According to Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, pollution leads to 4,000 Londoners dying early each year, increasing the economic and resource burden on the health service.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, public transport usage has fallen and has yet to recover to 2019 levels as people try to avoid crowded spaces that put them at risk of contracting the virus.
The share of trips by public transport in 2020 dropped fourteen per cent compared to 2019, while car use remained high.
Car travel has been the most resilient transport mode throughout the pandemic, with usage close to pre-pandemic levels for much of the latter half of 2021.
Meanwhile, according to the Mayor’s office, more than a third of car trips made by Londoners could be walked in under 25 minutes and two thirds could be cycled in under 20 minutes.
Khan warned that unless efforts are made to ensure a focus on sustainability during the recovery from the pandemic, the city could face a...