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Travel Plans Newsletter - Issue 11
Are the dark nights in the build up to the festive season getting you down? You may consider joining the Lighter Later campaign to alter the clocks to give an extra hour of light in the evenings. With the decreasing daylight and deteriorating weather in mind, please find below an update from the SWELTRAC Travel Plan team as we look forward to 2011.
Bringing you up to date
From April 2011, driven by a necessity to integrate South London transport projects and a need to make greater efficiencies in the public sector, a South London Transport partnership will replace SWELTRAC.
This change may provide greater economies of scale, which would be welcome by London Boroughs. However, it is still uncertain what responsibilities the new partnership will have. We strongly advise all those responsible for creating the new partnership to include travel planning as one of the key activities. In this era of inevitable cuts in the public sector, clearly the priority for many politicians will be to finance necessary road repairs, rail upgrades and bus improvements. However, we believe that travel plans and other smarter travel interventions are a low-cost way of achieving sustainable targets.
We have been working with a minimal budget this financial year and have been able to successfully maintain exceptional working relationship with organisations across the region. We will endeavour to keep you updated on further developments about the new partnership.
Teddington Bike to Work is best in London
We are delighted to announce that last night at the London Cycling Awards, Teddington Bike to Work Week 2010 was awarded the winning prize for the Best Cycling Event. The award was accepted on behalf of all members of the Teddington Travel to Work Network for their involvement in the two events that took place during the national Bike Week. In particular, thanks go to Lindsay Chapman of the National Physical Laboratory – who joined us at the ceremony – for organising the NPL Sports Ground event and making it such a great success for the past two years.
The judges noted that it was particularly pleasing to see the network approach, with many organisations proactively working together for a common goal.
Claim your funding now!
Implementation of the next two Barclays Cycle Superhighway routes will commence shortly with the new routes operational by summer 2011. Cycle Superhighway Route 2 will go from Bow Roundabout to Aldgate and Cycle Superhighway Route 8 from Wandsworth to Millbank. Cyclists commuting to businesses in South West London will be particularly pleased with the second route, a map of which is available to view here.
Businesses located within 1.5km of the routes and with more than 50 employees can take advantage of TfL’s workplace offering including free cycle training, free cycle parking and free Dr Bike services. Please note that those businesses located alongside the existing routes (3 and 7) have until the end of the year to take advantage of TfL’s workplace offering. If you think you qualify for either the proposed or existing routes and are interested in the offerings please contact Kevin.
Walk to Work Week 2011
The dates for next year’s annual Walk to Work Week have been confirmed as 9th to 13th May. More details will be released in due course but in the meantime, sign up for the Walking Works e-Bulletin to be kept in the loop.
In addition, in the build up to Christmas, use the Walking Works Mince Pie calculator to work out how many treats you are allowed due to your level of physical activity.
Network receives cabinet support
The recent Teddington Travel to Work Network meeting, which took place at Pinewood Group, Teddington Studios, was attended by Richmond upon Thames’ cabinet member for traffic, Cllr Clare Head. The councillor was very supportive of the network and answered questions from members about the future of the group. We hope that this will help to ensure the council’s involvement in the network as we move through the transition period for SWELTRAC.
Annual report
Please visit our website to download our latest Annual Report, which has been issued for our stakeholders and all those that are interested in transport matters in South London. Our recent Annual Forum showed that there is a greater need to work subregionally to deliver sustainable transport interventions.