Towards more active and sustainable travel: Why Transport for London wants to work with startups to reduce unnecessary travel
This is a guest post by Waqas Hussain, Commercial Innovation Strategist at Transport for London (TfL). TfL is sponsoring the Active Travel challenge in the Mayor of London Civic Innovation Challenge.
TfL is partnering with the Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge to work with startups and SMEs to deliver new solutions to some of London’s most pressing problems.
In this blog I’ll be writing about the second Civic Innovation Challenge that we’re supporting. We’re looking for innovative solutions to reduce pollution by encouraging active travel and cutting down on unnecessary car journeys (you can read my first blog about the TfL affordable housing challenge here).
Active travel
Most people know TfL for running the bus and underground network, but we are responsible for much more than that. We work closely with the Mayor and the London Boroughs to plan and deliver all aspects of moving around the city. London’s population is booming, expected to be over 10 million by 2041, and we need to ensure that the transport system in London can cope with that, and that’s not only about new infrastructure like the Elizabeth Line, but also about encouraging people to use more sustainable methods of travel.
One of the most sustainable methods of transport is active travel, namely walking or cycling. These are usually short journeys, like walking to the shops, or cycling to the station.
To achieve this TfL want to make walking and cycling the most attractive options for short journeys. This means delivering the healthy streets approach to improve the street environment, promoting active travel and its health benefits and targeting the sources of road danger for people walking and cycling in line with the Mayor’s Vision Zero goal.
This will not only have a significant impact on the environment and sustainability, but it will also help to improve our physical health and mental wellbeing.
As little as 20 minutes of walking or cycling a day is enough to stay physically and mentally healthy. However, at least 42% of adults in London aren’t doing enough to stay healthy, and only three in ten children of school age reach the minimum recommended activity level level¹. If all Londoners achieved just 20 minutes of active travel this would save £1.7bn² in NHS treatment cost over the next 25 years.
Most people struggle to set time aside for physical activity, so the best way of keeping active is to build this activity into our existing routines. Our travel time is one of the few opportunities we have for easily incorporating activity into our day.
Active travel has a vital part to play in making London a more sustainable city, and solving our inactivity crisis. The Mayor’s aim is, by 2041, for all Londoners to do at least the 20 minutes of active travel they need to stay healthy each day.
This is an ambitious goal and this is why we are looking for new, exciting and innovative ways to help us achieve it. We are looking to with startups and SMEs, to develop solutions that make walking the most attractive option for journeys.
Whether this be by supporting and encouraging more people to walk in London, helping to guide people walking towards quieter, safer and less polluted walking routes, or measuring or modelling the current walking habits of Londoners.
The success of London’s transport system in the future relies on the city becoming a place where people choose to walk and cycle. We want solutions that will enable and encourage this vision.
Apply here by July 8th for the Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge.
(¹ Health Survey for England 2015, NHS Digital. www.gov.uk)
(² MOVES tool from Sport England. Available online. Accessed January 2017)
