Hundreds of young people come together to discuss how to make London’s transport network more equitable, inclusive and sustainable

Transport for London (TfL) brought together young people from across the capital to discuss a new independent report by TfL’s Youth Panel, which focuses on making London’s transport network more equitable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

More than a third of the capital's population is under 25, which is why TfL set up an independent Youth Panel in 2009 to advise on how to improve London’s transport network for young people. TfL challenged the Youth Panel in 2022 to specifically look at how TfL can make London’s transport network more equitable, inclusive and sustainable. For the last 12 months, TfL’s Youth Panel has taken an in-depth look at these topics and has engaged with experts and thought leaders to produce a new report, Tomorrow’s TfL: The Youth Panel’s vision for the future. 

The report sets out nine policy recommendations that the Youth Panel has devised on how TfL and the Mayor of London can make transport in London more sustainable and inclusive. 

The recommendations are as follows:

1 – Approach to community engagement: TfL should strengthen its early and ongoing community consultation and engagement

2 – Young Travel Ambassadors: TfL should establish and manage area-based Youth Travel Ambassadors across London, who will share new transport initiatives with young people and will support campaigns to encourage behaviour change, such as encouraging more young people to walk and cycle more

3 – Citizens’ Assembly: TfL should create a standing Citizens’ Assembly to improve its approach to proposals for sustainability issues that can be addressed by or are impacting TfL

4 – Representation on TfL Board meetings: There should be TfL Youth Panel representation at TfL Board meetings, committees and panels

5 – Diversity of delivery: TfL should ensure and show that all investment decisions consider equity, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability

6 – Opening land and buildings to communities: TfL should support communities to make more use of its underutilised land and buildings

7 – Communications: TfL should enhance and diversify its approach to communications to wider audiences and include sustainability issues

8 – Barriers to inclusive sustainable travel: TfL should publish its plans on how it will do more to reduce the barriers to sustainable travel, with a focus on ethnic minority groups, people with physical and mental health conditions, and those from deprived backgrounds

9 – Climate change impacts: TfL should identify and target ways to reduce inequalities between different communities in relation to impacts of flooding and extreme heat risk across London’s transport network and the TfL estate

Hundreds of young people gathered at the London Transport Museum to discuss the ‘Tomorrows TfL’ report. Following an opening speech from Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, the Youth Panel provided an overview of their recommendations. This was followed by a speech from Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, before opening up discussions on how TfL could take forward their recommendations. The panel discussion centred around four key areas including: community outreach, inclusive decision making, embracing opportunity and equitable futures.

Welcoming the report, Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “For the economy and society of London and the UK to thrive, we need a transport network that is safe, green, connected, affordable and accessible to all. Engaging and listening to the voice of young Londoners is key to achieving this and this is why the work of TfL’s independent Youth Panel is so important. 

“I’m very grateful to the Youth Panel for their extensive work to produce this in-depth report and for helping to bring so many young people together to discuss these important issues. We are excited by their forward-thinking, bold recommendations and look forward to working with the Youth Panel on how we might progress them, building on our existing efforts and progress to date.”

Seb Dance, London's Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “I am delighted to see so many bright young people coming together to discuss these important issues for transport in London. Thank you to the TfL Youth Panel for their excellent report and their thoughtful and insightful recommendations. The Mayor and I will continue working with young people to ensure our transport network is more equitable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable as we build a fairer, greener and better London for everyone.”

TfL Youth Panel member, Ho-Kit Lam, said: "As a young Londoner, I have seen how diverse our communities are. The work we have completed over the last year hopes to make the capital more inclusive and give a chance for all to decide on how London will be greener and more sustainable in the future."

The Mayor of London and TfL are working hard to make transport in London more equitable, sustainable and inclusive. TfL has been renewing its assets and transitioning to more energy efficient equipment and materials, such as LED lights, building insulation or using materials that have a reduced carbon footprint. TfL also continues to progress plans for 100 per cent of its electricity to be sourced from renewable power sources by 2030. More than 12 per cent of the London bus fleet is now zero-emission with more than 1,300 buses on London’s roads. Transport for London now has 130,000 sqm of wildflower verges and will double this next year to 260,000 sqm. TfL also recently committed to a tenfold increase in delivery of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) on TfL road network, this is a vital measure for reducing the impact of flooding, that is a growing risk as a result of climate change. TfL will now deliver at least 5,000 sqm a year, contributing 10 per cent to the London wide target of 50,000sqm, on its road network, which makes up just 5 per cent of all roads in London.

This all supports TfL’s vision to be the strong green heartbeat for London and the delivery of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. TfL’s approach to sustainability was set out in its first Sustainability Report published in 2021 and the latest plans can be found at tfl.gov.uk/sustainability. TfL is also committed to creating a truly inclusive workplace and recently published its new pan-TfL diversity and inclusion strategy, Action on Inclusion.

As part of this drive to create an inclusive workplace, TfL welcomed more than 260 graduates, apprentices and interns this year from a diverse range of backgrounds that are traditionally under-represented within the transport sector joining TfL. This year, the number of graduates and interns identifying as coming from an ethnic minority background remained at 60 per cent compared to 2022. This year, TfL also introduced its first sustainability graduate and apprenticeship schemes, reflecting its commitment to support a greener, healthier and more sustainable London. With the guidance of sustainability professionals, participants will further drive progress towards a net-zero transport network. 

TfL will also launch a new customer-focused Diversity and Inclusion strategy early next year, which will reaffirm TfL’s commitment to providing an accessible, affordable transport network that serves all of London’s diverse communities fairly. The strategy will incorporate the announcement earlier this year about the next ten Tube stations that will be prioritised for step-free access to meet the Mayor’s bold accessibility targets. There are now more than 200 step-free access stations across the TfL network. These include 92 Tube stations, 62 London Overground stations, all DLR stations and all Tram stops.

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