Response to 2nd ODA Transport Plan

In replying to the ODA's second Transport Plan Opens in a new window, London Councils confirmed its full support for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, recognising that it will have considerable legacy benefits for the city.

In general, there is much in the second edition of the Plan that London Councils welcomes. However, we still have some concerns. Linking many of these is an overarching theme, which is that the ODA has not shared enough information with boroughs. The specific concerns can be summarised as follows:

• Traffic impact assessments - some boroughs have not been given details of these for particular venues, and so cannot plan appropriate travel arrangements. London Councils would like to see the ODA commit to working with partners to share this information with boroughs as soon as possible.
• The Olympic Route Network (ORN) - London Councils is concerned that important details of the operation of the ORN (such as banned turns or road closures) have not been shared with boroughs. For example, what will be the traffic impact of displacing bus stops that lie on the ORN? 
• Security - boroughs are not mentioned in the list of bodies involved in planning the security for the Games travel. While they may not provide security directly, they will be affected by security-related transport arrangements such as road closures or suspensions of parking and must be involved in relevant decisions.
• Parking - spectators travelling from Outer London (or from outside the city to Outer London) rail and tube stations may drive to those stations and then take the Underground or rail to Games venues. This could put huge localised parking pressure on specific locations next to rail and Tube stations in Outer London - the ODA should work with Outer London boroughs that may be affected by this to either prevent or mitigate this. For venues near to the GLA boundary, measures may be required to manage the high number of spectators attending Games events and travelling to them from rail stations just outside the boundary. London Councils would like the ODA to work with Outer London boroughs to see how measures such as park-and-ride schemes might mitigate this.
• Cost reimbursement - there will be a cost to boroughs attached to any temporary changes in local parking regimes associated with the Games. The ODA should recompense boroughs for any additional cost incurred.
• The size of the 'Games Family' - 30,000 of the 77,000 people who will be able to use the ORN and benefit from its priority status are Games 'media partners'. We would like to see the size of the Games family kept as small as possible in order to reduce the impact of their travel on the ORN and other routes affected by the ORN.
• Cycling - the level of cycling suggested by the Plan is quite low. Given that the Games will be happening in summer, we feel that the Plan could aim for higher levels of cycling.