Europe has a city congestion problem. In 2023, London was the most gridlocked location, closely followed by Paris and Dublin. In that year, London drivers sat in traffic for an average of more than 100 hours (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/06/london-is-europes-most-congested-city-with-drivers-sat-in-traffic-an-average-101-hours-last-year). Congestion wastes people's time. Idling petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicle engines also greatly increase local atmospheric pollution. This has profound effects on human health and longevity. Occupants of vehicles are exposed to fumes. Congestion cannot be, of course, 'cured' simply by extending Ultra-Low Emissions Zones and/or replacing cars, buses and trucks by electric vehicles. The best way of improving the situation, is to get a majority of folk to use public transport. This can only be done by making such transport cheap, clean, safe and reliable. London is actually in a good place to do this, having some control of its underground rail system and buses. Even there, however, there will be conflicts with the powerful car lobby. Unfortunately, other UK cities are not so well placed as public transport systems are not so well-established.
No comments:
Post a Comment