Cars or kids? Which is more important?

Is it really that simple? Well in a way, yes. The biggest threat to children come from road danger, air pollution and the climate and ecological crises.

New roads are the biggest threat to nature. Motor traffic is the main source of urban air pollution. Cars are a major contributor to the climate crisis (car manufacture, cement for roads, diesel and petrol)

Motor vehicle tyres are a major cause of microplastic water pollution. Alarmingly called ‘plastic soup’ pollution. Kids are drinking and eating tiny particulates of car tyres. I think we all know that is not healthy.

Our children, inspired by Greta Thunberg, are walking out of school to tell us that they face a terrible future. The accumulative environmental catastrophes of climate breakdown, ecological collapse, pollution and plastic toxicity mean they will inherit a degraded and dangerous world if we adults don’t get our act together. This is why I have thought long and hard about which policies are appropriate to the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

In solidarity with the children and to inform policy, I will be starting a project in September, to live the net carbon zero lifestyle (approximately one tonne of carbon per year). Here is an explainer of the project with a daily journal attached.

Mayors of the world must lead by example. I am a doer not a procrastinator. Here is a link to my London Mayoral Manifesto for a Climate and Ecological Emergency

 Key Policies for a Climate Emergency

1. Regular car-free, fly-free and work-free days to cut emissions (Direct, immediate action)
2. World fossil fuel free days (we need many trials to experience what this looks like and where we need to be better prepared)
3. Free cycles for everyone and free secure cycle parking (This must be the mainstream go-to for personal journeys under 5 miles)
4. A hierarchy of energy use for the common good. (Where cooking, heating and hot showers are higher priorities for renewables than low occupancy, inefficient  electric cars, 3G 4G 5G networks and data proliferation)
5. De-carbonise heating, hot water and cooking ASAP (Millions of green jobs urgently needed with appropriate training)
6. Free trees for every garden  (on private land in the UK as well as mass planting on public land. Trees absorb carbon and are a critical part of climate action) Every tree, copse and woodland in the UK must be listed and protected.
7. Resident allotment permits for food growing on current wasteful resident parking spaces. Councils have a Statutory Duty to provide Allotments for anyone that wants one. This is currently not happening. Perishable greens are high carbon because of the quantity that is degraded in transport. Food security is important. As is locally sourced produce to reduce shipping /road /air miles
8. Community composts provided close to homes. Reallocation of parking spaces to localised community composts. Reducing waste and landfill as well as transport emissions and enable food growing for food security.
9. Cargo bike hire supplied to local residents and businesses.
10. A ban on advertising for planet destroying consumables (car adverts, meat and long distance flights /holidays).
11. No to  high energy use of tech promoted for per the mile road pricing. (Telematics is a high energy user of data Not appropriate for  a low carbon, low energy future. Energy use allowances would be far more effective at reducing car use. (We need to address  the root cause not the symptom).
12. Ban automation in motor vehicles (Not safe or proven technology. No algorithmic transparency of accountability. It is a very high energy user (there are 100 computers on one Automated Vehicle, equivalent to boiling 3 electric kettles continuously) plus radar, sensors and cameras. Mostly designed for data harvesting and surveillance. 5G is a high energy user and potential serious health and security threat
13. Carbon, energy and data allowances for everyone (Energy allowances will allow people to choose between eating, a hot shower, heating or downloading a Netflix boxset or using a car to drive a few miles down the road)
14. Switch investment and jobs away from the car industry and road building to pinning solar to every roof possible ASAP (The car industry is stranded assets and jobs whilst solar is an urgent imperative for a low energy low carbon future)
15. Transparent, easily accessible carbon accounting at all levels of Government and Business (With indirect carbon from energy use recorded as well as direct carbon).
16. Extend job centre plus travel discount to all public transport
17. Fully Universal Basic income which I call a ‘core sustainable income’. Available immediately to net zero carbon early adopters. This is nothing to do with Artificial Intelligence but about reducing the working week to 3-4 days to cut energy use and for quality community and family life).
18. Education on how to use  ICT (Information and communications technology) that is not wasteful of energy. For instance don’t travel via google maps. Plan your journey ahead or use a map. Borrow CDs and DVDs from libraries rather than Netflix and streaming.
19. Producing software that is efficient means energy allowances must be applied. Current wasteful and lazy software is burning energy needlessly
20. Stopping data proliferation that is used for mass surveillance, data harvesting and selling us stuff we don’t need.
21. No forced personal data on the Electoral Register (democracy must be free of outside interference)
22. Algorithmic transparency and accountability. We must have an open way of scrutinising decision making.
23. Tax under-occupation of dwellings. We could house the entire UK population again in the current unoccupied bedrooms. Make more efficient use of current housing stock through taxation. Cutting cement and steel emissions means a radical transformation in the way we build and maintain housing
24. Treat plastic as toxic waste Stop producing the stuff. And man-made toxic plastic derivative textiles too. Acrylics nylon spandex. Fleeces are one of the worst. No more lycra cycling gear!
25. Cycle only streets and hire bikes at all train stations and bus interchanges. 
26. Licence pedicabs and apps like pedalmeapp and move to last mile delivery by cargo bike. Facilitate cargo bike plumbers, carpenters and electricians. 
27. Give every citizen the choice to live a carfree lifestyle with suitable infrastructure and financial incentives
28. Mass rewilding of roads to restore nature, biodiversity, carbon absorbing tree cover and flood mitigation.
29. EU directive draft proposal / Mini–Holland for every London Borough

• Every village, town and city in the European Union must have a walking and cycling network.
• Everyone must have the opportunity to walk and cycle safely going about their daily life.
• This must be backed up by an integrated, accessible  and joined up Public Transport Network
• Ban motor traffic from the core of every town, city and village

As additional reading, I have formulated 5 pathways for the Climate Emergency on

Transport

 Energy

 Rationing

 Green space

Housing

As well as a specific blog on

Transport for London in a Climate Emergency

• Ban diesel in London

• Ban private cars in central London

• Prioritise active travel like walking and cycling

• Create a car-free cycling network across Greater London

• 24hr road pricing throughout Greater London

• Reclaim car parks as brownfield sites for social housing

• Make solar power integral to new builds

• Rationalise freight and commercial vehicles, capping PHVs and Taxis

• Plant 1 million trees

I believe these policies will

• Save time

• Save money

• Unlock space

• Improve quality of life

• Create social cohesion

• Increase self-empowerment

• Reduce inequality

Cities around the world are waking up to the cost of cars in an urban environment. In 2015 Dublin, Madrid and Oslo announced plans to go car-free in their city centres to reduce pollution, congestion and cut greenhouse emissions. We too can lead London into a brighter future, by making our streets for people rather than cars.

May 22nd 2015

Today I am announcing that I will be standing as an independent candidate for the Mayor of London in 2016. I have been campaigning via my website banprivatecarsinlondon.com for a sea change in the way transport is organised on the streets of London.

Only radical reform will transform our city from a polluted, congested and dangerous space for people living, working and visiting here to a liveable city where people can breathe.

Active travel has immense potential for keeping our economy vibrant, our citizens healthy, reducing NHS costs, inequality and creating the feel-good factor.

Private cars are the least economically viable mode of transport in urban areas. This is why I want to prioritise safe walking, protected inclusive cycling, accessible clean and low-priced public transport and electric sharing taxis.

I would also like to free up the vast quantities of land used for parking. Private cars, on average, are parked 95% of the time. There are approximately 6.8 million parking spaces in London (Transport Statistics User Group 2001) which, based on the minimum parking space per vehicle, take up an astonishing 78.5 km sq.

When housing is in crisis in our city, we need to seriously re evaluate how space is allocated. I would like to designate car parks as brownfield sites, to house key workers at reasonable rents, linked to their jobs in the vicinity.

From the City-centre  outwards we can change the car culture of London to create a liveable city where children are free to roam once again without the fear of road danger.