London Mayor Bans Cars on Oxford Street to Boost Tourism

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Oxford Street Traffic Erased After Two Thousand Years

Traffic has moved along London’s Oxford Street for roughly two thousand years, stretching from the era of Roman chariots to modern electric vehicles. Today, that entire era has officially ended.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has banned cars, taxis, buses, scooters, and even bicycles from an initial half-mile stretch of the famous retail corridor. The new pedestrian-only zone produces an unusual urban experience. Pedestrian crossing lights are shut off entirely. Pedestrians can now step straight off the curb without looking both ways.

Mayor Khan Targets Pollution and Crime in Busy Corridor

The policy targets a thoroughfare that attracts more daily visitors than Times Square. Despite this heavy foot traffic, the area has struggled with shifting consumer habits, including the rise of online shopping. Compounding these pressures are rising rents, flagship store closures, an influx of kitsch candy shops, and flyby phone thieves on scooters.

Mayor Khan, a clean air campaigner who developed asthma as an adult, pointed directly to these compounding problems in a blunt assessment of the corridor’s prior state.

It’s known for dirt, for overcrowding, for crime, for air pollution, tacky shops. We want to change that. The way to get people back into the office or back shopping in person is to make the experience better – fresh air to breathe, places to sit, greenery to see.

Taxi Drivers Warn of Logistical Shifts for Passengers

The elimination of vehicles aims to boost tourism and reverse pandemic-era retail flight just ahead of the holiday shopping season. Yet, the immediate logistical shift has drawn sharp criticism from local workers.

Regent street oxford street london

Taxi driver Steve Kendall questioned how vulnerable populations will manage the new layout. He noted that passengers carrying heavy shopping bags now have to walk an extra block to reach adjacent streets that are already bumper to bumper.

Bottleneck Fears Met With Early Public Support

Drivers warn that displacing vehicles onto surrounding roads will create bottlenecks across central London during the peak holiday season. Emergency vehicles, however, remain entirely exempt from the ban.

London's Famous Oxford Street Becomes Pedestrian-Only in Bid to Boost Shopping and Tourism | APT

Early public polls indicate that a majority of Londoners support the pedestrianization effort. Meanwhile, tourists and local pedestrians interviewed on site expressed surprise and optimism at the sudden quiet on Europe’s busiest shopping street, even as the debate over accessibility continues.

More on Oxford Street

Today a stretch of London's famous Oxford Street has become pedestrian only and traffic free.
London’s Oxford Street bans traffic as the city tries to boost its shopping district
London's Oxford Street bans traffic

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