London’s most important main roads are managed by TfL (Transport for London) – these are know collectively as the TfL Road Network (TLRN), or ‘red routes’. This network represents around 5% of London’s roads by length but carries around 30% of the capital’s traffic. A 2021 report on the TLRN warned that London was ‘at risk of being left behind in a global movement to transform polluted arterial roads in cities’.
Since 2019 The Healthy Streets Scorecard has published data on borough-managed roads; in 2026, for the first time, we are publishing data on the TLRN, with a comparison to the previous year where available. Four indicators for the TLRN are also found in the borough monitoring: 20mph speed limits, protected cycle track, bus priority, and casualty rates. We also examine two measures specific to the main road network: traffic volumes, and junctions with missing pedestrian phases.
What we want
- A 20mph speed limit on TfL-controlled roads where people and vehicles mix
- 24/7 bus priority on strategic bus corridors on the TLRN
- Protected cycle tracks on the TLRN aligned with the Strategic Cycling Analysis
- Zero serious and fatal casualties on the TLRN by 2041
- 27% decline in car kilometres driven by 2030 from 2018 base (Net Zero Pathway)
- No missing pedestrian phases on junctions with traffic lights
Summary of results
20mph speed limits
The current Mayor of London has worked exceptionally hard to introduce 20mph speed limits across London including on the TLRN. When the Mayor took over in 2016, just 35kms of the TLRN had 20mph speed limits. The Lowering Speed Limits programme that he introduced has increased that figure to the 2025 figure of 267 kms. The first two phases of the programme have seen almost all of the TLRN in Inner London now covered by lower speed limits. Phase 3 is being delivered in 2026 and will see more TLRN roads in Outer London where people and vehicles mix covered by 20mph speed limits. TfL have undertaken significant amounts of research into lower speed limits which confirm the impact that they have on reducing road casualties.
| HSS 2025 | HSS 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total roads on TLRN roads (km)* | 590 | 590 |
| 20mph roads on TLRN (km) | 248 | 267 |
| Proportion (%) | 42.0% | 45.3% |
| Change (% pts) | +3.2% |
* This figure is subject to confirmation
% of TLRN length with 20mph speed limit (counted uni-directionally). Data source: TFL
Bus priority
- Just over 10km of this is down to the installation of a dedicated new bus lane on Bromley Road in Lewisham
- Westminster (~4km) including Vauxhall Bridge Road (and data adjustments for multiple historic projects)
- Merton (~3km) prioritised through the St. Helier Avenue scheme
- Greenwich (~1km historic) and
- Camden (~0.5km) on Camden Street
| HSS 2025 | HSS 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Bus routes on TLRN (km) | 2,796.9 | 2,796.9 |
| Prioritised bus lanes on TLRN (km) | 871.3 | 890.2 |
| Proportion (%) | 31.2% | 31.8% |
| Change (% pts) | +0.7% |
% of bus route on the TLRN which has bus priority. The number of routes on a road is accounted for. Data source: Walk Wheel Cycle Trust
Cycle tracks
| HSS 2025 | HSS 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total roads on TLRN roads (km) | 1009 | 1009 |
| Cycle track on TLRN (km) | 137.3 | 137.3 |
| Proportion (%) | 13.6% | 13.6% |
| Change (% pts) | - |
% of TLRN with protected cycle track (counted bi-directionally) which meets HSS criteria. Data to 31 March 2025. Data source: London Cycling Campaign
Road casualties
The rule of thumb is that the TLRN represents 5% of roads in London by length and carries 30% of the capital’s traffic. However, the fact that TfL oversees the management of these roads does not help to make them safer as 28% of London’s serious and fatal road casualties (KSIs) occur on the TLRN. There are other indicators of the dangers that TLRN roads pose:
- Since 2017 (when the way serious casualties are assessed was adjusted), the number of KSIs on the TLRN has barely changed (1,110 in 2017; 1,066 in 2024)
- People walking and cycling are particularly vulnerable; over the past 5 years (2021-2025), 53% of all KSIs on the TLRN have involved people walking and cycling
- TLRN locations that are also high streets and town centres are particularly problematic with very high numbers of casualties for example in places such as Brixton town centre, Clapham High Street and Whitechapel Road.
| HSS 2024 | HSS 2025 | HSS 2026* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total serious and fatal casualties | 998 | 1,041 | 1,066 |
| Change (% pts) | +4.3% | +2.4% |
Numbers of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in road collisions on the TLRN for all modes of travel. Data source: TFL Road safety data
Traffic
Amongst the TfL measures of traffic volumes is an index (which is set to
100 in the last period of the 2016/17 financial year) which tracks traffic on
the TLRN. With the exception of the pandemic (when the index fell to a
low of 51 in March 2020), the index has seen a steady downward trajectory
up to 2024/25. The index has settled at 88.1 for the past two years. The
target of 27% decline in car kilometres driven by 2030 from the 2018 base
means that a figure of 72.4 needs to be achieved in the next four years. The
base figure of 99.4 is the average of the financial year 2017-18.
| HSS 2025 | HSS 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average of 13 periods (indexed to 2017 = 100) | 88.1 | 88.1 |
| Change (% pts) | - |
Missing pedestrian phases
| HSS 2025 | HSS 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Signalised junctions on TLRN | - | 939 |
| Junctions with no/partial pedestrian phases | - | 537 |
| Proportion (%) | - | 57.2% |
| Change (% pts) |
% of junctions with pedestrian phases missing on some or all arms of junction. Pedestrian phase information is from a 2025 dataset and TLRN junction identification is from a 2023 dataset. The score is calculated using junctions that are in both datasets, excluding those that are “out of service”. Data source: TFL