Cycling and other forms of active travel have significant benefits for wellbeing, local economies, air pollution and the environment. Indeed, a substantial increase in active travel is needed to achieve London’s 2030 target for net zero carbon emissions.

Yet, while London’s roads are increasingly popular and safe, more must be done to make them safer. London universities have repeatedly experienced the human cost of unsafe streets, with LSE losing three members of its community in less than a year. In response, staff and students initiated a cross-university letter to the London Mayoral candidates. The letter asked candidates to commit to putting a stop to cyclist and pedestrian deaths caused by motor vehicles in London by 2028, and to bring forward the deadline for London’s ‘Vision Zero’, its strategy to eradicate deaths from London’s roads, from 2041 to 2032.

Building on the letter’s demands, this event will focus on how these goals can be achieved. Speakers from academia, policymaking and urban planning will discuss what can be done to make cycling safer and more inclusive, how barriers to implementation can be overcome, and what we can learn from other cities around the world.

Meet our speakers and chair

Rachel Aldred (@RachelAldred) is Professor in Transport at the University of Westminster and Director of the Active Travel Academy. She has published over fifty peer-reviewed articles. Rachel teaches on Westminster’s MSc Transport Planning and Management and supervises six PhD students. She is a founding editor of open access journal Active Travel Studies. In 2016 Rachel was awarded the ESRC Outstanding Impact in Public Policy Prize and the first annual Westminster University Prize for Research Excellence.

Marco te Brömmelstroet (@fietsprofessor) is Professor of Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam and Academic Director of the Lab of Thought. Marco studies how mainstream narratives influence our mobility system and explores how alternative narratives can expand our understanding of problems and solutions. He is the co-author of Movement: How to Take Back the Streets and Transform Our Lives and wrote ‘Increase road safety or reduce road danger: challenging the mainstream road safety discourse’.

Will Norman (@willnorman) became London's first Walking and Cycling Commissioner in 2016. He leads efforts to make streets safer for walking and cycling, promoting greener and healthier travel. Previously, he was Director of Global Partnerships at Nike, collaborating with not-for-profits, governments, UN agencies, and European Institutions to address global inactivity. His work focuses on integrating physical activity into daily life.

Julie Plichon (@JuliePlichon) is Head of Design and Engineering at Sustrans London. Her work focuses on the delivery of people-centred spaces, repurposing road space through the implementation of School Streets, Low Traffic and Liveable Neighbourhoods. An urban design and inclusive design practitioner, she has previously worked for the Islington Council. Julie is also a steering committee member of the Young Urbanist Network at the Academy of Urbanism and she teaches at the Bartlett School of Planning.

Ben Rogers (@ben_rog) is the Bloomberg Distinguished Fellow in Government Innovation and Director of the European Cities Programme at LSE Cities. He is also Professor of Practice at the University of London and former Director and founder of Centre for London, an influential think tank on London policy, with an international following. He writes on cities, citizenship, public service reform and the built environment.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading multidisciplinary centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise from across LSE and beyond, including on economics, finance, geography, the environment, science, law, international relations, development and political science.

This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024, taking place from 19 October to 9 November with events across the UK.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

Podcast & video 

A podcast of this event is available to download from A safer future for cycling in London. 

A video of this event is available to watch at A safer future for cycling in London. 

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Riccardo Parretti via Pexels