Over 50
organisations across the capital sent an open letter to the Mayor of London
this week requesting he direct TfL to implement an ambitious plan for Car Free
Day 2018. The letter asks Sadiq Khan to publicly commit to an ambitious Car
Free Day plan for London next September. The groups believe that Car Free Day
could be an important catalyst for London to address the public health scourge
of air pollution, and to test out car-free zones in the city that can then be
made permanently car-free as envisioned in the Mayor’s transport plan.
The
opportunity to both reduce air pollution and bolster local businesses by going
car-free has already motivated Oslo to commit to permanently removing private
cars from the city center by 2019. In Madrid, private cars will be removed from
over 500 acres of the city by 2020 in a bid to boost local commerce and improve
air quality.
Endorsers
of the London Car Free Day vision include a host of charities, think-tanks,
research groups, businesses, and neighbourhood forums across 15 London
Boroughs. According to the letter “World Car Free Day 2018 is a tremendous
opportunity to catalyse long-term reductions in air pollution [and] improve
London’s transport system.”
Car Free
Day is an annual global event held in cities each 22nd September
which encourages citizens to walk, cycle or use public transport for one day.
While individual boroughs like Hackney, Lambeth, Islington, and Greenwich have
all hosted modest Car Free Day celebrations in the past, it has never been a
city-wide celebration of walking and cycling like it is in Vancouver, Paris, or
Brussels. The letter points out that there is even a weekly Car Free Day in
Jakarta, Indonesia, a city of over 10 million.
The
Mayor’s new Transport Strategy means that the world is now looking for London’s
to lead the global transition to city centres free from private cars. The
letter writers consider Car Free Day 2018 as the perfect opportunity to test
new models for car-free urban mobility across London. The Day would provide an
opportunity to test the air quality improvements of taking private cars out of
the city centre. Small businesses across London would benefit from a day with
streets full of customers on foot.
Community
supporters flagged the many benefits of hosting a Car Free Day. According to
Marco Picardi at Green Westway, a community group working to improve the air
quality and mobility options around the A40 flyover:
“Car Free Day is an
opportunity to test the transformative potential of car-free streets. New
approaches are needed to address congestion, pollution, safety, and the public
health. Car Free Day is a catalyst to make safe walking and cycling part of a
daily routine for Londoners.”
Caroline
Russell AM, Green Party Member of the London Assembly emphasised:
“No one should be left out of having streets
that are safe and pleasant to use – a car-free day would give Londoners the
space to breathe.”
“Paris has a monthly car-free day so it is
possible for big cities to do this. I want Londoners to have a taste of fresher
air and to see that streets can be for people, not just vehicles.”
“It would be great to see London open for
walking and cycling to give people the freedom to choose how they want to
travel without being intimidated by hostile streets.”
According to Rosalind Readhead, Chair of the
London Campaign for Better Transport:
“There is a huge opportunity to go car-free in
central London and convert road spaces to higher-value activities. We already
have 6.8 million parking spaces taking up almost 80km sq. across a city where
space is at a huge premium. Could we remove parking spaces and build affordable
housing or expand public green space? London Car Free Day is an opportunity to
ask these questions and to showcase an ambitious vision for more car-free city
centres around the world.”
Other
supporters think Car Free Day could make London a more liveable city for all
residents: “I grew up in Brussels where there has been an annual Car Free Day
for many years. The day is a pleasant opportunity to spend quality time with
family and friends, re-discover the city from a different perspective and get
some exercise. There is something liberating and empowering about pedestrians
and cyclists reclaiming the streets.” says Helena O’Rourke-Potocki, one the
co-founders of Our Air Our Health, a clean air campaign in Tower Hamlets.
A version
of the letter (See below) sent to the Mayor’s office this morning is also on the online
petition platform Change.org so that individual citizens from across
London can express their support.
The online petition is accessible here: http://bit.ly/LCFD_petition .
More information
Twitter:
@carfreedayLDN #LondonCarFreeDay2018 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carfreedayLDN/
LETTER OF SUPPORT
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