Progressive world cities are going car-less for climate

Ōtautahi - Cars have been such a key part of the everyday life for so long that it's hard to imagine a future where carless cities are the norm rather than the exception. But that future is fast approaching.

Over the past two years, covid has changed the way people live and work. Globally, cars are being pushed back from many of the world’s biggest cities. Nine European cities have banned cars from their centres. Lisbon in Portugal this week started a three month trial banning cars in its CBD.

Rush hour disappeared in Los Angeles, according to NRIX, a firm that analyses global traffic

data, and 2020 saw the largest annual decline in global carbon dioxide emissions. In New Zealand, the country had the second-largest drop in carbon dioxide emissions in the world, at 41 percent lower than in 2019.

Cities in Aotearoa have been built largely with the private vehicle in mind. As those cities have grown, our roads and motorways have become increasingly congested. According to a report commissioned for the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), traffic congestion in Auckland could be costing nearly $2 billion a year.

Research by Waka Kotahi shows that 78 percent of all commutes in New Zealand are by car and most of those have just one person in the car. Pollution from cars is linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year.

Tāmaki Makaurau is set to reduce emissions by 13 percent and increase public transport trips by 91 percent, thanks to initiatives like extending the northern busway and putting in more bus lanes, investment in walking and cycleways, and reduced fares for community services card holders.

The city is also trialling more shared spaces for the community, like the new Britomart plaza in downtown Auckland. And good progress is being made on the City Rail  which, when it's fully operational in 2024, will double Auckland's rail capacity and transport 54,000 passengers an hour at peak times.

In Ōtautahi, Waka Kotahi are working on adding bus lanes on highways and safer shared paths for walking and cycling. Over the past few years, 13 new cycleways have been built or are being built in the city, and the number of people who cycle to work has been growing steadily.

In Te Whanganui-a-Tara, more than 30 percent of commutes are done by public transport, walking or cycling the highest proportion in the country. Queenstown has had a flat fee of $2 for local bus fares since 2017 to encourage public transport use.

Cities that are going car-free are reducing their carbon footprint, improving air quality and the health of the people who live and work in them.

Madrid, Spain’s capital,  banned all non-resident cars from driving anywhere in the city centre four years ago.

Copenhagen is home to the largest car-free zone in Europe. Beginning in the 1960s, Denmark’s capital pioneered pedestrian-only zones and the city now has more than 321 kilometres of bike routes. Over half of the people in Copenhagen ride bicycles to work by design.

Brussels, Belgium’s capital, has always had pedestrian-only streets surrounding its city square, stock exchange and Rue Neuve (shopping street) making it the second largest car-free zone in Europe and the city is planning on expanding the area.

The inner cities of Oslo , Amsterdam, Hamburg, Milan, Barcelona, Paris and now Lisbon are all car-less.