Westminster Council is seeking the views of residents on its plans to shape good quality and sustainable transport options across the city, in a new public consultation which opened this month.
In response to changing travel patterns across Westminster, the council intends to simultaneously enable more environmentally-friendly transport, as well as ensure that businesses and people who continue to need motor transport can carry out their journeys in less congested spaces and in a more efficient manner.
The draft Sustainable Transport Strategy (STS) has been led by the cabinet member for streets, Councillor Max Sullivan, and was reviewed by members of the council’s Climate Action, Environment and Highways Policy and Scrutiny Committee in July this year before being prepared for public consultation.
Working alongside the city’s neighbours and Transport for London, the ten-year plan is organised around six priorities.
Road danger reduction
In 2023, there were 1,374 casualties on Westminster’s streets — the most of any London borough. In areas of high pedestrian footfall and “conflict between motor vehicles and cyclists”, the council recognises the importance of reducing road danger.
The council is committed to a 70 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on Westminster’s roads by 2030. It also supports the Mayor of London’s Vision Zero plan, which will aim to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s streets, by 2041.
Access and inclusion
The STS is committed to providing everyone in Westminster with safe, fair, and easily accessed sustainable transport that meets their needs. Whilst walking is the largest primary mode of travel for residents, the STS recognises that the pedestrian environment does not cater to the needs of all in Westminster. With more jobs and visitors in Westminster than any other borough, it is imperative that the council is committed to ensuring a wide variety of sustainable transport options are available to everyone.
By 2034, Westminster Council will ensure that 100 per cent of residential properties are within 400m of a cycle lane, as well as ensuring that all walking infrastructure meets the highest standards of safety and accessibility.
Health and physical activity
Recognising that “the number of Westminster residents achieving at least two periods of 10-minutes active travel over day was below 40 per cent in 2024”, the STS aims to eliminate inequalities to sustainable transport and health facilities in the borough.
Whilst the number of people cycling (as one example of active travel) has increased, barriers to uptake still exists. The STS argues that “for instance, while there are now 250 secure cycle hanger with 1,500 spaces for residents, there are still over 2,000 people waiting for access”.
The aim by 2041 is to ensure that at least 70 per cent of Westminster residents are getting 20 minutes of exercise a day through active travel.
Air quality
In 2023, London’s roads were ranked the most congested in Europe, with the STS noting how “drivers in the capital spend an average of 99 hours sitting in traffic, contributing to harmful emissions”.
The fourth strategic priority aims to eliminate NOx and PM2.5 engine emissions from council owned/leased fleets and machinery by 2030, and contracted fleets by 2040.
Climate change
Pledging to use council records alongside street and parking surveys to measure emissions in Westminster, the STS aims to ensure that 98 per cent of all powered vehicles on Westminster’s roads are zero emission by 2040.
Sustainable economy
The sixth and final priority of the STS aims to see a 70 per cent reduction in the “observed number of diesel — or petrol-powered freight vehicles in the congestion charge zone”.
In addition to this, the STS wants to see an ongoing enhancement of sustainable transport links between areas of higher deprivation and key destinations for employment, education, and training.
Public consultation: Westminster Council Sustainable Transport Strategy. The deadline to respond is 8 December 2025.
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