London congestion: TfL unveils five-year plan to keep the capital moving

Lane-rental expansion and AI traffic systems form the backbone of a new city-wide approach

A week after London was again labelled the slowest-moving capital city in the world, Transport for London has set out a new five-year plan aimed squarely at congestion.

The strategy, branded ‘London on the move’, is being positioned as the first attempt to manage roadworks and traffic flow across the whole capital rather than in disconnected borough silos. TfL says the focus is on technology, coordination and fewer avoidable disruptions on the busiest parts of the network.

The first changes will arrive this year through an expansion of TfL’s lane-rental scheme. The system charges utility companies and contractors for digging up busy roads at busy times, with the aim of encouraging faster work or quieter periods. TfL says the approach has already reduced congestion and improved air quality on roads it manages.

Until now, that has largely meant red routes, which make up around five per cent of London’s roads. That is set to change. Camden, Enfield, Lambeth and Merton have been approved by the Department for Transport to introduce their own schemes, with a further 22 boroughs working on applications.

TfL says the Government is also in the process of devolving approval powers to the Mayor of London. The aim is to speed up decision-making and bring more consistency to how lane-rental schemes are rolled out across the city.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan on congestion

‘Congestion is annoying for everyone, and it costs our economy millions of pounds a year. This innovative new strategy will tackle the causes of congestion head on. ‘This bold new approach to managing the capital’s streets will ensure they work for everyone: harnessing cutting-edge technology and infrastructure to reduce congestion, keep Londoners safe, and speed up journey times on London’s bus network.’

Behind the scenes, TfL is leaning harder on data. Its AI-powered traffic signal system, known as FUSION, will be given access to more information and greater computing capacity so signals can react more quickly to real-world conditions rather than fixed schedules.

The authority is also expanding the use of ‘Vivacity’ cameras, which use AI to identify how people and vehicles move through the city. TfL says this will help build a clearer picture of demand on different roads and feed into other traffic management tools.

A proposed data-sharing agreement with London’s 32 boroughs would allow insights from more than 1,000 cameras to be shared, supporting both congestion management and safety initiatives. Among those is the rollout of ‘near-miss detection’ cameras, designed to identify risky behaviour before collisions happen.

TfL is keen to link the congestion plan to road safety. It says the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads is now at its lowest level outside the pandemic years. A new ‘Vision Zero Action Plan 2’ is due to be published later this year, promising tougher city-wide measures to cut deaths and serious injuries further.