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The claim "LTNs reduce car use" was used by councils to justify concentrating traffic on community roads, generating hundreds of £millions in fines and increasing property prices on affluent high car ownership roads. TfL buried the study that showed this claim to be false.
For those suffering increased air pollution exposure from traffic congestion due to LTNs, this research suppression reveals the institutional mindset that prioritises ideology over evidence – with devastating consequences for all who live, travel work, learn or play near LTN sacrificial roads.
The £82,095 university study surveyed more than 4,500 residents and found that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods do not reduce car use. When the research proved Mayor Sadiq Khan’s claims about LTNs wrong, TfL officials worried about publication and eventually withdrew funding, burying it.
The research suppression is part of broader data manipulation. Councils have for years failed to report cars travelling at less that 10kmph on LTN boundary roads, so increased traffic & congestion caused by LTNs appears as 'traffic evaporation' where cars have simply disappeared.
The human cost extends far beyond traffic delays. Residents report missing hospital appointments and children late for school because buses can’t get through gridlock, elderly people feel unsafe when services terminate early, and businesses report customer numbers falling because “it’s too difficult” to reach them.
Traffic pollution has significant and wide-ranging adverse effects on public health, causing respiratory illnesses like asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and even premature death, with a high risk for children, the elderly, and people living near traffic congested roads. Key pollutants include particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides, which can damage DNA and lead to chronic conditions and cancer. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution can also impair lung development in children, reduce cognitive function, and negatively affect pregnancy outcomes.
Professor Rachel Aldred, the London Cycling Campaign Trustee who led the suppressed LTN study, has previously published seven pro-LTN papers funded by TfL, all positive about the schemes. Only when research showed LTNs failing to reduce car use did TfL withdraw support.
The greater damage is to public trust in institutions that prioritise ideology over evidence, revenue above public health.
Activists have justified the social & environmental injustices of LTNs by claiming to be evidence led. We now have proof that they control what is shared & publicised and what evidence is buried & suppressed.
LTNs have failed to deliver the promised reduction in car ownership & use but continue to increase vehicle miles driven and traffic congestion on community roads, thus significantly increasing fuel burnt, toxic vehicle emissions and public air pollution exposure. The exact opposite of a 'green' scheme.
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