The Croydon Advisory Forum on Active, Sustainable and Accessible Transport met to discuss town centre regeneration, electric vehicle strategy and the nationalisation of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). The forum also discussed the implementation of the Local Implementation Plan (LIP), improvements to West Croydon station, and speed limits in the borough. The forum agreed to discuss pavement parking and accessible bus stops at the next meeting.

Zipcar Withdrawal

Fred, an officer of Croydon Council, raised concerns about Zipcar withdrawing from the UK market, noting that the council depends on them to encourage a move away from car ownership. He said that Zipcar accounts for 55% of the market share, and that their withdrawal would be a big blow for London. He added that the council needs to audit how many Zipcars there are in the borough, and what the implications are for the council's finances and development management. He also said that the council may need to engage with Enterprise, who account for 25% of the market share, to see if they have any plans for expansion.

Actions From Previous Meeting

The forum discussed actions from the previous meeting, including:

• 20 mph speed limits: Councillor Scott Roche, Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment and Chair of the Forum, said that attempts to contact the Metropolitan Police Service (Met Police) via Councillor Ola Kaleide to support the Neighbourhoods team in enforcing 20 mph speed limits had been unsuccessful. Councillor Scott Roche said that he would add this to the Mayor's agenda for the Borough Commander.
• Ultra-rapid charging point strategy: A meeting was held with Transport for London (TfL) on 30 October, and TfL are preparing a pre-application.
• 166 bus route: A meeting was arranged with TfL and the East Surrey Transport Committee on 27 October to discuss the 166 bus route diversion and other bus network-related issues. Junction modifications would require feasibility work, and funding is being sought for this in the 2026-2027 financial year. Councillor Scott Roche said that the NHS have transferred a lot of outpatients to Pearly Hospital, and a new diagnostic centre has been created there, so even more people go to Pearly Hospital than there were six years ago.
• Cycle routes: Initial site visits are waiting for the release of section 106 funding¹ at the start of the next financial year.

Town Centre Regeneration

Mark Bajan, Interim Director for Planning and Sustainable Regeneration, provided an update on town centre regeneration projects:

• The Wellesley Road crossing is now open, with some finishing work still needed.
• George Street works are underway, with a new railing being installed and repairs to the pavements.
• Work is about to start at Dingwall Road, with some objections having been received.
• Consultations have been held for College Green and Minster Green, with the subway under the road at Minster Green already closed.
• A project manager has been appointed for work on North End, with activation work continuing into next year.
• Designs for Surrey Street and the wayfinding and heritage trail are progressing well.
• Legal discussions are ongoing between Network Rail, the council, and the developer responsible for the join of the East Croydon station link bridge to the development on the other side. Works will begin in the new year.

Charles King, Chair of Croydon Transport, asked if an agreement had been reached between the council, Network Rail, and GTR about where a gated barrier and entrance comes to the other side of the bridge so that people can get onto the station. Mark Bajan said that this was an ongoing point of discussion, and that it was not something that they expected to agree on before the works take place. He said that the works to the bridge are being funded by the council, and that the council does not have the funding to pay for the entrance.

LIP Implementation Plan Update

Tom Sweeney from the Strategic Transport Team at Croydon Council, gave an update on the Local Implementation Plan (LIP). He said that a funding bid of £3.5 million has been made to TfL, with around 50% of the funding requested for safer corridors and neighbourhoods. The focus will continue to be in the wards of Addiscombe East and Addiscombe West in the shorter term, but the funding is starting to switch towards other wards.

The funding will also be used for:

• School streets
• The Portland Road scheme
• Cycle projects
• Bus priority projects, including the 166 bus route and proposals on Kent Gateway and Davidson Road
• Micro-mobility, including cycle hire and potentially scooter hire in Croydon
• Cycle parking
• On-street cycle hangers
• Cycle training, particularly focused around schools

Fred, an officer of Croydon Council, said that the council is having conversations with TfL about micro-mobility, and that TfL has put forward a proposal looking at potentially doing a phased approach and looking at Crystal Palace as a trial area. He said that the council has also engaged with Lime, and that Lime has aligned with the geographic scope of the trial and also the phasing that TfL has put forward.

