Britain's Birmingham unveils radical traffic plan to cut pollution

Birmingham, Britain's biggest city outside London, unveiled a draft plan Monday to tackle traffic pollution in its downtown area.

City Hall published the plan, which sets out its vision for the future of transport in the city, and bans cars from journeying through the heart of Birmingham.

The plan embraces some big moves including reallocating road space and moving away from single occupancy private cars to support the delivery of a public transport system fit for a global city.

And the transformation of the city center will see the creation of a network of pedestrian streets and public spaces integrated with public transport services and cycling infrastructure.

Most importantly, access to the city center for private cars will be limited with no through trips. The City Hall hopes walking and cycling should become people's preferred mode for travelling around their own local neighborhoods.

"Birmingham has already started to redress the balance and build a future in which the car will no longer be king," said Birmingham's Transport and Environment spokesperson Waseem Zaffar.

New measures are designed to reduce transport's damaging impact on the environment, supporting Birmingham's commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, as well as making roads safer, according to the plan.

Zaffar added: "As a city, we have been over-reliant on private cars for too long and with more people choosing to live and work in Birmingham. We need to find innovative new ways to keep the city moving in an efficient but sustainable way."

After the city's Cabinet gives the green light next week, the plan will go out to public consultation.

(CGTN)