Cleaning up London’s toxic air

Recently Age Concern released a report stating that 67% of Londoners over 60 prefer to use public transport, walk or cycle over driving. Safer, calmer streets would make mobility easier for all, especially as those over 75 and under 18 who are the most vulnerable on our roads.

The trouble is that electric cars are the same size as normal cars, and are just as congesting - especially if many of them continue to carry just one person for the majority of the time.

I ride a bike sometimes, but never expect anyone to get out of my way. Am I a nuisance to you?

If you want clean air, don't go to places where it isn't. Simples ! But leave those of us who want to or must use a car alone. I await your "reply" to the militant trade unions bit and how they would never take advantage of a car-free London - ha-ha.

Unfortunately most of the Oxford Street buses are on through-routes and run in both directions - these should all be lpg or electric of course. But Oxford Street is too narrow to accommodate a bus lane down the middle. It is essentially a two-way bus lane as it is. One solution might be to have the whole central area only for electric and lpg vehicles, so that buses could use other roads without causing diesel pollution and noise in the residential streets. There would still be the serious problem of toxic small particulate pollution from tyres on roads, but it would be a major improvement to get rid of the diesel pollution.

Bike tracks are a greater priority than travelators. Travelators would be another hindrance to crossing the road, and once they are installed people will say there is no room for tracks. No doubt they would be very expensive and there would be better ways to spend the money. And almost by definition, if people can get to the zone, they prove that travelators aren't essential. The same applies to scooters, which don't mix well with foot traffic anyway. They could use the bike tracks of course.

Roofs would have to be retractable, otherwise air quality on motor traffic days would be even worse. That would make them very expensive. And it would be hard to stop people smoking in the covered areas.

What a pedestrian zone chiefly needs is the absence of motor traffic. But there are things that could make a more attractive place, such as planting, art works, seating etc.

Anything that moves at more than a walking pace would have to have drivers provided - else would be hijacked by people wanting to drive them recklessly for fun. And by just plain bad drivers. Electric or lpg small people transporters of some kind would be necessary I think.

Travelators are hardly a new idea - local residents have over the years often requested replacement of buses, taxis etc but travelators. Nobody listens. And again, people would manage to trip over them, fall off, whatever.

It is essential to drastically reduce traffic in central London, but even more essential not to do this by displacing buses to residential side streets and deliveries to night time in residential side streets.

And the 24-hour city is definitely NOT for these mixed residential areas.

Please stop wasting our time with this nonsense.
We have had to endure 8 years of bus mad Ken, and then 8 yeas of bike mad Boris.
What we need is people who know how to get the traffic moving, and provide ample free parking -and actually want to do it.

The more space we provide for cars, the more people drive, so the space soon fills up.

Meanwhile you are poisoning the air every time you go out, contributing to thousands of deaths. Can you suggest a plan to stop that? Should we all wear breathing apparatus while you drive?