Skip to main content

Thames Vision launched

The Port of London Authority (PLA) recently launched the Thames Vision, a framework for developing greater use of the River Thames over the next twenty years. The Thames is already the UK’s busiest waterway for passengers and freight, home to the UK’s second biggest port and a hub for tourism, recreation and sport. Developed by the PLA and river stakeholders over the last 18 months, the Vision sets out six goals for increased river use. They include the busiest ever Port of London, more goods being
July 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The Port of London Authority (PLA) recently launched the Thames Vision, a framework for developing greater use of the River Thames over the next twenty years.

The Thames is already the UK’s busiest waterway for passengers and freight, home to the UK’s second biggest port and a hub for tourism, recreation and sport.  

Developed by the PLA and river stakeholders over the last 18 months, the Vision sets out six goals for increased river use.  They include the busiest ever Port of London, more goods being moved by river, double the number of passenger trips and greater participation in sport and recreation.

Actions already underway include: recruitment of additional PLA pilots to meet growing customer demand; the Thames Skills Academy taking on its first group of students; work on Thames Tideway Tunnel starting in earnest; and a study into the levels of participation in sports on the river and its banks.

The Thames Vision Goals include: the busiest ever Port of London, handling 60 to 80 million tonnes of cargo a year; over four million tonnes of goods and materials to be carried by water every year – taking over 400,000 lorry trips off the region’s roads; double the number of people travelling by river – reaching 20 million commuter and tourist trips every year; and greater participation in sport and recreation on and alongside the water.

Related Content

  • Video developments in automatic incident detection
    May 22, 2012
    David Crawford reviews technological progress with automatic incident detection Highway safety problems are likely to intensify given recent predictions of future traffic growth across the world. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that currently over 30,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur as the result of accidents on the nation’s roads each year. These figures will increase with the number of kilometres travelled each year in the US expected to gr
  • Smart Cambridge set to speed up ‘smart’ solutions for the region
    March 22, 2017
    UK city Cambridge is aiming to be at the centre of a leading ‘smart city region’ with the Smart Cambridge programme, which is being scaled up to explore how the latest data and digital technology can be used to transform the way people live, work and travel in the region, and beyond. The programme has recently been allocated US$1.9 million (£1.6million) by Greater Cambridge City Deal over the next three years, as part of its investment plans to improve the transport infrastructure and promote economic g
  • Costing transit is complicated case
    August 19, 2015
    David Crawford welcomes fresh thinking from Canada. Public transit improvements can bring society “significantly more value” than conventional transport models normally indicate, argues Canadian researcher Todd Litman. “Traditional evaluation practices originally developed to assess roadway improvements, and focus primarily on vehicle travel speeds and operating costs. “They do not generally quantify or monetise basic mobility benefits, vehicle ownership and parking cost savings, or efficient land developme
  • US updates ITS strategy for Connected Vehicle deployment
    March 16, 2015
    Jon Masters looks at the USDOT’s new ITS Strategic Plan for the next five years. Emphasis and direction for the next five years of Government led ITS research in the United States has been framed within a new ITS Strategic Plan. The US Department for Transportation’s (USDOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) published the report at the tail end of 2014 after concluding a two-year ITS industry consultation process. The Plan identifies a vision to transform the way society moves and the ITS JPO’s aim of advancin