London to have ‘car-free day’ in September

In a bid to highlight the ongoing problem of pollution from vehicles, London is to stage its biggest car-free day yet on 22 September. The Sunday date has been timed to coincide with World Car Free Day, which encourages motorists to give up their cars for a day. This type of activity is increasingly popular in cities worldwide – with Bogota, Colombia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, among the early adopters – as authorities wake up to the health impacts. More than half of air pollution in the UK capital is ca
June 21, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

In a bid to highlight the ongoing problem of pollution from vehicles, London is to stage its biggest car-free day yet on 22 September.

The Sunday date has been timed to coincide with World Car Free Day, which encourages motorists to give up their cars for a day. This type of activity is increasingly popular in cities worldwide – with Bogota, Colombia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, among the early adopters – as authorities wake up to the health impacts.

More than half of air pollution in the UK capital is caused by vehicles, and is thought to be responsible for 9,000 early deaths each year.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said 12.3 miles of roads will be closed in the centre of the city.

“I encourage as many Londoners as possible to join in the fun and see the city from a different perspective,” Khan said.

A variety of events will be held promoting alternative modes, such as public transit, cycling and walking. Charity London Play is using funding from 1466 Transport for London to make 200 streets “open for play - and closed to traffic” on the day.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EarthSense clears traffic from pollution hotspots
    August 2, 2019
    EarthSense is working in the UK with Coventry City Council to divert traffic away from heavily congested roads and pollution hotspots. EarthSense’s air quality sensors are located in areas of the city where levels of nitrogen dioxide have been identified as high; particularly along the A4600 route at Walsgrave Road – a major link in and out of Coventry. When pollution levels are breached, the sensors send alerts to the urban traffic management centre where they trigger messaging on variable message s
    Read More
  • APT Skidata and CitiPark partner to reduce city emissions at car parks
    July 3, 2017
    Parking technology business APT Skidata has teamed up with UK parking operators CitiPark in a trial which aims to reduce emissions in car parks, building on an eight-year relationship that has seen APT Skidata’s technology at 12 of CitiPark’s 15 sites.
    Read More
  • How British drivers compare in European responsible driving survey
    April 2, 2015
    With 16 million UK motorists set to take to the roads this Easter weekend, a new European survey finds that risky driving habits and failure to respect the rules are on the increase. The annual survey carried out for Vinci Autoroutes Foundation for Responsible Driving by IPSOS examined the behaviour of drivers from ten European countries. Each year, this survey draws up an inventory of driving practices and trends, allowing closer targeting of methods to prevent irresponsible driving and promote safer ro
    Read More
  • 5G or not 5G?
    April 16, 2019
    Just a few years ago, there was only one solution in terms of communications protocols for delivering vehicle connectivity. Now, road operators and vehicle manufacturers face choices – including a moral choice, perhaps. Jason Barnes looks at the current state of play There is a debate raging in the ITS world over future communications protocols. Asfinag, Austria’s national strategic road operator, has announced it will from 2020 be using ITS-G5 to support cooperative ITS (C-ITS) applications (‘First thin
    Read More

Highlighted Content