The claim "LTNs reduce car use" was used by councils to justify concentrating traffic on community roads, generating hundreds of £millions in fines and increasing property prices on affluent high car ownership roads. TfL buried the study that showed this claim to be false. For those suffering increased air pollution exposure from traffic congestion due to LTNs, this research suppression reveals the institutional mindset that prioritises ideology over evidence – with devastating consequences for all who live, travel work, learn or play near LTN sacrificial roads. The £82,095 university study surveyed more than 4,500 residents and found that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods do not reduce car use. When the research proved Mayor Sadiq Khan’s claims about LTNs wrong, TfL officials worried about publication and eventually withdrew funding, burying it. The research suppression is part of broader data manipulation. Councils have for years failed to report cars travelling at less that 10kmph on LTN boundary roads, so increased traffic & congestion caused by LTNs appears as 'traffic evaporation' where cars have simply disappeared. The human cost extends far beyond traffic delays. Residents report missing hospital appointments and children late for school because buses can’t get through gridlock, elderly people feel unsafe when services terminate early, and businesses report customer numbers falling because “it’s too difficult” to reach them. Traffic pollution has significant and wide-ranging adverse effects on public health, causing respiratory illnesses like asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and even premature death, with a high risk for children, the elderly, and people living near traffic congested roads. Key pollutants include particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides, which can damage DNA and lead to chronic conditions and cancer. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution can also impair lung development in children, reduce cognitive function, and negatively affect pregnancy outcomes. Professor Rachel Aldred, the London Cycling Campaign Trustee who led the suppressed LTN study, has previously published seven pro-LTN papers funded by TfL, all positive about the schemes. Only when research showed LTNs failing to reduce car use did TfL withdraw support. The greater damage is to public trust in institutions that prioritise ideology over evidence, revenue above public health. Activists have justified the social & environmental injustices of LTNs by claiming to be evidence led. We now have proof that they control what is shared & publicised and what evidence is buried & suppressed. LTNs have failed to deliver the promised reduction in car ownership & use but continue to increase vehicle miles driven and traffic congestion on community roads, thus significantly increasing fuel burnt, toxic vehicle emissions and public air pollution exposure. The exact opposite of a 'green' scheme.

A council claiming LTNs reduce car use, knowingly increased traffic congestion, vehicle miles & toxic emissions on the road where a child died due to air pollution exposure. Research showing their claim to be false, was then defunded & buried by TfL. lbc.co.uk/article/transport-…

Sadiq Khan’s officials suppressed taxpayer-funded research that showed LTNs do not reduce car use TfL chose not to publish the study after it found the traffic relocation schemes helped increase cycling but failed to encourage people to use their cars less or walk more 🧵

As if the chaos in national politics wasn't enough - Southwark Labour are showing their true colours as unserious student union politicians. It's no wonder the council is run so poorly when this is how they run leadership elections!

How do you explain average bus speeds slowing since 2019, whilst traffic counts are actually down? The explanation is a new factor promoting congestion of public transport routes by private cars. LTN advocates should sell their cars and bang the drum for others to do the same.

Boundary rd homes suffer increased congestion, pollution & noise - classic negative externalities. They erode quality of life. Lack of a price drop doesn’t mean harm isn’t occurring. Housing markets are imperfect & sticky, esp in Ldn where supply is constrained. @AirCroxted

If main rd house prices don’t fall, it's likely due to macro forces (e.g. Ldn's housing shortage) masking localised detriments. The fact that boundary homes might hold value while absorbing disproportionate harms is an argument for unfairness, not against it. @AirCroxted

Over 80% car ownership in your "low traffic neighbourhood". Seems like your air isn't so clean after all... x.com/LittleNinjaUK/status/1…

Please include Croxted residents in discussions 🙏. We’ve reached out many times -have experience as well as the most up to date data to respond intelligently to Croxted. How can plans be made without residents involved? Trust at all time low 🙁 @RezinaChowdhury @LambethLabour

I walk this way every day to school. As said before, I turn myself into a lollipop person to help the 100s of school kids navigate this junction. Lights and phasings are tricky for pedestrians. An *actual* lollipop lady would be a start! 🙏🙏🙏🙏 Then speed cams Then redesign.

LTN councils and MPs want to be judged by their so-called intentions and not their home addresses or results. The hypocrisy is breathtaking and so are the excess fumes they have been creating, all along the South circular. What do they care? If it doesn't help them, nothing.

I do wonder what this has done for community cohesion. Even after 5 years of congestion -I’m proud that Croxted RA would NOT agree to a plan that makes life worse for Norwood Road neighbours. We are West Dulwich families too. #Mainroadfamilies. @AirCroxted

Anna Goodman's husband, running the pro-LTN group in West Dulwich said "it's much easier to talk to your neighbours when there aren't 200 cars an hour going past your front door." No thought given to the those on the now much busier roads. 🤡 bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ge…

17/06/25: 08.21am Croxted Road SE21 Come rain or shine New normal for Croxted families who walk scoot or cycle to school. Congestion. Noise. Horrible. Measures for main roads? (After 5 years, none!) ⁦@helenhayes_⁩ ⁦@RezinaChowdhury⁩ ⁦⁦@AirCroxted⁩

In the pro LTN world it isn’t cars that are the problem, it’s other people’s cars going down your road. It’s a cult for people who have no care for the environment, they care for their property price and quiet road.

Remember @southwarklabour 2022 manifesto commitment #36? "We will work with TfL to reduce traffic on main roads & make bus journeys quicker & more reliable, exploring the potential for rapid bus transit." None of that happened. @visitcamberwell @AirCroxted @DulwichCleanAir

They waited 5 years before admitting their LTNs increase traffic, pollution and congestion on our community roads. Five years of breathing toxic air for thousands of children who live, travel, learn & play on LTN sacrificial roads = stunted lung growth = irreparable lung damage.

No let up here either despite promises of evaporation and it takes time…. & a Cllr swearing on their mother’s life that the timed restrictions didn’t make the congestion worse here (and Tfl concluding the opposite, that bus delays were a result of the restrictions)@ChitchClaire

Not sure much ‘afflunece’ research needed for Dulwich Village LTN. In an area where private schools commute in 9000 students daily - main roads where state school students live, walk cycle, use bus, now have those 4x4s stuck in congestion. Hellish for least culpable. @AirCroxted

List of London LTN's, as well as average house prices in those areas compared to house prices within LTN. Show's they are primarily implemented in wealthier & less densely populated neighbourhoods than poorer/over crowded ones. x.com/i/grok/share/1Sh3iudVG…