Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and extra bus lanes have contributed to worsening traffic levels in the capital, despite a landmark legal victory.

Congestion calming measures, like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, have divided opinions massively in recent years amid accusations that cars move more slowly when the measures are in place.

Transport for London has been one of the leading organisations introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods as part of plans to improve active travel across the capital.

By 2041, TfL aims to have 80 per cent of journeys be by public transport, cycling or walking.

It will also help towards TfL’s Vision Zero goals to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on the strategic road network.

During a London Assembly Transport Committee meeting earlier this week, Carl Eddleston, Director of Streets and Network Operations, highlighted the spread of LTNs.

He said: “They provide significant safety and active travel benefits. Most of them are on borough roads, so they’re not a TfL decision.

“In some locations they have added congestion to the local area, but nearly all of them have been huge successes,” Southwark News reported.

Mr Eddleston stated that Transport for London would continue to “actively review them”, especially based on feedback from local residents impacted by them.

A study from TfL found that the median number of motor vehicles inside LTN areas dropped from 1,200 a day to just 650 once it was introduced.

One specific LTN in Waltham Forest reported a six per cent fall in car and van ownership between 2015 and 2019.

It also had additional benefits to local residents, including a 10 per cent reduction in street crime between 2012 and 2019.

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Data from Transport for London found that between 2021/22 and 2023/24, boroughs across the capital made 100 new LTNs permanent.

Residents in Tower Hamlets secured a victory at the Court of Appeal, which ruled that Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman acted unlawfully in removing LTNs in Bethnal Green, Shoreditch and on Columbia Road.

The “Save Our Safer Streets – Tower Hamlets” group described it as a “MAJOR” precedent for London boroughs moving forward.

They added that councils would not be able to “tear out schemes” without the approval of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

More than £100,000 was raised by the campaigners to fight against the decision to remove LTNs from areas across Tower Hamlets.

Posting on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, Sir Khan reacted to the legal battle to keep the Low Traffic Neighbourhood.

He said: “Another example of us doing what is right for Londoners: More liveable neighbourhoods. Healthier communities. Fewer collisions. Fewer deaths and serious injuries.

“Change isn’t easy, but I’m willing to make tough choices to make our city safer.”