Sadiq Khan has been slammed for his blanket 20mph speed limits across swathes of London, which have been claimed to have ‘no effect’ on air quality.
A new wave of 20mph zones has been introduced on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) by the Mayor of London.
It is part of his “Vision Zero”, a project to reduce death and serious injury from traffic collisions. It includes ULEZ and low-traffic neighbourhoods.
But Khan has been criticised for the scheme, as according to political commentator Liam Deacon, there is no evidence that it impacts air quality.
He also claimed in the Telegraph that very few people in local government or City Hall have bothered to properly consider the cost-benefit analysis for the policy.
Eight of the 11 London boroughs to introduce blanket 20mph limits told Deacon have no record of carrying out a formal cost-benefit analysis and the others could provide little details of their analysis.
Deacon said: “This is a scandal. Blanket 20mph limits now cover roughly half the capital, yet there has been little city-wide debate about them. The public deserves to know if they are making us poorer.”
When Tory MP Ranil Jayawardena asked the minister for roads and local transport, Guy Opperman, if the Government knew more, he was told they had “not made an assessment of the impact of the cost to the economy of 20mph speed limits in London”.
Deacon claimed he saw a TfL document suggested Khan ‘rushed’ to introduce new 20mph limits for the TLRN by this March because he “will wish to publicise the programme ahead of the pre-election period preceding the next Mayoral election”.
It also says that lower speeds won’t impact journey times and so only one-off implementation costs need to be considered. The “final impact” part of the economic section is marked “TO BE COMPLETED”.
The Labour government of Wales found in an assessment that such limits would lead to a net negative £4.5 billion to the Welsh economy over 30 years.
The Mayor’s office has been contacted for comment.
