Westminster
Home > Results > Your borough > Westminster
2022 Healthy Streets Scorecard results
A highlight this year was the pedestrianisation of part of the Aldwych but overall Westminster’s scores are disappointing. Although the vast majority of trips are made by walking, cycling and public transport (72% of households don’t have access to a car), it has one of the lowest scores for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in the whole of London and it still has the dirtiest air of any UK borough.
Points for Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) and 20mph speed limits have buoyed its score so Westminster comes 5th place overall – but the City, Islington, Hackney and Camden are still ahead. There is a gaping difference on LTNs and cycling infrastructure: just 7% of Westminster streets are in an LTN compared to top borough Hackney at 70% and less than 8% of its roads have protected cycle track, despite a recent consultation demonstrating overwhelming support for them. Only 15% of its schools have a School Street compared to 49% in Islington. Its CPZs are big enough to drive around, and therefore encourage car use. There are years-long waiting lists for secure on street bike parking and parking for EVs is cheaper than for bikes.
Despite being the largest parking provider in Europe, with parking spaces taking up 54 hectares of space, the council – to our knowledge – has no formal parking policy and there are no published plans for reducing supply of parking (through gradual reduction of spaces and permits) or demand (through incremental price increases).
Looking at new data published this year to reflect population density, Westminster scores lower than it should, when taking account its residential density. When we account for housing density it would currently expect to achieve an overall score of 7.7, more than its overall score of 6.5.
Westminster could, and should, be a showcase for sustainable travel, not just for London but for the whole country. Neighbouring boroughs have shown that bold decisions are not only possible but ultimately also popular. If it is serious about acting on climate change, air pollution and the health and safety of its residents, then the new administration urgently needs to introduce transformative schemes such as LTNs, School Streets and protected bike lanes.
"Whilst Westminster scores at the upper end of the 2022 Scorecard, largely due to CPZ and 20mph scores, we are disappointed that it continues to lag behind other boroughs in key measures to promote safe active travel despite strong public support to do so. We are eager to support the new council administration under Adam Hug's leadership to make Westminster's streets healthier. We would like to see robust consultation and hope to see the implementation of LTNs, School Streets, protected bike lanes, converting to small-area CPZs and a formal parking plan."
The Healthy Streets Scorecard combine scores for nine indicators to create an overall Healthy Streets score for each borough. See the graph below for 2022 results (includes 2019 – 2021 results for comparison). For more detail visit the London-wide overview of the 2022 results. You can also:
- View summary 2022 results for the nine indicators.
- Review more detailed results for outcome indicators and input indicators; and read our explainer about why we have chosen these nine indicators.
- View results for other boroughs.
Scorecard (factored score) chart explained
In the chart above, each borough has been given a factored score. Factor scores are composite variables which provide information about a borough’s placement on a scale. Factor scores are given by F=XB, where X is the indicator normalised score for a borough and B is the factor score coefficient (or weight). Each indicator is weighted as 1, or 0.5 if there are two parts to one indicator, for example Modeshare has a weighting of 1, Active travel – walking has a weighting of 0.5 and Active travel – cycling has a weighting of 0.5. The borough’s total factored score is the sum of all indicator factored scores which is then factored to 10 (multiplied by the number of indicators/10) to give a value on the scale between zero and 10. We can then compare boroughs against each other on the scale.
London Low Traffic Neighbourhoods map
See your borough’s LTNs – and all LTNs in London in the London LTN map
For results analysis visit Low Traffic Neighbourhoods indicator results
Instructions for map (below)
To navigate the key, click the top left hand corner.
To open in a new window, click the top right hand corner.
Zoom in and out using the + and – buttons.