Cleaning up London’s toxic air
Closed
672 Londoners have responded | 25/10/2021 - 19/07/2023
Discussions
Pedestrianisation
Paris' most famous boulevard, the Champs-Elysees, will soon be closed to motor traffic on the first Sunday of every month. Nine other routes will also be pedestrianised every Sunday and public holiday, adding to 13 that already restrict traffic as part of the ‘Paris Respire’ anti-pollution programme.
Would you welcome pedestrianisation or car-free days in central London? If not, why not? What are the main benefits, or otherwise, from your perspective?
The discussion ran from 26 April 2016 - 26 July 2016
Closed
Community guidelines
Anything you publish will appear almost right away. We want anyone to feel welcome to get involved in a constructive way. Our community guidelines will help us all do this.
Read our guidelines
Want to join our next discussion?
New here? Join Talk London, City Hall's online community where you can have your say on London's biggest issues.
Join Talk LondonAlready have an account?
Log into your accountAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoAny pedestrianisation projects in big cities are welcome - EVERY Sunday!
Anonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoFor the long term health of the population we need a complete ban on any vehicle that does not have zero emissions. We should announce the ban to take effect in say eight years time. That would give people a chance to get full use out of...
Show full commentFor the long term health of the population we need a complete ban on any vehicle that does not have zero emissions. We should announce the ban to take effect in say eight years time. That would give people a chance to get full use out of the petrol and diesel vehicles they have bought, and to build up an infrastructure of electric charging points where people could pay to refill their batteries. The extra costs of electric or hybrid vehicles would be worth the health benefits. It would have to cover all vehicles as most journeys are commercial vehicles.
We should also increase the congestion charge and remove exemptions so that the level of access of traffic is set at a level that lets traffic flow freely. We are operating a low price low quality system - high quality high price would be better.
And pedestrianising on some Sundays is not much of a solution. There will not be the infrastructure changes to make the road attractive to pedestrians. Even on car free days on the Mall people still generally walk on the pavement. Instead we should create 100% pedestrianisation more generally. It works in German and Spanish cities - why not here? I would start with any road that runs through or alongside a park, and also the main shopping and restaurant streets. Then put a retractable roof over streets that does not fully enclose the road but does keep the rain off - the high street will be able to fight back against the shopping mall.
Show less of commentandrew_corti
Community Member 9 years agoYou can only force people into using electric vehicles once the technology improves the range to that comparable with petrol / diesel or it only takes 3 minutes to fully charge - they're useless for me as most of my journeys go beyond...
Show full commentYou can only force people into using electric vehicles once the technology improves the range to that comparable with petrol / diesel or it only takes 3 minutes to fully charge - they're useless for me as most of my journeys go beyond London.
Show less of commentlivehere
Community Member 9 years agoEight years time is far to long. The current central zone scheme brings in clean-at-exhaust or whatever they call it sooner than that I think. Drivers had had decades to think about their contribution to ill-health and deaths from vehicular...
Show full commentEight years time is far to long. The current central zone scheme brings in clean-at-exhaust or whatever they call it sooner than that I think. Drivers had had decades to think about their contribution to ill-health and deaths from vehicular pollution. The Freight industry lobby has probably been fighting against a clean-up for years.
Show less of commentTimothy Blake
Community Member 9 years agoLondon has far too few pedestrianised streets - curiously fewer than almost all town and cities elsewhere in the UK. Pedestrianising the whole of Zone 1 would be a big step, but certainly chunks of it could be - almost all of Covent Garden...
Show full commentLondon has far too few pedestrianised streets - curiously fewer than almost all town and cities elsewhere in the UK. Pedestrianising the whole of Zone 1 would be a big step, but certainly chunks of it could be - almost all of Covent Garden and Soho, for example. As far as Oxford Street is concerned, I have long felt it should be pedestrianised with moving pavements, like you get at airports, to make it easier for people if they don't want to walk, or can't. Nicely designed, and weatherproof, they wouldn't be intrusive at all. With those, you wouldn't even need buses and taxis.
Show less of commentAlanMoore
Community Member 9 years agoCovered travelators along Oxford Street - that's quite fun Tim! I used to live in Hong Kong which has a series of covered escalators joining the Central business district with residential areas further up a steep part of the island. Very...
Show full commentCovered travelators along Oxford Street - that's quite fun Tim! I used to live in Hong Kong which has a series of covered escalators joining the Central business district with residential areas further up a steep part of the island. Very successful.
Show less of commentVickie
Community Member 9 years agoTim and Alan, I've often thought that- Edgware Road could be part of it too.
EdwardsT
Community Member 9 years agoWe definitely need to bring back car-free days in London. They used to happen from time-to-time in the 90s. When people know that the streets are car-free they quickly pounce on the chance to ride their bicycles knowing they're free of...
Show full commentWe definitely need to bring back car-free days in London. They used to happen from time-to-time in the 90s. When people know that the streets are car-free they quickly pounce on the chance to ride their bicycles knowing they're free of danger. Just look at how many people take to the bicycle at events like Skyride! Once you remove dangers such as motor traffic, people don't need much persuasion to ride their bicycles or walk more often. London desperately needs this. There are too many benefits to name - the main one being that more active people will save the NHS millions.
Show less of commentmaddriver
Community Member 9 years agoWe could make them completely vehicle free days - including the banning of bikes. People walking will have the same kind of benefits as people cycling anyway, so the health benefits argument doesn't hold water.
