Closing roads near schools cuts NO2 levels by 23% in London
Active travel
TfL has also published survey results that suggest that interventions outside schools to make walking and cycling safer are popular with parents and carers, and have contributed to a drop in car use.
Thirty-five schools took part in the study, and the results showed that 81% of those surveyed at schools where measures had been implemented believed a School Street is suitable for their school. Almost three-quarters (73%) of parents and carers at these schools agree with School Street measures remaining in place while social distancing is still required, with 77% supporting the changes being kept in the long term subject to consultation.
Two-thirds of parents and carers at schools without School Street measures support their implementation while social distancing is still required and a majority of these parents (59%) also support such measures in the long term subject to consultation.
Since the pandemic, parents and carers reported walking to school more and driving less, at both schools with School Streets and those without.
Efforts to improve the UK capital’s air quality have gained traction in the past 12 months, andin December, a partnership between theMayor’s office,Bloomberg Philanthropies, andImperial College Londonto install 100 air quality sensors at hospitals and schools was announced as part of theBreathe Londonproject.
Air pollution in London has an estimated economic cost of £3.7 billion (US$5.15 billion) every year, due to the health impact of pollutants like PM2.5and NO2leading to lost life-years, hospital admissions, and deaths.
Air quality funding
This week the UK Government announced £5 million in funding to help local authorities tackle poor air quality, as well as the launch of a competition to find the country’s best electric vehicle innovations.
The funding aims to help councils develop and implement measures to benefit communities and reduce the impact of air pollution on people’s health, with applications especially welcomed from projects that will tackle fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
In addition, the government announced that from Monday, an electric vehicleresearch and development competitionwill be open. UK-registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £7 million to develop on-vehicle solutions that address challenges associated with the transition to zero emissions. Funding is from the Office for Zero-Emission Vehicles (OZEV).
