Theme: Public Policy | Content Type: Journal article

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and the Paradox of UK Government Control of the Active Travel Agenda

David Banister, Geoff Dudley and Tim Schwanen

Matt Seymour LTN

Matt Seymour

| 1 min read

Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are designed to remove motorised traffic from residential streets, while leaving them permeable to pedestrians and cyclists, and they have become a popular means to promote active travel. During the recent pandemic, the government introduced the Active Travel Fund in England to facilitate the rapid implementation of LTNs, but this also resulted in a powerful top-down control element. This in turn has resulted in a paradox where funding is contingent on certain conditions being met, but insufficient and changing guidance has been given to the local authorities charged with implementation. This article outlines this highly unpredictable process, the controversies and the uncertain implementation through the development of the LTN process in England and the experience of Oxford, where many of the issues are currently being confronted.

Read the full article on Wiley

Need help using Wiley? Click here for help using Wiley

  • David Banister

    David Banister

    David Banister is Professor Emeritus of Transport Studies at the University of Oxford.

    Articles by David Banister
  • Geoff-Dudley_avatar.png

    Geoff Dudley

    Geoff Dudley is Visiting Research Associate in the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford.

    Articles by Geoff Dudley
  • Tim-Schwanen_avatar.png

    Tim Schwanen

    Tim Schwanen is Director of the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford.

    Articles by Tim Schwanen
Volume 96, Issue 3

Latest Journal Article

Volume 96, Issue 3

This issue features a collection titled 'The Intellectual and Political Legacy of David Marquand', who died in April 2024, edited by Colin Crouch, Ben Jackson and Peter Sloman. In this collection, authors including Jean Seaton, Will Hutton and Hilary Wainwright consider Marquand's legacy as a great progressive thinker, his biography of Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first prime minister, and the role of socialism for Marquand. Other articles include a commentary by Deborah Mabbett titled 'Welfare reform by numbers'; Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams on 'The Vices of Values: Matthew Goodwin and the Politics of Motivation'; Helen McCarthy on 'Why the WASPI has no Sting: Gender, Generation and Pension Inequalities'; and Sam Taylor Hill, Tariq Modood and John Denham on 'Multicultural Nationalism: Saving the White Working Class from Blue Labour?' A selection of book reviews feature Edmund Fawcett's review of 'Nationalism: A World History' by Eric Storm and Samuel Cohn's review of 'Controlling Contagion: Epidemics and Institutions from the Black Death to Covid' by Sheilagh Ogilvie.

Find out more about the latest issue of the journal