Stats and facts
Did you know…..
1- Waltham Forest is home to a total of 265,800 people living in about 96,900 households, in an area of 15 square miles (39 square kilometres or 483 Olympic Stadiums).
Of our population:
- Approx. 200,000 people are under the age of 50
- Just over 40 per cent of households (40,700) have no access to a car
- Two per cent of the population cycle on a regular basis
- It is estimated that 10 per cent of adults in the borough are obese
- It is estimate that over 14 per cent of age 11 children are overweight, and over 23 per cent are obese.
2- In six years the population in Waltham Forest is expected to be over 300,000, which will put a huge extra demand on council services, housing, public transport and the road network.
3- Based on the population growth, excluding through traffic, we could see the use of vehicles rise by up to 13 per cent.
4- One in five journeys in the borough each morning and afternoon involves a trip to and from school. That means an extra 5,000 to 6,000 car journeys at the busiest times of day, even though the vast majority of school trips are less than a mile.
5- Studies have shown that some of the poorest air quality levels in Waltham Forest are adjacent to the busiest roads in the borough, and the whole borough has been declared an Air Quality Management area. The main pollutants of concern in Waltham Forest are Nitrogen dioxide and particulates, or PM10’s, of which road traffic is the main contributor.
6- With a growing population, demand for extra houses, development of town centres, and increasing traffic pollution, we can’t simply build more roads or more parking. We need to change our current infrastructure to meet the demands of our residents whilst making it future proof.
7- In 2014 there were 758 collisions on roads in the borough.
- 73% of collisions happened in daylight
- 79% happened in dry road conditions
- Two people were killed and 59 seriously injured, including:
- Nine children seriously injured
- Two adults killed (car driver and passenger)
- 22 pedestrians
- 17 car occupants
- ten moped riders/motorcyclists
- six cyclists.
891 people received slight injuries, including:
- 475 car drivers and passengers
- 141 cyclists
- 170 pedestrians
- 114 motorcyclists and passengers
- 588 (62% of casualties) were aged between 25 and 59
- 69 (7%) were of school age (5 to 16).
8- It takes 20 minutes to walk a mile in Waltham Forest, even with a buggy.
9- Walking children to school reduces traffic congestion, emissions, and usually takes no longer than driving for the majority of school journeys in the borough.