London streets to go car-free to encourage walking and cycling

Car drivers in London are some of the most aggressive I've witnessed.

Maybe some small amount of good can come out of this terrible situation, after all.

The government have used this crisis to do a power grab from the Mayor. They gave financial help to other transport providers weeks ago, but not TfL, forcing the Mayor to hand over some control of the network to to Department of Transport in return for funding. They then suspended free child travel, restricted the use of Freedom passes (free travel for the disabled and elderly) and raised the Congestion Charge and extended the times the charges apply - no seven days a week 7 to 22 hrs. Of course they are blaming the Mayor for all this. At the same time the government are telling people to go back to work and schools to reopen but not use public transport and to drive where possible, which just shows they haven’t a clue what to do. I can’t see these car free streets being a permanent thing - deliveries to businesses, tradesmen on jobs etc need to drive and, a particular issue, park in these areas.

I could walk to my office on Dury Lane from my WC2 penthouse in 2 minutes..... but when I’m really from E16 that’s a flipping long walk. Be nice to see town with less car though.

Quote: "will help public transport cope..." ???

There are not enough physically-spaced seats on buses and trains already.

Surely tens of thousands of drivers will be forced back onto tubes and buses, no?

It'll free up the roads from cars, sure, but increase bicycles, motorbikes, taxis and pedestrians. Will they double or triple bus services, then, especially when the weather is wet?