Low-traffic neighbourhoods significantly reduce the amount of motor vehicles within their boundaries without appearing to push traffic on to roads around their edges, the most comprehensive study yet of such schemes in the UK has concluded.
The research, which was based on traffic count data before and after the installation of 46 so-called LTNs in London, found a reduction in motor traffic within the zones of 32.7% when measured as the median, and a 46.9% drop when calculated as the mean.
Of the 413 roads inside the LTNs with before-and-after traffic counts, the percentage experiencing an average of fewer than 1,000 motor vehicles a day, seen as a good shorthand for a street receptive to more cycling and walking, rose from 41% to 66%.
This could mean “a qualitative change in the local environment” on at least some streets because of the LTNs, the researchers said.