The council does not control public transport in Lambeth, but we play an important role in promoting service and infrastructure improvements across the network.
While north and central Lambeth benefit from access to Underground services, providing fast and frequent connections to central London, in the southern part of the borough National Rail links do not provide the same level of service or reliability. The majority of rail and underground services also operate at capacity from the central section of the borough, making it difficult to board trains at busy times. There are also limited public transport options which connect the northern and southern sections of Lambeth together and east–west movements are not as well served as connections into central London.
A significant number of rail and tube stations in Lambeth do not have step free access and this is severely detrimental to those of us who are therefore excluded from travel. In particular, step free journeys from the centre of the borough are much longer and less convenient than they should be. Many Lambeth residents rely on bus services, particularly to access key interchanges such as at Brixton. Average bus speeds have suffered in recent years due to congestion on the strategic road network, resulting in longer journey times. While we do not run public transport services, the council has a big influence on almost all trips people make. We are Highway Authority for 340km of roads in the borough, with Transport for London controlling another 37km of ‘red routes’ in Lambeth.
There has been significant investment in Lambeth’s public realm, in town centres and opportunity areas, as well as in local centres and neighbourhoods. Delivering high quality streets and public spaces is essential both to attract investment in the borough and to ensure that our streets are accessible to all. Lambeth’s neighbourhood approach to street improvements ‘Our Streets’, has led to a co-ordinated approach to small and larger scale environmental and transport improvements.
While there has been significant investment in cycle routes in recent years, there remain gaps in the network, notably between the central southern part of Lambeth and the north of the borough.
Although relatively few trips by our residents are made by car, motor traffic is a real issue. Our borough is bisected by principal routes such as the A23, A24, A3 and the inner London ring road. These routes run through our town/neighbourhood centres. Even with the reduction in traffic we have seen, major routes through the borough still experience peak time congestion and this can spill over into local streets.
Our main roads are also where many of the traffic collisions in Lambeth occur. Safety on our network is a major concern, with far too many people, particularly vulnerable road users, involved in collisions resulting in death and serious injury, many more sustaining minor injuries and other incidents going unreported. Reducing road danger is therefore paramount. Personal safety is also a critical issue, both on our streets and on and around public transport. We know that the most vulnerable place for our young people to be attacked and suffer violence is when they are travelling across the borough.
Air quality is also a major public health issue, with the whole of Lambeth designated as an Air Quality Management Area and road transport generating 60% of all NOx emissions. Road transport is also a major contributor to CO2 emissions in the borough, making up 30% of total borough emissions.