Could you please disclose all impact assessments that have been produced regarding the impact on air pollution and traffic congestion of cycle lanes in London? I would like all relevant documents produced since 1st January 2017.

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Our ref: FOI-3656-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 25 February 2020 asking for information about cycle lanes.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our Information Access Policy. You asked:

Could you please disclose all impact assessments that have been produced regarding the impact on air pollution and traffic congestion of cycle lanes in London? I would like all relevant documents produced since 1st January 2017.

However, given the extent of the information you are looking for, we are applying Regulation 12(4)(b) as we believe that the request is ‘manifestly unreasonable’. This is because providing all of the information you have requested would impose unreasonable costs on us and require an unreasonable diversion of resources.

Collating some of the information you have requested, particularly three years’ worth of documents, would be very time consuming. This would be a significant number of schemes, all of which would have had several traffic modelling and environmental assessments/reports undertaken. Identifying, sourcing and collating all such reports would be a significant task, involving numerous teams across the business.

The use of this exception is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise that the release of information would promote accountability and transparency in public services, and particularly that this subject is a matter of considerable public interest. However, the time it would take to provide the information you have requested would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources from its core functions and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception.

Some data on journey time impacts of the Cycle Superhighways together with some more general background monitoring is published on our website: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/segregated-cycling-infrastructure-evidence-pack.pdf. Please note the data is from 2017 and has not yet been updated.

The Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the Coronavirus. It is essential for London, and in particular for all critical workers, that we continue to provide a safe transport network that enables them to make the journeys they need to.

In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Melissa Nichols

FOI Case Officer

General Counsel

Transport for London

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