Request ID: FOI-1980-2425 Date published: 16 October 2024
You asked
What measures were taken to make sure the majority of local residents were in favour of each closure?
What legal advice was obtained about how this complied with Section 16(1) of the Road Traffic Act, which obliges local authorities to secure the expeditious movement of traffic? If such legal advice was obtained, please provide a copy of it.
What impact assessment was made on the implications for elderly and disabled people who need to use a car? And, please provide a copy of it.
What impact assessment was made on the implications for working people and businesses who need to use vehicles? And, please provide a copy of it.
What assessment was made about the feasibility of using places like parks for children to play in and hold community events rather than on the roads?
What does the Mayor think the roads have been built for, if not to convey traffic?
What compensation is in place for motorists whose time has been unnecessarily wasted by these unnecessary closures?
Why do TfL and the Mayor have such contempt for the needs of motorists?
TfL and the Mayor regularly claim that people can walk or cycle instead of using a motor vehicle. How do they know people’s individual circumstances better than those people themselves?
The Mayor claims other people can walk or cycle while he is ferried around in a car. How does he justify the hypocrisy of such actions?
How much official time and taxpayers’ money has been spent on car free day?
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1980-2425
Thank you for your request received on 21 September 2024 asking for information about the recent Car Free Day.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
Local streets across London were open for play between Friday 20 September and Sunday 22 September as they became play streets to mark World Car Free Day this year, enabling thousands of Londoners to play, walk, cycle and spend time with their neighbours.
World Car Free Day in London is run by London Play and supported by the Mayor of London, Transport for London and most London boroughs.
London Play engage with all London boroughs who speak to local residents about hosting play streets along residential roads for the local community to enjoy over Car Free Day weekend. Each individual borough then decides which applications for road closures from local residents to accept and they manage these requests by looking at the impact of displaced traffic on other roads within the borough. TfL has no involvement in the process of selecting the streets that are involved as all the streets are controlled by the boroughs rather than TfL and therefore we do not hold the documents you have requested.
TfL only control five per cent of London’s road network which are known as red routes and are the strategic roads across London, which carry the most traffic.
London hosted its largest Car Free Day celebrations in 2019, which saw thousands of people enjoy traffic-free streets in central London as well as hundreds of local streets across the capital. Since the pandemic, Car Free Day events have been focused on local neighbourhoods, and continue to offer a fantastic opportunity for people to enjoy their streets in new ways. Once Londoners have enjoyed the experience of seeing their street in a new light – as valuable community space – it is hoped that many will contact their local councils to ask if their street is suitable for regular play street sessions. Play streets contribute to tackling isolation and improving mental health in London’s communities, improving air quality, reducing road danger and inspiring more Londoners of all ages to get active as part of their daily lives through walking and cycling.
London Play promotes children’s right to play, campaigns for more and improved out-of-school play services for children and young people across London, and supports play work in the capital.
A play street means neighbours agreeing together to open their street for play and community – and close it to through traffic – temporarily but regularly. Most councils in London offer residents the opportunity to apply for free.
The charity has been supporting councils and residents across London to implement play streets for over a decade and more than two thirds of boroughs have adopted the initiative to date.
London Play’s other funders include Trust for London, National Lottery Community Fund, the Barbara Ward Foundation and The Royal Parks. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal. Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
