Funding for improving air quality on London streets

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that five business groups across London will be offered a share of £170,000 of funding for innovative projects that will reduce traffic, ease congestion and improve air quality.

The funding, from TfL’s Healthy Streets Fund for Business, will be matched by the business groups themselves and follows on from the Mayor’s recent Freight and Servicing Action Plan and the Walking and Cycling Action Plans published last year.

The announcement means that, for the first time, funding is being awarded to business groups to enable employees to walk and cycle to work. Schemes offered part of the £170,000 funding include: a scheme in Bermondsey to enable more cycling at the Blue Marketplace by providing cargo bikes, storage spaces and other facilities to allow people to cycle to work; and a new freight hub  in Hammersmith to enable businesses to receive and sort more deliveries at the single location. This will reduce the number of freight vehicles needed to service the area, particularly at peak times.

Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “We have no option but to be smarter in how our streets work. With London's population growing, congestion is not only costly and inefficient for businesses, but has a damaging knock-on effect on air quality and our environment.

"I'm delighted that this funding will not only support innovative projects that reduce the impact of the growing number of deliveries and collections, but also enable more employees to walk and cycle to work. Working with businesses, the roll out of these schemes will keep our city moving, helping improve health and quality of life for everyone.”