It took mum 3 hours to get to her medical appointment in the city centre this afternoon from East Oxford due to #LTN traffic. She’s a pensioner with underlying health issues and mobility issues, uses a walking stick. Ordinarily her journey would take her a maximum of 1.5 hours.
Mum left home two hours before her appointment to ensure she got there on time. She had to wait 40 minutes for her bus home because of excessive traffic in East Oxford due to the implementation of LTN’s. These are just some of the stories I’ve heard from residents this week.
Yesterday a woman stopped me as I walked past a bus stop she was stood at. She recognised me and wanted me to know she’s a carer and lives in Blackbird Leys. She said it took her an hour and a half to get to her vulnerable client in Cowley. Before LTNs it took her 20 minutes.
On Monday a woman contacted me to tell me her autistic child was stuck in LTN traffic for more than an hour after school and had “a meltdown” because of it. Her child is now refusing to go back to school. These are some of the stories people have shared with me this week.
These are everyday working class people living across our city sharing their stories. They deserve to be respected, listened to and heard as much as everyone does. #LTN ‘debate’ in #Oxford is toxic and divisive because of a lack of nuance and respect afforded to all residents.
The three women I’ve referred to are women of colour of different ages, of working class backgrounds, living in and around Oxford’s council estates. These facts are important because they help us further understand how #LTN’s are disproportionately impacting marginalised groups.
It’s lazy and reductive to class people ‘anti #LTN’s’ if your only interest is to berate people for not caring about air pollution or the environment or creating a fairer city - rather than understanding people’s lives and realities and wanting better solutions for everyone.
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