Gilligan Blasts LTN Critics

Former government special advisor on transport Andrew Gilligan takes aim at critics of Low Traffic Neigbourhoods in today’s Guardian.

He says that the real reasons some people object to cycling and walking infrastructure are:

• “I want to drive and park wherever I like”
• “why should cyclists and pedestrians inconvenience my much more important car journey?”

But they are reluctant to be seen making such selfish and politically-incorrect objections, so they invent more high-minded grounds.

Originally a common complaint about LTNs was about increased pollution, but that claim has been thoroughly debunked. LTN critics have therefore looked for other quibbles.

Times Article

Gilligan says the Times published an article claiming that London boroughs which implemented LTNs have seen bigger increases in car use than those that did not.

He says that is not true.

The arguments about the data are complicated, but Gilligan’s main points are:

• the Times cherry-picked the boroughs it included in the data to suit its case
• in the boroughs it chose to look at without LTNs (Westminster and Kensington) traffic has not recovered to pre-Covid levels because of work from home
• some boroughs with LTNs saw the lowest of all traffic increases (Newham and Waltham Forest)
• the highest rise in traffic was in Harrow, where LTNs were installed and quickly removed
• most LTN schemes are too small-scale to have impacts across a whole borough
• the average rise in traffic post-pandemic was 11.1%, and was exactly the same in boroughs without LTNs as it was in those with LTNs

LTNs Tend to Reduce Traffic

LTNs do reduce traffic, Gilligan says, both within the scheme area and, after a lag, on the roads around it. This is because people make fewer short local journeys by car.

Bus Speeds

High-traffic campaigners also claim that cycle infrastructure delays buses.

Gilligan says London bus speeds have reduced most in outer London boroughs with no meaningful cycle infrastructure, and this is because of the growth in motor vehicle traffic.

Rapid Rebuttal Network

Opponents of LTNs and other cycle infrastructure have to mislead to make their case, according to Gilligan.

He says we need a a network of people to scrutinise, swiftly unpick, and publicly rebut false claims and bad journalism. This has been effective in reducing propaganda campaigns on other subjects, he believes.

I can think of instances where inaccurate propaganda has worked and has persuaded people to vote for damage to national self-interest. The politician with whom Andrew Gilligan is most closely associated is guilty of the pumping out highly misleading yet often effective propaganda.

It’s easy to lose people’s attention when discussing detailed statistics. Gilligan’s idea is a good one, but the arguments need to be distilled into simple facts that people can latch onto quickly and easily without the need to study spreadsheets.