Tom Sweeney also said that there was a separate report on section 106 funding, with just over £2 million available. He said that the majority of these contributions will be used to mitigate the impacts of the developments themselves, but that they are also aligned with the TfL projects so that the council can maximise the use of funding. There are also a number of contributions to improve the accessibility and capacity of railway stations, primarily around East Croydon and West Croydon, and also some money for Regan station.

West Croydon Station Improvements

Tom Sweeney said that the council is looking to make short term improvements to West Croydon station in advance of longer term proposals. He said that the council is looking at lifts, particularly down to the overground platforms on that side. He added that the council needs to do a little bit of work to make sure that those lifts are cited in the right places so that as and when the station expands, the council does not then have to remove what it has already implemented.

Yusuf Osman, representing Resident Voice and Blind and Visually Impaired Residents in Croydon, asked that the council be imaginative about solving the accessibility issues at West Croydon railway station, and that they try to get lifts to all of the platforms.

Charles King said that if you want step free access to London platforms, you have to walk round and through the car park and press the buzzer, and that if you want it to Sutton direction, you can use the entrance that's by the tram stop, but the signage is not clear. He added that in 2019, London Overground agreed to add trains to London and trains to Sutton, but that this has still not been done.

GTR Nationalisation

Martin Darby, public affairs manager at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), said that GTR will enter public ownership on 31 May next year. He said that all employees would get transferred over to a new company structure, but that existing services, ticketing arrangements, and employee practices would all get kept as is. He added that there are some timetable changes in December, with a couple of extra services for Norwood Junction and some extra off-peak services for Sanderstead and Riddlesdown.

Fred, an officer of Croydon Council, asked if there was any interest from TfL to take on any part of the role as part of their metroisation ambition. Martin Darby said that they have expressed interest in the Great Northern metro service, and that there is a business case at the moment sat within the Department for Transport where TfL want to take a very devolved control of that.

Yusuf Osman asked if GTR's current work with its access advisory panel and try train schemes is going to carry on after it's brought back into national ownership. Martin Darby said that he would be reasonably confident saying yes.

Speed Limits in the Borough

Tom Sweeney said that he was awaiting a response on the speed limit enforcement.

Charles King asked about bus shelters, and whether there was an opportunity to put back more, in particular one outstanding on the 404 that was due in 2019 but stopped by Covid. Fred, an officer of Croydon Council, said that TfL has had no clarity in where they're going to find the funding to pay for this, and that they may be looking at third party funding. Charles King said that the 106 money should have come from the Brick by Brick development on the estate where they built 96 additional properties.

Charles King also said that if TfL comes to the conclusion that they want to remove the two stops from the close on Davidson Road and run directly along Davidson Road, they will need four bus stops to replace those two. He asked that if they do agree to do it, that they put bus build outs in Davidson Road rather than go for bus cages.

Yusuf Osman said that he would like to have a discussion around pavement parking, and to try and get an idea as to whether it's just him that seems to find every single car in Croydon part on the pavement, or whether other people have the same problem.

Yusuf Osman also said that TfL often state that something silly like 98% of our bus stops are fully accessible, but that if you're blind, 0% of TfL's bus stops are accessible because none of them give you countdown information in a verbal format. He suggested having a discussion around accessible bus stops in terms of talking bus stops, similar to what they have in Brighton and in some other places.

Focus of the Next Meeting

The forum agreed to discuss pavement parking and accessible bus stops at the next meeting.

Any Other Business

Charles King raised the problem of car meets that happened in Oswald the Crescent on Saturday evening, which blocked in an ambulance station, Waitrose 24-hour delivery people, and caused problems for the night bus. He said that this has happened previously, but that measures were taken to stop it there, so then they moved to Imperial Way, then that was done to stop there, then they moved to Tesco's car park in Pearly, and Tesco's put humps everywhere to stop it.