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London has a long way to go before its residents and visitors can breathe clean air or be confident they will be safe from predatory motorists. That’s according to a new report produced for Greenpeace. The environmental campaign group commissioned the Wuppertal Institute in Germany to carry out the study, reports The Guardian. Out of 13 European cities studied Copenhagen came out top followed by Amsterdam – London came tenth.
Greenpeace’s Paul Morozzo said: “London needs the crucial support of central government to really solve its air pollution crisis. Instead of spending huge amounts of money on building more roads, ministers should redirect it towards boosting public transport and cycling while setting a deadline of 2030 for ending the sales of petrol and diesel cars.”
The report analysed a range of factors, including air pollution to the share of the population walking, cycling and using public transport through to road safety, or lack thereof.
London scored badly on this last factor with the report authors claiming it was the second most unsafe European city to walk or cycle in, with 22.3 crashes per 1,000,000 cycle journeys, against 9.1 in Paris.
Copenhagen – which has been veined with cycleways over the last 100+ years – came first in road safety and second in air quality.
