To Reduce Pollution, London Will Outlaw Parking Construction

Saying London needs to get "bolder" about reducing reliance on cars, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced today that the city will ban the construction of new parking spaces in home and office developments in large parts of the city.

Details of the plan will not be released until tomorrow, but the Times of London reports that Khan wants to stop the addition of new parking spaces in central London and locations with good transit access.

The restriction on car parking is part of a package of reforms Khan is putting forward to reduce air pollution in London, which contributes to an estimated 9,500 premature deaths each year. Another plank calls for doubling the number of bike parking spaces in retail locations.

Khan's goal is to increase the share of trips by foot, bike, or transit from 64 percent to 80 percent over the next 25 years, according to the Times, eliminating 3 million daily car trips.

London's network of high-quality "cycling superhighways" is still a work in progress, but it's already proven that bicycling can efficiently move large numbers of people in the city. Londoners now make more than 600,000 daily bike trips, or about one seventh as many as the Tube carries. Khan hopes to put every resident within 400 meters of a protected bike lane by 2041.