Our relationship with cars is confused. We love them like a friend but, especially since the pandemic, we‚’ve realised the pollution and congestion they cause has a major impact on our life and lungs. This seems like a great opportunity to reduce our dependence on cars, especially in cities where they are largely unnecessary. There are many schemes addressing this at the moment, from Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to the Ultra Low Emission Zone which will be introduced to the whole of London in 2021. It’s estimated that 1.6 million cars will need to be replaced to be Ulez compliant. This will be an expensive decision for people to make, and it‚’s a great opportunity to help them decide not to re-invest in a car. However, for many people changing the status quo leads them to panic and feel scared. They don‚’t embrace the change they can‚’t quite imagine. Instead they fear letting go of the life they know and understand. This is a chance to transform our city. By changing how we navigate it we can reduce air pollution levels, increase how much we use active travel and reduce our levels of obesity. Rather than seeing what they are losing, we need to illustrate to people what can be gained by reducing car-use. This is our challenge and our opportunity.
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