The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, warned on Tuesday that unless Londoners "significantly" reduce car use in favor of walking and cycling, the UK capital city could move from one public health and economic crisis to another due to "filthy air and gridlocked roads
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2022) The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, warned on Tuesday that unless Londoners "significantly" reduce car use in favor of walking and cycling, the UK capital city could move from one public health and economic crisis to another due to "filthy air and gridlocked roads."
"Most traffic is caused simply by there being too great a demand for limited street space, meaning the only long-term solution can be to significantly reduce car use in favor of greener means of travel," Khan said.
Despite city authorities having made great efforts to transform roads and increase walking and cycling paths during the COVID-19 pandemic, car use has remained consistently high, the mayor said.
"If we do not double down on our efforts to deliver a greener, more sustainable future, we will replace one public health crisis with another - caused by filthy air and gridlocked roads," he added.
The mayor's office said that the cost of traffic congestion to London's economy is 5.1 billion ($6.9 billion) per year, or 1,211 ($1,646) per driver, while public transport use has plummeted by 95% and is currently still significantly behind pre-pandemic levels, with buses at 70% of normal demand and the underground service at 55%.
