Thread by @AdamDKHarrison

I spoke to the Sunday Times about why car ownership in Camden has fallen 6% since 2019

The number of diesel vehicles in Camden has dropped 43%! Among many other measures, we levy a 'diesel surcharge' to encourage people away from diesel #AirPollution

thetimes.co.uk/article/scrap-…

But despite the rapid recent drop, long term policy really matters. Car ownership in Camden has been falling since 2010. Why? In my view, at least 3 fundamentals matter here ...

1/ A functioning, accessible, and reliable public transport system. The (politically decided upon) investment since 2000 is still paying dividends

People who live outside London who talk to me about this always remark 'Why would you need a car?' It's a practical, logical choice

2/ For over a decade, to ensure desperately needed new housing does not clog our streets with cars, we have used planning policy to ensure all new housing is 'car free', except for disabled parking. So the number of 🏢🏘️ and 🧍🏽🧍🏼‍♂️ has gone ⬆️ but the number of cars 🚗🚙🚗 has not

NB on that, the existence of the aforementioned proper system of mass transit is an important component of being able to reasonably point to alternative ways of getting around 🚌

3/ Camden long ago completed its rollout of controlled parking zones.

These are also vital to ensuring our streets become places for people not just parking. But more to this point, they also encourage people to use public transport, walk or cycle.

Other important policy fundamentals include formally setting out who we want our policy to support most. The road user 'hierarchy' is important here. Again, for many years we've worked to promote walking, cycling & public transport. The government's version (below)is very similar

On this last point too, despite the pretty silly words of the transport secretary last week, this remains government policy and it's important that it's there!

Here's a cute drawing from a Camden schoolkid about why we need to clean up our air #AirQuality