On 3 July 2000, Transport for London (TfL) was created as a single authority to manage London's roads. This article reports interviews with D Turner, TfL interim director of street management, and K Oastler, TfL assistant director for traffic technology services, about the possibilities, opportunities, and future challenges facing TfL. A seamless transfer to the TfL regime is expected, and London's commuters should not notice what is essentially an administrative change. Oastler believes that the creation of one authority to manage the 550km of London's roads is the best transport planning decision ever made in London. With TfL controlling the road surface throughout London, whole journeys will be considered and there will be huge changes later on. Ken Livingstone is now in place as Mayor of London, and one of his first acts was to give public endorsement to the London Bus Initiative, which will make #30M available during the next two years, to improve service levels on 27 key bus routes across London and improve passengers' perception of service quality. Turner says that a key part of this initiative will be using technology to coordinate traffic signals and create 'virtual' bus lanes along the whole length of these routes. TfL also opens up possibilities for substantial safety improvements.
Abstract