in order to help develop the city's transport network.

A substantial amount of the funding needed up until 2014/15 is already in place, but an average of £1.8 billion would be required each year from the government for the plans to go ahead.

Darren Johnson, London Assembly Green Party Member, told the BBC: "Money and vision is needed for a future of buses and bikes on London's roads, because that is how most Londoners will be travelling around on our roads in ten years time."

Approximately 80 per cent of the journeys made in the capital each day are done so by road, according to TfL figures.

One of the main aims of the plans will be to tackle congestion at the same time as balancing the needs of many different types of road user.

In the future, those travelling by bus will have the added convenience of being able to pay by credit or debit card.

Areas such as Elephant & Castle, Tottenham Hale and Woolwich will undergo £300 million of regeneration work.

Another aim of the plans is to make 28 more Tube stations step-free by the year 2020 and therefore more accessible for all.

Posted by Mary Treen

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