Better Transport

Too many of us live in areas dominated by traffic, not people, which is creating a noisy, unsafe, unfriendly, unhealthy society. We need to cut traffic for our own health and wellbeing and in order to improve the places we live, shop and visit.

Noisy. Cars, motorbikes, buses and lorries are noisy – and survey after survey shows that traffic noise really bothers us. It stresses us out and disrupts our sleep.

Unsafe. Cars and other vehicles kill 3,500 people every year, injure a half-million and shatter the lives of many more.

Unfriendly. Fast-moving vehicles sever communities. Busy roads are intimidating, hard to cross and divisive, literally cutting communities in half. And people stay away from busy roads. Because we are in the street less, we are less likely to know our neighbours and feel a sense of community; instead we’re worried about crime.

Unhealthy. Car exhaust is very harmful because it contains:

• Particulates. Mostly from diesel engines, particulates can penetrate the lungs and are associated with a wide range of respiratory problems. Long-term exposure is associated with an increased risk of death from heart and lung diseases and particulates carry carcinogenic materials such as benzene into the lungs
• Carbon monoxide, which can can impair concentration and neuro-behavioural function
• Nitrogen oxides, which react with sunlight to create ground-level ozone, which irritates the eyes and air passages and makes asthma attacks worse. More than one in seven children in the UK now suffer from asthma, six times as many as 25 years ago
• Nitrogen dioxide, which may exacerbate asthma
• Sulphur dioxide, produced by diesel vehicles, may provoke wheezing and exacerbate asthma and is associated with chronic bronchitis

We also need to reduce traffic because cars’ emissions are contributing to climate change.