Oxford Street one week car-free: crowds up, but cyclists a headache

Oxford Street has been car-free for a week, and transport bosses say the response has been “phenomenal”. But local councillors and residents say cyclists and lost bus routes are causing problems.

How has the first week gone?

Transport officials called the response “phenomenal”, and some shops reported more footfall. Shoppers told BBC London the street felt safer and more pleasant without buses and taxis.

Sadiq Khan called launch day a “momentous day for London” and the first step in lifting the street out of “decline”. Helen Cansick from TfL said it was “the first week of a very long programme of investment and transformation”.

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What are the problems?

Cyclists are the biggest headache. Tim Barnes, deputy leader of Westminster Council, said: “At the moment, we just don’t know where this level of bike traffic can sensibly go.” The BBC saw no enforcement against cyclists on Monday morning, although TfL says riders are “obliged to follow the rules”.

Bus passengers have also lost out. Michael Bolt of the Marylebone Association said bus users had lost routes and face extra delays of five to ten minutes at interchanges. There have also been reports of anti-social behaviour on social media, and an ambulance on an emergency call had to be diverted around the zone.

Tom Fyans of the London Cycling Campaign said it already “feels a bit quieter than a week on” and expects the early problems to settle down.

What happens next?

TfL is working with e-bike hire firms and delivery companies on “geo-fencing”, which would cut or reduce the power of e-bikes entering the zone so riders have to walk them through. Fifty new trees and more benches are planned by spring, and the road will eventually be levelled. The scheme will be kept under review.

This Christmas will be the first festive shopping season on a car-free Oxford Street.

Sources: BBC London via Yahoo, TfL, Mayor of London. Photo: Robert Scoble / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.