With London's population continuing to grow over the coming decade we need to start planning now to ensure we are able to meet future travel demand. Yet with South London's roads already near to full utilisation, growth in Tooting's transport capacity will most likely come from enhancements to the public transport and cycling options.
I've spent the past 3 months speaking to transport experts at Wandsworth Council, Transport for London, South West Trains, the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign and London Underground, to develop a list of potential options for local residents, which I set out below:
- extended train carriages and longer platforms at our rail stations
- construction of Crossrail 2, with an enlarged station at Tooting Broadway
- expansion of the Boris Bike cycling scheme into Earlsfield, Balham and Tooting
- upgrades to our Cycle Superhighway and more dedicated cycling lanes on key roads in the area
- better walking conditions for pedestrians along popular routes, e.g. Tooting High Street
- 24-hour tubes at the weekend
- a new bus route from Tooting into Fulham
- widened roads (where possible) in Tooting and South London
Where these projects are already in the consultation or planning stage, such as Crossrail 2, we need to ensure the voice of local residents are heard so that implementation plans meet local needs and concerns. For those not yet on the drawing board, such as Boris Bikes or a Fulham bus route, we need to campaign to the relevant authorities if we want to make them a reality.
In the case of the Boris Bike scheme, I believe this could have an important part to play in the cycling mix, so have written to the Mayor’s Cycling Champion to ask him to consider extending the scheme into Earlsfield, Balham and Tooting in the next few years. For this to be a realistic propostion, we need to see a good take-up of the newly-arrived Boris Bikes in northern Wandsworth, which went live in December. For the Fulham bus, this idea has been floated previously but rejected at the time by Transport for London. So we need to reactivate our campaigning efforts to show that this is a priority for Tooting residents.
Therefore, it's very important for me to understand what tarnsportation upgrades you'd like me to focus on for the coming year. So please email me at [email protected] to tell me what your priorities are for Tooting's transport system.