Stopping Traffic - Environmental benefit or economic harm?

As we begin the transition out of lockdown, environmentalists have argued that Covid-19 is the catalyst we need to seriously challenge the dominance of cars and transform the way we travel in Britain’s cities.  London is currently advancing plans to pedestrianise large parts of the city centre - to encourage a ‘safe return to work’, but more importantly to maintain the city’s air quality since the lockdown began.  The London mayor has also hiked the congestion charge to an eye-watering £15 a day – up from £12.50 – to help fill Transport for London’s financial blackhole, in part due to lost income during lockdown. But will rushing to extend the environmental benefits of lockdown end up extending the economic harm? Or is this a well overdue shift to greener modes of transport? Andy Mayer, IEA Chief Operating Officer, joins Emily Carver, Media Manager, to elaborate on his latest blog post and dig deeper into the consequences of inner city pedestrianisation.