Encouraging cycling & walking

We want London to become the world's best big city for cycling and walking. Enabling more people to cycle or walk will support London's growth and continuing success, and improve the health and quality of life of Londoners.

The overarching goal of the Mayor's Transport Strategy is that by 2041, 80% of journeys are to be made by walking, cycling and public transport.

Other ambitions are that by 2041:

• All Londoners get 2 x 10 minutes of active travel each day
• 70% of Londoners will live within 400 metres of the London-wide cycle network.

Cycling and walking will be a core part of London's future success. The economic contribution they make to the high street, businesses and London's growth is highlighted on the Economic benefits of walking and cycling page.

Cycling

Cycling action plan 2

The Cycling action plan 2 is one of the action plans created to support the Mayor's Transport Strategy. It sets out how we intend to achieve the Strategy's goals and make London a city where cycling is attractive and accessible for all, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender or ability.

The plan shows our evidence-based approach to broaden the appeal of cycling to a wide range of Londoners and increase cycling levels by a third by 2030.

Transforming our streets

To encourage cycling, Londoners need safer, accessible routes that are not dominated by motorised traffic.

• Cycleways - we've expanded the Cycleway network from 90km of cycle routes in 2016 to over 350km in 2023. We plan to expand it further so that 40% of Londoners live within 400m of a Cycleway by 2030. Each route will meet the new cycle route quality criteria and be signed as part of a unified network
• Reducing traffic dominance - local measures to reduce traffic have been shown to increase cycling levels and lower road danger. We will support London boroughs with further measures to reduce motorised traffic dominance in residential areas and near schools
• Tackling the sources of road danger - we'll tackle road danger hotspots, including through the Safer Junctions programme, lower speed limits and the Direct Vision Standard

Making cycling a genuine option for all

Over the next few years we'll focus on breaking down the barriers to cycling, particularly those barriers faced by currently under-represented groups of Londoners.

We will:

• Improve cycle parking, with a focus on secure residential cycle parking, along with better parking facilities on our high street, in schools and at stations
• Work with local partners through the Cycle Crime Prevention Partnership to combat cycle theft
• Modernise and improve our Santander Cycles offer
• Maximise the potential of rental micromobility services to contribute to London's sustainable transport offer while ensuring it works for all Londoners
• Improve access to cycles, particularly for people on low incomes and disabled Londoners
• Support the growth of cycle freight through London's first Cargo Bike Action Plan
• Improve journey planning tools and digital wayfinding, including through an improved TfL Go app
• Support more children to travel actively through our Travel for Life programme and through our cycle training programme for children and adults
• Support grassroots community groups through the Walking and Cycling Grants, in partnership with the London Marathon Foundation
• Connect with Londoners and promote cycling for all as a sustainable, enjoyable and healthy mode of transport

Using evidence to understand cycling

Cycling has more than doubled in London since 2000. Growth is typically strongest in areas where investment has been made in infrastructure like our Cycleways network. The most recent update of cycling volume and growth statistics are in our latest Travel in London report while our cycle count data is available on our Cycling data page.

But surveys show there are still barriers to cycling in London such as fear of collision and other factors that disproportionately affect people currently under-represented in cycling. These barriers are documented in various reports, including the 2021 research report Cycling potential in London's diverse community on the Cycling & walking page.

Plans for the future growth of London's Cycleway network are based on the Strategic cycling analysis (SCA) first published in 2017. The SCA methodology is set out in the 2017 SCA report on the Cycling page in Publications & reports.

Maps from that document were updated in the Cycling action plan 2 in 2022.

Walking

Walking action plan

The Walking action plan sets out how we are working with the boroughs, Business Improvement Districts, businesses, the police, schools, community and residents' groups and stakeholder organisations to tackle barriers to walking - and to make it the easiest and most attractive way of making short trips in London.

