Oxford is in the top ten most polluting cities in the UK
when it comes to car emissions with the 9th highest emission in the
UK http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2769975/London-cars-worst-polluters-Vehicles-emit-quarter-carbon-dioxide-kilometre-Peterborough.html
This confirms that, as long as cars are not included in the Low
Emission Zone in the City Centre, it will be ineffective in reducing air
pollution. Air pollution kills many more people than road traffic accidents. Air
pollution caused an estimated 28,416 deaths in Great Britain in 2010. This
compares with 1,713 road deaths in 2013. It’s about time we took reducing car use
seriously.
A new report shows how we could achieve
carless cities and cut air pollution within the next 20 years.
"There's no town in Denmark which a main road goes through.
No town. Zero. … They’d actually think it was slightly mad to have a main road
going through a centre of town. … Consequently, their culture is much happier
than ours.” Andrew Davies CEO, Environmental Transport Association
Oxford is considering introducing congestion charging. The
report criticises London Congestion charging for being a blunt instrument. It argues
for variable charging for certain types of vehicle and road user and according
to the level of congestion in real time. However, ite warns that congestion
charging will only reduce traffic if there are viable public transport and
cycling alternatives.
One example of good public transport is Vienna where if
costs only 1 Euro to go anywhere in the City – a City much bigger than Oxford.
A transport researcher argues for “ a magnificent network of
cycle routes”: an area where Oxford used
to lead but which now seems to have stalled with a cycle improvement budget from
central government remaining largely unspent by the City and disputes with local
cycle groups over ‘improvements’ to Frideswide Square and The Plain roundabout.
The report advocates joined up transport so car-sharing
becomes part of a package that also includes train travel, bus travel, cycling
and so on. With a travel card you could swipe and take a car when it suited,
but swipe onto a bus where that made more sense.
A more radical suggestion is that the green man should be
the default at pedestrian crossings and cars should have to stop and get
permission to cross.
If we make it easy, normal and safe to travel on foot or by
bike people will chose to do so. I know of someone who would love to cycle in Oxford
but doesn’t dare because she finds the traffic too intimidating. If it was easy
normal and safe to cycle in Oxford much more people would do so.
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