Someone
Community Member 9 years agoIf there's room for motor vehicles most days, there's plenty of room for bikes without them.
Rosemary Mortimer
Community Member 9 years agoYes, every Sunday
Anonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoHow terribly reasonable for you? I am all for banning cycles - let us discriminate just because we can say so on a website.
talk_london_us…
Community Member 9 years agoI am not in favour of car free days. The life blood of London's economy is its transportation system. We need to work harder at controlling vehicular pollution rather than focussing on car free days. If we want an economy like that of...
Show full commentI am not in favour of car free days. The life blood of London's economy is its transportation system. We need to work harder at controlling vehicular pollution rather than focussing on car free days. If we want an economy like that of France, with high unemployment and limited growth, then start by restricting transportation.
Show less of commentAlanMoore
Community Member 9 years agoIn what way do CARS contribute to the London economy? If it's for bulky shopping, get it delivered. But most of the economy is about getting people in/out - for work, leisure. Cars are a terrible way of doing that.
EdwardsT
Community Member 9 years agoI'm not sure that stopping people using their private cars on a Sunday once a month will have much effect on the economy. The benefits of letting people use the streets for walking, playing, skating and cycling far outweigh any cost...
Show full commentI'm not sure that stopping people using their private cars on a Sunday once a month will have much effect on the economy. The benefits of letting people use the streets for walking, playing, skating and cycling far outweigh any cost benefits anyway. This is exactly how London has lost its way - money-making over health and happiness.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoI think it would be reasonable to make parts or all of major foot traffic areas car free, or at the very least only allow public transport in those areas (looking at you Oxford circus/Picadilly circus area).
Show full commentI think it would be reasonable to make parts or all of major foot traffic areas car free, or at the very least only allow public transport in those areas (looking at you Oxford circus/Picadilly circus area).
Show less of commentGeneral Genius
Community Member 8 years agoIt isn't fair to those on the boundaries of an exclusion zone or adjacent roads who just get it twice as bad due to the displacement. pf traffic. If you pick and choose the odd road here and there, people do not stop driving, they just...
Show full commentIt isn't fair to those on the boundaries of an exclusion zone or adjacent roads who just get it twice as bad due to the displacement. pf traffic. If you pick and choose the odd road here and there, people do not stop driving, they just drive on different roads.
Show less of commentAlanMoore
Community Member 9 years agoAgreed Kyankov, I've said before that ideally I'd like all private car use banned in Zone 1..
Anonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agowhy should private cars be banned the drivers have the same amount of rights to freedom of movement as any body
Show full commentwhy should private cars be banned the drivers have the same amount of rights to freedom of movement as any body
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoI agree – no private cars in zone 1! And perhaps also other areas on Sundays. But allow cycling – would be nice if cyclists could plan bike rides without cars around.
kyankov
Community Member 9 years agoWe need to go much further than the measures taken in Paris to restrict car use and create pedestrian only zones. Air pollution in London is a major issue and urgent measures need to be taken to improve air quality - it's a question of...
Show full commentWe need to go much further than the measures taken in Paris to restrict car use and create pedestrian only zones. Air pollution in London is a major issue and urgent measures need to be taken to improve air quality - it's a question of saving lives. We are being protected from passive smoking, why is the same logic not applied to exhaust fumes? Additional benefit of restricting car usage would be reduced congestion and consequent improvements in public transport.
Show less of commentAnonymous - account deleted
Community Member 9 years agoYou live and n a fantasy World ,there are now another 60 plus skyscrapers waiting to be built ,had do you service them without roads ?
Jamieo
Community Member 9 years agoWe need some form of cars/transport true.
Show full commentMy main lobby is the move to Electric, and getting those damn buses and black cabs to convert to electric or hydro.
We have electric vehicles now.
The biggest polluters in central London by far are...
We need some form of cars/transport true.
My main lobby is the move to Electric, and getting those damn buses and black cabs to convert to electric or hydro.
We have electric vehicles now.
The biggest polluters in central London by far are Buses and Taxis.
I am afraid London is becoming a victim of its own success.
Show less of commentToo many people in some key places.
AlanMoore
Community Member 9 years agoStreets for people not cars would be ace. I'd like to see cycling allowed as well as pedestrians. And I don't think it should be an occasional gimmick - why not make it every Sunday? Do it properly.
maddriver
Community Member 9 years agoThere are those of us who would like to be able walk without cyclists being around. Cars may pollute the air, but bikes are not necessary. Why shouldn't bikes be banned as well? Then pedestrians can walk completely free of any hazards.
AlanMoore
Community Member 9 years ago"Cars may pollute the air, but bikes are not necessary" - so cars are essential transport and bikes are what - just toys?
We need to get past this mindset. I do understand the frustration with a certain quarter of the cycling fraternity...
Show full comment"Cars may pollute the air, but bikes are not necessary" - so cars are essential transport and bikes are what - just toys?
We need to get past this mindset. I do understand the frustration with a certain quarter of the cycling fraternity (and it is mostly lads) who take liberties. There's a proportion of car drivers with a similar demographic who do the same and they're terrifying! But if we had mums and kids cycling, the elderly, just PEOPLE rather than some special group you're referring to as 'cyclists'.. then it's not the same animal at all. Then it's just people going places using whatever means of transport is most appropriate.
Show less of comment