Active Travel Zone assessments.

The assessment starts by mapping the key places people will travel to from the site: stations and bus stops, the strategic cycle network, town centres, parks, schools and colleges, healthcare and places of worship. Less relevant destinations can be set aside with a reason, but the nearest bus stop, station, cycle route and town centre always stay in.

The key routes are mapped at neighbourhood scale with recorded collisions. Where a route has a cluster of serious collisions, the assessment suggests changes based on the Healthy Streets Approach. It also describes the neighbourhood: street pattern, public transport, green space and other development, and anything that cuts people off or makes a car-free lifestyle harder.

We walk each key route, photograph it at regular intervals with the focus on its weakest points, and assess it against the Healthy Streets indicators. TfL’s instructions describe an output of roughly 25 to 50 photos and a set of statements for each route, each saying which indicator is not met, why, and how it could be improved.

• Map of the ATZ and key destinations.
• Map of neighbourhood safety and the most important journeys.
• Neighbourhood characteristics, severance and deficiencies.
• Photo survey and Healthy Streets statements for each key route.

TfL recommends that the assessment also considers the routes at night, looking at whether people would feel safe and choose to walk, cycle or use public transport. We agree the scope of any night-time review with the borough and TfL at the start.

The useful outcome is a short list of practical improvements that relate to the development and can be delivered: a crossing, footway widening, lighting, wayfinding or a cycle link. We set out which can be delivered on site, which need a highway agreement and which are best secured as a contribution, so the planning obligations follow from the evidence.