I'm looking forward to the accompanying "30 point plan to support people’s freedom to use the streets" here's some suggestions:
-cracking down on pavement parking
-supporting public transport, thus reducing overall traffic and improving air quality (I wish)
-improving wheeled access at junctions by raising roadway to the level of the footway (rather than the current dropped kerbs)
-bringing about footway improvements (widening, resurfacing) to make them more usable by the less athletic/able bodied
-guiding local authorities on minimising private transport use and holding a consultation on whether "no private (non invalid carriage) vehicle access at all" should be standard
-supporting councils to reinforce that when people are crossing or waiting to cross at a junction, other traffic should give way, including prioritising the passage of cyclists on routes parallel to a road
-supporting councils to move away from the default of hindering pedestrian access with on-pavement signage etc
-consulting on extending fines for highway code infringements and increasing fixed penalty notices
-developing a New Pavement and cycleway Condition Data Standard to provide local authorities with access to new technologies enabling them more easily to identify and deal with defects like uneven surfaces
-£30 million fund to upgrade pedestrian signal systems, removing spurious delays to facilitate pedestrian movement and give it greater priority
-£40 million fund to facilitate improvements to streets to facilitate journeys by the less abled
-blanket 20mph zone for urban England as already implemented in Wales
-improvement to local authorities’ access to DVLA data to enforce vehicle traffic calming schemes by camera
-mandating the hierarchy or provision for cycle facilities as proposed by the CTC
-presumption of fault by those in charge of the vehicle that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision
-supporting councils in the rollout of low traffic neighbourhoods and other schemes of filtered permeability
-require out of town parking to be chargeable to subsidise access by pedestrians
-supporting the reversal of the "improve vehicle flow" transport planning policy in recognition of the fact that improvement to vehicle flow makes vehicles move faster and correspondingly makes them more dangerous to pedestrians
-raising the minimum age for driving from 17 to 19 in line with the rise of the general school leaving age from 16 to 18
-require a cycling proficiency award for all drivers [obvious exceptions exist here]
-strengthening guidance to make sure parking only happens when there are no prohibitions (time or location based)
-charging motor vehicles for externalities associated with motoring including addition of axle weight element alongside the emissions element in vehicle licence
-presumption of responsibility by the named keeper of a vehicle, unless devolved by them onto a named driver in the event of being required to do so
-a ban on "SUV" type vehicles as being proportionately more dangerous to other road users
-imposing minimum standards for cycle provision which recognise they are a form of transport and elevating them to the position of having equal rights to use of the transport network
-requiring rail companies to provide cycle carriage provision concomitant with some cycles being used as accessibility aids
-funding traffic policing adequately to support reduction in vehicle use and to return streets to people (who don't need a licence) from vehicles (which do)
-underlining that being able to drive is a privilege and not a right including removal of "I need to be able to drive" as mitigation against removing a licence on the basis that "needing to be able to drive" should mean the driver takes care to retain that privilege
-requirement for aspirational vehicle advertisements showing empty roads to come with a 1/3 screen warning that road conditions in the advertisement are unlikely to be the ones you experience on a daily basis
-a prohibition on private air travel as being disproportionately impacting on less fortunate people through emissions and a corresponding imposition of duties on all aircraft fuel
