Published: Tuesday 18 October 2022
A report into travel patterns following the pandemic has been published by Centre for London. The research found that air travel, public transport ridership and office working are all still lower than before the Covid 19 pandemic. It also found that in Kensington and Chelsea 79 per cent of trips are made by residents are made on public transport, walking or cycling.
The independent report was commissioned by Kensington and Chelsea Council to look at travel patterns and come up with plausible scenarios for how behaviour change during the pandemic may persist as lockdown ended. The research was commissioned by the Council’s then leadership team in March 2021, following the installation and removal of a temporary cycle lane on Kensington High Street, which garnered strong views across the community and with commuters.
Cllr Cem Kemahli, lead member for planning, place and environment said:
“Making travel in our borough easy, safe and green is a priority but there is no silver bullet to achieve this quickly. That’s why we asked Centre for London to do some research for us in travel patterns and behaviour change since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This research gives us plenty to consider. I will be going over the detail and would like to take elements of the report it to our Citizens Panel of 2,000 representative residents in the near future for their reaction to the findings.”
The report is proposed to be added to the work programme of the Citizens’ Panel for early 2023 and will also be reviewed by the Council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee. In the report, Centre for London said that that all the schemes presented would require extensive consultation and planning with everyone who uses the roads.
Read phase two of the report in full.
Read phase 1 of the report, released in March 2022, which focuses on placemaking in Kensington and Chelsea and how high streets can recover from the pandemic.