Transport schemes should be seen as a method of regeneration, the London Assembly has heard today.
Speaking at City Hall during a meeting titled “Development and transport – who pays the price?”, Isabel Dedring, deputy mayor for Transport for London, said: “We need to turn how we see transport on its head.”
Dedring used the example of the Bakerloo Line extension to illustrate her point. She said: “From a transport perspective, it almost doesn’t matter where the Bakerloo Line goes, but from a regeneration viewpoint where it goes makes a huge difference.”
TfL is investing £360m over 10 years to help support transport improvement works in areas earmarked for growth.
But it was stressed in the meeting that the fund should be used as a last resort after all other funding streams were exhausted.
Alex Williams, director of borough planning at TfL, said: “We should be maximising CIL and section 106 contributions before we go to the growth fund.”
Williams also emphasised the importance of TfL being selective in its decisions. He said: “When looking at a growth area you have to look at what transport interventions and importantly how necessary these are.”
Dedring highlighted the barriers faced by the organisation. She pointed to how the Treasury dictates how far TfL can deviate from cost-benefit ratios as an issue and said: “We are not geared up institutionally to grind out these schemes. We need to use transport for regeneration more systematically.”