Our four main areas of actions are to:

1. Build and manage streets where people walk
2. Plan and design for walking
3. Integrate walking with public transport
4. Lead a culture change

The Walking action plan sits alongside other policies in the Mayor's Transport Strategy such as Vision Zero for London.

1. Build and manage streets for walking

Our Healthy Streets programme is making streets safer and more attractive for walking. We're supporting London boroughs with further measures to reduce motorised traffic dominance in residential areas and near schools.

2. Plan and design for walking

We're embedding the Healthy Streets Approach at the heart of our decision-making - with resources available to help put it into practice.

The resources below can be used to analyse the urban environment and ensure that infrastructure is planned to encourage more walking.

For detailed design advice, designers should refer to our library of technical guidance for streets: the Streets toolkit.

The planning for walking toolkit

The planning for walking toolkit brings together a range of best practice tools that TfL uses and has developed over recent years to plan and design pedestrian related infrastructure improvements in London.

It sets out a practical approach for transport planners to build an evidence base for targeted improvements to the walking environment, and introduces key Pedestrian Network Design Principles that focus on the needs of all pedestrians to ensure the provision of a consistently high quality experience.

Strategic walking analysis

The Strategic walking analysis brings together insights and analysis on walking which will allow TfL, boroughs and other partners to prioritise investment in walking and deliver improvements using an evidence-based approach.

Pedestrian Comfort Guidance

The Pedestrian Comfort Guidance is a tool that helps us assess whether pavements are wide enough for the number of pedestrians who use them.

The document describes how to carry out a comfort assessment and review the results. You can use the comfort level spreadsheet to calculate the results.

Pedestrian Environment Review System

PERS is an audit tool used to assess the quality of places where people walk - such as a street, crossing, around a bus stop or park.

It scores factors which affect people's experience of using streets and public spaces. These include the width of pavements and steepness of dropped kerbs, as well as their general look and feel.

3. Integrate walking with public transport

Most walking in London is part of a longer public transport journey, so improving and expanding the public transport network will increase walking.

The Elizabeth line is activating thousands of new walking trips. Our Bus action plan recognises that walking and bus travel complement each other, and has actions to support both.

4. Lead a culture change

Streets make up 80% of public space in London. People don't just travel through these places, they also spend time there. We need to support people to reclaim their streets for the uses they need including socialising and children playing.

We have produced new guidance to support temporary, light-touch and low-cost projects to change the way a streets looks and feels - see Small Change, Big Impact on the Healthy Streets page.

Most children in London - 8 in 10 - do not reach the recommended minimum of one hour of physical activity a day. We promote walking to school through TfL Travel for Life, a free accreditation programme that offers a series of educational programmes (from ages 3 to 17) to schools and education settings across London. TfL Travel for Life will allow us to engage with more schools across London, helping to develop children's independence and confidence and create a lasting impact on the way young people travel to and from school.

Our active travel campaign encourages people to 'walk, cycle, discover'. We also partner with Public Health England on its Active 10 campaign.

London's navigation system, Legible London, makes it easy for people on foot to find their way around. The navigation system includes detailed maps and signs showing realistic walking times. Legible London is integrated across London's transport system.

Maps can be found in Tube stations, at bus stops and Santander Cycles docking stations. We work with boroughs, Business Improvement Districts and other organisations to expand the system.

Leisure walking plan

The Leisure walking plan sets out our ambition to enhance, improve and expand opportunities to walk for pleasure in London. It includes actions for connecting parks and green spaces with local communities, and for making sure these green routes are accessible for everyone.

Central to the Leisure walking plan are actions to upgrade, maintain and promote the Walk London network. This consists of 8 high quality walking routes across Greater London:

• Capital Ring
• Green Chain
• Green Link
• Jubilee Greenway
• Jubilee Walkway
• Lea Valley
• London Outer Orbital Path (LOOP)
• Thames Path

The clearly signed routes are specifically designed to be easily accessible by public transport so people can walk as little or as far as they want. The routes give London one of the largest managed walking networks of any city in the world.