News Articles Archive - Page 13 of 153 - Cross River Partnership

More than 80 cargo bikes took to the streets of London last week in an effort to encourage businesses to replace their polluting vans with environmentally friendly electric cargo bikes.

The Cargo Bike Cruise, organised by MP Smarter Travel and Team London Bridge, is now in it’s fifth year and invites a range of businesses utilising cargo bikes to come along and showcase their vehicles.

It comes as an analysis from the Clean Cities campaign showed that there was a 63 per cent rise in the use of cargo bikes across the capital between 2022 and 2023.

CRP were in attendance to see this fantastic event in action, which created a real spectacle across Central London as the huge range of cargo bikes descended through the streets.

CRP are pleased to see the growth of such a positive movement and are continuing in their own efforts to encourage the use of cargo bikes for servicing and deliveries.

Considering a cargo bike for your business? Get useful tips and insights from CRP’s Business Cargo Bike Guide tool here https://bizcargobikeguide.london/

City Hall is working with London Councils to develop a London Growth Plan to help drive London’s economic growth for the benefit of all Londoners.

All Londoners are encouraged to share their views on London’s economic growth in Talk London’s survey and discussion.

The survey will explore Londoners perceptions and experiences of living and working in London.

The campaign will run from 1 August – 15 September.

Complete the short survey here.

Next month is European Mobility Week, which promotes sustainable urban mobility and encourages walking, biking, using public transport, and other clean transportation options.

The event runs from September 16th to 22nd and culminates with a Car-Free Day. During the week, local authorities are encouraged to try new planning ideas, promote new infrastructure and technologies, check air quality, and engage with the public.

CRP is pleased to be a part of the solution. We are working on addressing all four of this year’s themes through our projects:

Experiencing public space in a different way

Redeveloping urban space together

School streets: Creating safe space for active travel

Planning and designing safer streets

Visit our website to learn how our Just Streets and Healthy Streets Everyday II projects are making a difference in London. You can also visit the Mobility Week website for campaign resources, including tips on how to organize your own car-free day.

Let’s make London’s streets safer, more accessible and enjoyable together!

July saw the launch of the results of The Healthy Streets Scorecard, which ranks London Boroughs on how healthy their streets are according to ten healthy streets indicators. These indicators cover road safety, vulnerable road users, speed limits, active travel infrastructure and rates and public transport provision.

Healthy Streets Scorecard is a coalition of campaign which includes Action Vision Zero, Clean Cities Campaign, CPRE London, Future Transport London, London Cycling Campaign, London Living Streets, Possible, Sustrans and Wheels for Wellbeing.

The results showed that the London Borough of Islington, City of London and the London Borough of Hackney were top of the pile this year. A huge well done to all the boroughs for continued improvements and championing healthier streets.

And CRP are excited to continue delivering healthier streets and upping those scores for partners on the Healthy Streets Everyday II programme. We are really excited to deliver some exciting initiatives through our 3-year Mayor’s Air Quality funded programme that will tackle over-dependence on private vehicles through greening, pedestrian and cycling improvements.

For more information contact CRP Project Lead for Healthy Streets Everyday II, Ross Phillips at rossphillips@crossriverpartnership.org

Photo Credit: Photos by CJ

CRP and its Partners are continuing to celebrate 30 Years of Innovative Programme Delivery.

Delivery has spanned so many sectors, making fantastic contributions to sustainability, zero emissions, multi-modal freight management, active travel, green infrastructure, place making, arts and culture, employment and business growth.

CRP has a campaign of information sharing our innovative programmes delivered running for the rest of August. Search #CRP30Years on Linked In and / or X / Twitter.

You can also discover more about CRP’s projects here: Projects – Cross River Partnership

Or contact CRP’s Director Susannah Wilks susannahwilks@crossriverpartnership.org

Photo Credit: Photos by CJ

August has been all things cargo bike here at CRP! We’ve completed several trials as part of our Defra funded Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) Programme and have also been out and about promoting the use of these fabulous last mile logistics tools to businesses and communities across London!

For example, this month we have:

Launched 3 OurBike’s in Earlsfield, Holloway Road and Archway

Completed the City Soil Lab Pre-Pilot which used cargo bikes to collect business food waste and convert it to compost / soil

Participated in the London Cargo Bike Cruise – a group ride through Central London to highlight the important role of cargo bikes and those working in the sector. A fantastic event organised by MP Smarter Travel and Team London Bridge.

We’ll be sharing more information about these activities, as well as details on our other exciting SGL initiatives over the coming months so keep your eyes peeled.

If you have any questions on CRP’s Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) Programme, please contact CRP Senior Programme Manager Fiona Coull

Cross River Partnership (CRP) are trialling Virtual Loading Bays (VLBs) across London and are looking for logistics operators to get involved!

Virtual Loading Bays are dedicated spaces at the kerbside that can be pre-booked by participating operators to make deliveries more efficient, safe and sustainable whilst improving congestion and air quality in the local area.

The trial, which is in collaboration with Grid Smarter Cities, has VLBs available in the City of London Corporation, London Borough of Lambeth and London Borough of Richmond. If you deliver in these areas, visit CRP’s trial webpage to find out more!

