Centralised discussion space for TfL plans and cycling in London

This is interesting, although it should be noted it was commissioned and paid for by car club operators.

http://www.ippr.org/files/publications/pdf/crossroads-choosing-a-future-for-Londons-transport_March2017.pdf?noredirect=1

60-SECOND SUMMARY
While London’s road transport is of foundational importance to the
city’s communities and economies, it causes a number of major
problems. In 2010, the equivalent of 9,416 deaths were attributed to
air pollution, and congestion exacted an estimated economic cost of
£5.5 billion. This is the result of the type of transport modes available
to Londoners, how they are used, and the systems that determine
transport priorities. As such, one of the primary methods of reducing
transport-related problems in London is the unprecedented modal
shift towards more sustainable forms of transport that has occurred
over the last decade or so.
In that time, digital technology has enabled the development of
new transport services, including journey planners, car clubs and
on-demand private hire. These new mobility services could interact
within London’s transport system to deliver positive network effects,
including complementing efforts to enable more public and active
transport, and so allow for an unprecedented opportunity to overcome
negative outcomes, such as air pollution and congestion, and to
improve the city’s spaces and Londoners’ lives. Evidence suggests
that some of these services are already having a tangible positive
effect, as, for example, is the case of car clubs, which are unlocking
more sustainable travelling behaviours. Conversely, concerns exist
over the potential for negative network effects that undermine the
ongoing move toward more sustainable behaviour.
London is at a tipping point and needs to decide how to react to these
changes. Indeed, the pace and reach of technological change is such
that a window of opportunity currently exists in which action can be
taken by London’s government to ensure the positive potential of
these services is realised. The chance of negative path dependency is
intolerably high without action in this term. As such, the mayor should
incorporate a vision for new transport technologies into the Mayor’s
Transport Strategy in which shared transport and digital technology
realise their potential to drive positive transport outcomes. This vision
should be defined by a clear set of objectives for London’s overall
transport network and include a framework through which this vision
can be achieved. In doing so, he is offered a unique opportunity to
formulate London’s, and the UK’s, role in responding to the digital
revolution and realising the socioeconomic opportunities it affords.
KEY FINDINGS
• Road transport is the leading cause of a number of problems in
London. These include air pollution, congestion, and the large
opportunity cost in forgone spatial opportunities.
4 IPPR | Crossroads: Choosing a future for London’s transport in the digital age
• The mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) are seeking
to affect a modal shift towards more sustainable forms of transport
behaviour. This modal shift is occurring, with a 10.4 per cent net
mode shift from private to public and active transport between
2000–2015. Public and active transport now account for about
64 per cent of all one-way commuter movements in London.
• Meanwhile, digital technology has enabled the rise of new models of
personal transport services that help travellers to move from ownership
of vehicles to their use as a service, including journey planners, car
clubs, on-demand private hire, and other shared modes.
• New mobility solutions could help or hinder efforts to effect more
sustainable forms of travel behaviour and are already having a tangible
impact on London’s transport system. Evidence suggests that, in
the case of car clubs, for example, membership unlocks positive
behaviour change, lowering car use, crowding in higher public and
active transport use, and driving the uptake of cleaner vehicles.
• The potential positive benefits of effectively incorporating these
services into transport networks are profound, but require the
definition of those key objectives they should seek to meet, and
the public policy framework through which public and private
bodies can achieve them.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• The mayor of London should incorporate a vision and framework for
new transport technologies into the Mayor’s Transport Strategy in which
shared transport and digital technology are able to realise their potential
in driving positive transport outcomes. This framework should include:
– An urgent audit of new mobility markets and their potential
and future effects upon key transport-related outcomes.
– A set of overall positive outcomes for London’s transport
system, and how each new service and mode can contribute
to support the uptake of more sustainable travel behaviours.
– The rapid development of an explicit framework for new
mobility markets, in collaboration with operators of new
mobility services.
– The provision of guidelines for public bodies and private
operators on how to best gain from new mobility markets
and work within the new market framework.
• Car clubs should be a key part of the mayor’s vision for London’s
transport system and so the Mayor’s Transport Strategy should include
measures for how car clubs can help achieve key transport objectives.
• TfL and boroughs should work with operators to develop boroughby-borough
agreements to enable car club development.
• TfL should become the central intermediary for mobility data in
London, acting as a neutral, third-party platform through which data
is collated and equal access by all mobility operators is guaranteed.
4
5 IPPR | Crossroads: Choosing a future for London’s transport in the digital age
• TfL should assess the potential for a mobility as a service (MaaS)
platform market in London and develop recommendations for policy
responses, including a market framework and the feasibility of a TfL
MaaS platform.
• The mayor should mandate TfL to investigate the potential for a smart
charging system and an integrated road pricing scheme in London.
• The mayor should introduce a new market framework for EV charging
networks in London, including regulation to ensure their proper
functionality, ubiquity, interoperability and fair access to mobility
operators and users.
• The mayor should appoint a chief digital officer for London.