Turn 10 million parking spaces into parks

Over 10 million car parking spaces across 94 of the world’s biggest cities should be given over to cycle lanes or trees to reduce air pollution and help tackle climate change. The advice is from the C40 Cities group – a body that advises the mayors of major cities and which is chaired by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris.

London currently allocates an area four-and-a-half times the area of Hyde Park to parking and C40 suggests 135,000 spaces could be repurposed to benefit people and and the planet, rather than simply drivers.

For our part, we're proud to have got the ball rolling by providing one London borough with a pedal-powered parklet, which was unveiled last month. We've nicknamed it a pedlet.

The pedlet can be towed into place using an electric cargo trike and once installed, provides visitors with a place to sit, free WiFi and birdsong played through a small wooden bird box. Residents of Kingston upon Thames are able to request the parklet visit their street for a day by visiting the council's website. See it in action below.

https://vimeo.com/332635098

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.

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