Mayor announces more than £3.3m for local transport improvements in Hounslow

The funding has been allocated by Transport for London (TfL) through the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) process and is awarded to the borough to spend on projects that support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, including safer roads, smoothing traffic flow, rejuvenating town centres and better facilities for cycling and walking.

The £3.3m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Hounslow, including:

• £220,000 to deliver road safety campaigns including working with young motorcyclists who have been identified locally as a high-risk group. There will also be clinics looking at in-car safety for children as 90 per cent of seats checked were found to be incorrectly fitted. Further projects include cycling training for adults and children, plus road safety awareness campaigns for children and adults in association with Hounslow Road Safety Forum
• £200,000 to identify and design new bus, cycle and pedestrian facilities and road safety improvements that will be put in place when the council's pioneering Private Finance Initiative commences in 2013 and starts to upgrade many of the borough's road and footways
• £100,000 to improve traffic signals to help smooth traffic flows, and reduce emissions, by minimising repeated stopping and starting at red lights on key routes
• £40,000 to support the 'Greening the Fleet' programme to reduce emissions from the council's own vehicles. This includes introducing electric vehicles, additional pool bicycles and eco-driving training for employees
• £20,000 to work with social housing providers to improve cycling facilities on estates, and tackle the barriers to cycling take-up for social housing tenants

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: 'London is undergoing a neo-Victorian level of investment in its transport network. 

'Every London borough is receiving money that will directly benefit communities, making London an even better place to live and work. 

'We've also cut bureaucracy to make it easier for the boroughs to decide how they want to spend their funding.'

The LIP funds hundreds of large- and small-scale transport projects every year. 

Last year in Hounslow it financed cycle training for 1,950 children and 255 adults, 2,100 children to take part in road safety education training, removal of 141 metres of guardrail, two 20mph zones/limits, 31 new accessible bus stops, 50 schools to participate in walking events and ten in cycling events, eight new on-street car club bays and 350 new street trees.

Notable larger projects already undertaken in Hounslow using LIP support include the completion of the Wellington Road area project which will bring benefits for all road users and improve road safety in Hounslow town centre.

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: 'Year on year the boroughs continue to deliver innovative projects that support the Mayor's vision for transport in the Capital. 

'This investment will build on the excellent work that has already been achieved and complement the huge programme of work we at TfL are undertaking to make his vision a reality through working in partnership with the boroughs.'

The funding was previously forecast to reduce year on year to reflect the reduced general grant TfL receives from the Department for Transport. 

However, because of the importance of the boroughs in delivering the priorities of Mayor's Transport Strategy, the funding has been kept at a consistent level to 2013/14.

Notes to editors:

• Each borough produces a LIP to demonstrate how they plan to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While TfL allocates funding for individual schemes, the LIP and delivery of individual projects is the responsibility of each borough
• A detailed breakdown of funding for bridge strengthening projects (£5.3m), which will be allocated to the bridges in most need of work will be announced in the New Year
•  Total allocation by programme area: