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Health effects of air pollution
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Oliver Lord, Head of Clean Cities Campaign UK, explains how campaigners can improve air quality and people's health.
Local elections are an opportunity to advocate for public health. That’s why we were delighted to partner with Clean Cities Campaign during the London elections last year, when more than 1,800 local councillors and five Mayors were elected across the 32 boroughs, representing nine million people.
Local elections are a funny one, aren’t they? So often characterised by bins and potholes that even the politically engaged amongst us can find them tiresome.
The challenge is even greater for clean air and climate campaigns. These are issues that are considered so huge that people feel their local councillors would have little time or influence over the action that needs to be taken.
On the contrary, we know that if we want to clean the air, secure our climate, and improve people’s health then we need to reduce the number of local trips being made by polluting cars. In London, it’s the network of local councillors that have an essential role in making that happen. Together they control 95% of the capital’s road network, the state of which will influence how we move around and, ultimately, our health. I expect you can think of some uninviting roads near your home or office.
“ We know that if we want to clean the air, secure our climate, and improve people’s health then we need to reduce the number of local trips being made by polluting cars. Oliver Lord UK Head of Clean Cities Campaign
We know that if we want to clean the air, secure our climate, and improve people’s health then we need to reduce the number of local trips being made by polluting cars.
If our roads continue to invite polluting cars then evidence shows it is the most marginalised and vulnerable communities who will experience the worst health effects. Those include being exposed to dirty air that causes lifelong conditions and thousands of preventable early deaths in London every year; dangerous roads that kill or seriously injure ten people every day, and damaging inactivity with less than half of children and young people meeting recommended physical activity levels.
We can’t rely on electric cars to solve the problem. The Mayor of London has stated that, at the very least, we need a 27% reduction in all car kilometres being driven across the capital to meet the target of reaching net zero by 2030.
“ At the very least, we need a 27% reduction in all car kilometres being driven across the capital to meet the target of reaching net zero by 2030. Oliver Lord UK Head of Clean Cities Campaign
At the very least, we need a 27% reduction in all car kilometres being driven across the capital to meet the target of reaching net zero by 2030.
In our efforts to make change, our campaign went laser focussed on a few solutions to help Londoners get out of their cars. We chose solutions that local councillors have full autonomy over, that wouldn’t break the bank, and could be rolled out over a timescale that would demonstrate councillors can deliver for residents.
One solution is residential cycle hangers.
If we want to help people to jump on a bike and use their car less, we must make it as easy as possible. Forcing people to do the ‘cycle salsa’ at home when scurrying past bikes in their bedroom, balcony or hallway isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s utterly unfair given the abundance of space set aside for cars on our streets. And an effective way of getting the attention of councillors is to point to a social injustice that must be corrected.
Another effective way to influence councillors is to have data that demonstrates what communities need. Our research showed that more than 60,000 Londoners were waiting for a secure cycle hangar space on their street – and you can expect those are just the people fortunate to have the time and energy to put their name forward. You can imagine the local bureaucracy involved to get on the list, which likely makes this the tip of an iceberg.
I believe that by not delivering on secure cycle parking, local authorities are failing residents who want to do the right thing and are neglecting their duties to reduce air pollution, address the climate crisis, and help prevent bike thefts (400 of which occur every week in London). Let’s remember that most people live in cramped flats.
Another way to get the attention of councillors during local elections is to demonstrate an issue has support from residents. And I was delighted to work with the creative folks at Glimpse and researchers at Fare City, with lots of volunteers in the run up to the London local elections, to do just that.
Our #ThisIsAwkward campaign and hashtag – which contrasted the ease with which people can park their cars compared to bikes – went viral on social media as people posted the weird and wonderful ways they’re forced to store cycles.
Followed by a prominent billboard campaign at about ten locations, we secured commitments from newly elected parties that totalled more than 30,000 new cycle hangar spaces. Halfway to ending the huge waiting list!
And new commitments keep coming in as the administrations find their feet. In Lambeth alone, the council will be providing 5,000 additional secure cycle parking spaces this term. Lambeth Council has also introduced a new Kerbside Strategy, which includes a priority that, as a minimum, secure cycle parking is provides every 100 meters on every street in Lambeth.
Meanwhile, Southwark Council has committed to doubling the number of cycle hangars in the borough during this term.
These numbers represent a win for councillors too. They’re a way for councillors to demonstrate how they are making a positive difference to communities, both in terms of health outcomes and economic benefits.
But we didn’t just highlight the inequity around the use of space on our roads – where a cycle hangar of six bicycles takes up space for one small car – we also exposed the huge disparity in the costs too.
We showed that Londoners are asked to spend more to park a bicycle in a secure hangar than they are to park polluting cars outside their homes, further embedding car dependency.
The average cost of renting a space in a cycle hangar in London was found to be £57.90. This means a family of four would spend on average £231.60 a year parking four cycles, which is 4.6 times the average cost of parking a petrol car (£50) and seven times an electric car (£29).
Thankfully we have seen some boroughs respond to our campaign, such as the new administration in Ealing who slashed the cost of a cycle hangar space to just over £8 a year.
Yet, over in Islington, where car ownership is the lowest in London, it’s an eye watering £107 a year. Still lots to do. Cycle parking should never cost more than car parking. Income from car parking, especially polluting vehicles, should be used to fund affordable and secure cycle parking.
I’ve loved the amazing contributions to the campaign, showing an incredible (and quite depressing!) array of awkward spots where people are forced to keep their bikes. And I’m hopeful we will continue because we need to see commitments delivered and other cities stepping up across the UK – our campaign caught the imagination of campaigners across the country and the appetite is certainly there.
Our campaign shows that local elections are an effective way to improve public health. Yes, addressing issues like air pollution and the climate crisis can seem overwhelming, but there are lots of local solutions which have the potential to be scaled up.
“ Yes, addressing issues like air pollution and the climate crisis can seem overwhelming, but there are lots of local solutions which have the potential to be scaled up. Oliver Lord UK Head of Clean Cities Campaign
Yes, addressing issues like air pollution and the climate crisis can seem overwhelming, but there are lots of local solutions which have the potential to be scaled up.
The air pollution crisis is affecting cities all over the UK and all over the world. I would encourage air quality champions to use their local elections to campaign for clean air. I feel passionately that if we want to live in a fair and equal society (and if we truly want to address the climate crisis) it must be easier, safer, and cheaper for people to keep a bike than a car.