Cleaning up London’s toxic air

Car free days on Oxford Street again and other areas like around Museums, markets and high streets. To improve areas of heavy traffic how about reduce the numbers of taxis/ minicabs as there are so many they clog up the roads and kerb parking keeping their engines running stationary to keep air con running. How about free public transport days. Get big lorries off the roads as there are more than ever, make it even better for cyclists. Stop cars speeding on roads everywhere.

While my local area would benefit from a car-free day (if it were to include taxis), I am relieved to see it is outside the proposed September car-free day area because the last thing we need is to have our residential streets turned into adult play streets and entertainment venues, as the local council has threatened. The noise levels would be intolerable - the streets are narrow, the buildings tall, and every sound from the streets amplifies into people's homes. 

Car-free Sundays would be best.  Every weekend it feels as if the entire population of the suburbs has piled into cars to go shopping in the West End. Cars circle round and round the local residential streets looking for parking spaces, engines pouring out fumes. Once parked, often the driver (dad, uncle, brother, chauffeur ...) is left sitting in the car to wait for an hour and much longer while the rest of the family buys piles of things they do not really need. Often the driver plays booming music in the car, and keeps the engine running. In winter this is to keep warm, but they do it on hot summer days as well - air conditioning?  Toxic fumes pour into the flats they are parked outside, and if music is being played, residents have to put up with that as well.  

Car free Sundays, please, including cabs, and including in the residential areas.

This is a good start but doesn't go far enough.  I'd like to see this extended across London and to include large roads.  I'd also like to see a car free day regularly, once a month for example.  When the London Marathon Day comes along, it is lovely to have a quiet A13 for 12 hours.

In my opinion, an incentive such as the “Car Free Day” needs to be phased into our city. Start by closing off roads with low traffic count then slowly phase more closures and take learnings from what worked and didn’t work in the previous phase. Slowly reduce TFL Buses and approach with a progressive attitude. London relys heavily on the use of motor vehicles to remain mobile, which makes it barbaric to ban all cars in one instance. Start small and work your way up; otherwise great incentive. 

If this is a way to encourage us to give up our cars then somehting HAS to be done about public transport, buses, Tube, trains etc. Some people have to get from one side of London to another and cycling is not an option given the distance. Buses and Tubes are being subject to contant and deliberate delays (known as "even out the service") but more likely because there are fewer and fewer such buses and Tubes. You want us to use less cars? Improve public transport in order to make it worthwhile to the passengers and not subject to the arbritrary whims of controllers and drivers!

SADIQ KHAN IS NOT WORTH BEING RE-ELECTED!

Look, I have fully backed the Mayor in most of his ideas on trying to clean up London's filthy Toxic air. And I also back this one. But these are, just novelty ideas. What we really want is inovative action that does not give us clean air for one day only per year; we need to have solid solutions that bring tangible results for rest of the year and beyond. Like tackling the amount of polluting taxis and cars that hinder the busses. No taxis or private vehicles should be allowed to enter Oxford St for example. We should have had a shuttle tram up and down that street years ago, it's so obvious yet the town hall planners keep scratching their heads and wonder why the air levels of pollution keep climbing when the cause and answers are right in front of them starring them in the face. Please, take stock of the situation and take a good honest long look at what your traffic planning has created down in the west end for pedestrians and users of public transport, it is, I,m afraid to say sheer chaos compared to most other European cities. However, I still back the Mayor as I know he genuinely wants to improve  Londons poisnous air, which is still  killing thousands of us and filling up childrens lungs. So I'll take the one day of clean air a year rather then none for now, if thats all thats on offer.

I think this is a great start. We need to see electric public transport everywhere; and bikes and and mobility scooters for older and less able people. We need to do something to clean up London't filthy air for our children and grandchildren. I am just an ordinary Londoner and had to walk my kids to school for years in clouds of diesel fumes; my son has asthma.  