The Virtual Loading Bays are part of the Defra-funded Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) Kerbside Management Trial (ending December 2024).

Benefits of Virtual Loading Bays include:  

Dedicated and guaranteed space for freight activities to take place for a safe amount of time

Ability to book time at the kerbside in line with freight operations

Beat congested hours and have safe working environments for drivers

Enable local authorities to manage their kerbside and prioritise time and space for freight movements

For more information, contact Cross River Partnership Project Manager Katherine Fairfax katherinefairfax@crossriverpartnership.org

Cross River Partnership (CRP), a non-profit and impartial partnership organisation, are excited to announce that 2 Virtual Loading Bays are now live in the London Borough of Richmond. The 2 Virtual Loading Bays are located in Sheen Lane, Mortlake and The Quadrant, Richmond and will be available to book, free of charge, for the trial period to the end of 2024.

Virtual Loading Bays are dedicated spaces that can be pre-booked to deliver goods by participating operators with the Grid Kerb Delivery booking application.

The Virtual Loading Bays form part of CRP’s Defra-funded Kerbside Management Trial and are being delivered in partnership between London Borough of Richmond, Grid Smarter Cities and Cross River Partnership. The trial uses Grid’s Virtual Loading Bay technology to dynamically manage the kerbside and aims to improve congestion and air quality in the local area.

Find out more about the trial and how to book the Virtual Loading Bays here: https://gridsmartercities.com/smarter-greener-logistics-crp/

The Kerbside Management Trial is part of Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) a Defra-funded project led by Westminster City Council in collaboration with 25 project partners. The project aims to minimise the impact of freight on noise, air quality, traffic and pavement space in London by making improvements across 14 London boroughs and two London Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).

Laura Jacklin, Commercial Development Manager from Grid Smarter Cities said:

“Delivering to different spaces comes with challenges especially in strategic corridors. These two bays are in different locations but will face similar challenges for delivery drivers, we are excited to see how managing and booking space will help deliveries at the kerbside.”

Carl Gellard, Senior Engineer Traffic & Parking Policy Richmond and Wandsworth Council:

“The Virtual Loading Bay (VLB) initiative will enable the council to monitor loading/unloading activity at two key sites in the borough which experience increased volumes of traffic and poor air quality. We look forward to realising the benefits of managing kerbside space through the platform.”

Katherine Fairfax, Project Manager from Cross River Partnership said:

“Cross River Partnership are excited to launch a further 2 Virtual Loading Bays in the London Borough of Richmond as part of our Defra-funded Kerbside Management Trial. The London Borough of Richmond join the City of London and London Borough of Lambeth in testing Grid Smarter Cities innovative kerbside solution to understand the potential freight management and air quality benefits.”

July marks the end of Q5 of CRP’s Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) Programme and we’ll soon be reporting all the progress that has been made so far to Defra. This has included:

Finalising contracts for the Waterloo Freight Hub
The identification of a suitable site for the Islington Micro Logistics Hub
Data analysis for the City Soil Lab circular food waste scheme
The soft launch of several Our Bike schemes
Continued noise, air quality and traffic count monitoring at several partner locations
The launch of additional Virtual Loading Bay locations

However, a big part of our quarterly reporting requires input from SGL Partners on their match funding activities. Therefore, this is also a little reminder for any SGL Partners to please complete and return your match funding templates by COP Friday 19th July.

For any queries or support completing your match funding template, please contact Fiona Coull, CRP Senior Programme Manager fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org.

Cycling in London is becoming safer, thanks to the continuous efforts of Transport for London (TfL). The city is witnessing a transformation, with cycling gradually becoming more accessible and easier for everyone.

Last month, TfL added 35 km of Cycleways across Greater London, including Stratford, New Cross, Barnet, Walthamstow, and Ealing. The new routes, designed to cater to cyclists of all backgrounds and abilities, mean that 390 km of Cycleways across London currently support a diverse range of cyclists, encouraging greater inclusivity in cycling. 

Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “Expanding London’s cycleway network is key to enabling more Londoners to choose cycling as their mode of transport for shorter trips.”

To encourage more cycling, TfL has also produced a new user-friendly map that shows where the routes are. Additionally, Cycle Sundays offers a range of easy-to-follow leisure cycle routes and maps across London to explore the capital on Sundays.

Helen Cansick, TfL’s Head of Healthy Streets Investment, said, “We look forward to connecting even more Londoners to our cycle network and making cycling more accessible to all.” 

TfL is making significant progress in transforming outer London for people walking and cycling. Further Cycleways are planned this year across outer London, including two of the longest Cycleways in Brentford and Hackney later this year.

Archives: News Articles

Cargo Bike Cruise 2024

Have your say on the London Growth Plan

European Mobility Week 2024

Healthy Streets Scorecard results launched for 2024

CRP 30 Years – Programmes Delivered

August SGL Update – Focus on Cargo Bikes!

Virtual Loading Bays for Efficient and Sustainable Deliveries

2 Virtual Loading Bays Launch In London Borough Of Richmond

Smarter Greener Logistics Update and Match Funding Reminder

TfL Launches 10 New Cycleways