All very well....but drivers live in London too, and pay large amounts in vehicle and petrol tax - more than any reasonable estimate of the costs of the externalities they impose.  So let's try to optimise the use of a scarce resource, rather than privileging one particular group over another.  Some suggestions:

Introduce more flexible road pricing, with high premiums during rush hours

Require all cyclists to wear fully-protective headgear

Abolish most 20 MPH speed limits and speed bumps - marginal benefits at best, but cause pollution,vehicle damage and slow down emergency vehicles

Publish statistics on people travelling per lane per hour broken down by transport type and time of day

a great initiative - one day is not going to kill people not to use their cars. This could be used to encoruage community spirit and perhaps fold in with a help the local community.

Have written this I also have to say - knife crime has be top of the agenda - I dont see much being done !

On some of the comments I've read:

Couriers -> we need to change our habits, buying online for same day delivery with 1000's of vehciles clogging up the roads and poulluting our air.

Suggestion -> add a tax to online shopping with delivery - will change peoples behaviours and/or generate revenue to combat pollution.

Disabled people -> how do you travel at Christmas or New Year, not via public transport so for the odd day here or there Im sure you can survive. Appointments on Sunday - really? One day with no car is not going to kill people.

I liked another suggestion read below: abolish road tax and increase tax on fuel, those that are emitting the most rubbish into the air can be the ones to pay for.

On emergency services - a valid point, but I don't buy either - with the thousands of speed bumps, narrower roads all over London (bike lanes etc) the emergency service is already challenged !

What a good idea! A cycle free day. No school children with their large bikes riding on the pavement from school or risking their lives doing 'wheelies' on a main road. No adults riding through red lights when pedestrians think it is safe to cross with a green man. I love walking but find it quite off putting when cyclists ride up behind you on the pavement and expect you to have heard them even when the don't use a bell - and they are often adults!

I think this is a very nice idea. Our family live in zone 2 (Camden borough) and have no need for a car, we either borrow one for long journeys out of London, use the public transport, cycle or walk everywhere. Car ownership in densly populated areas like ours is far too high. Taxation is also not helpful unfortunately because if someone can afford to run a new range rover, they can afford the tax. We need to ensure new housing has no provision for owning non-essential cars (i.e.: include blue-badge, doctors etc). This may encourage better mindset of car ownership in time. We have such brilliant bus, tube, overground, train and taxi services available that driving is rarely essential. I cycle mon-fri and constantly see many cars with only one occupant in traffic - surely there cannot be that many essential car journeys every day.

Totally support car free day. I am less keen on "Play Streets" as it sounds a recipe for noise pollution when trying to relax on Sunday and becuase it could restrict the mobility of diavled car users who would presumably be exempt. I know a lot of people in London work On Sundays but a lot less than on other days. It would be a breath of fresh air for everybody of the road were quiet. Just try it. I do go to the supermarket once a week by car and ironically go by car to the gym on a Sunday. Otherwise, I find little use for a car in London. There is a wonderful (and increasingly 24 hour) public transport lane and an ever growing cycle network. I am surprised at the number of comments implying this is an attack on the poor. Surely, the poor are those who don't have cars? Anyway, I support car free day. I would also advocate increased taxes for second cars (per adult), reducing speed limits to 25 mph maximum across Greater London (except A roads), compulsory cycling proficiency tests as a pre-requisite to taking your driving test, and schemes to remove parking on roads (and pavements).

Another self-promotion exercise from Great Leader Sadiq.

Can we have a cycle-free day to prevent smug human missiles on two wheels ignoring everyone around them?

Can we have a ' no couriers delivering one item of clothing to endless households' ( and then collecting it next day) Day?

Can we have a ' no five in a row 80% empty buses ' Day ?

Can we have ' no tube traveller for whom personal hygeine is an option ' Day ?

No? I thought not because then Sadiq cant have a grinning picture taken in front of a staged grinning family eating tofu in the middle of a vital transport route.