Keeping cars out of city centres - 6 Minute English

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob, and welcome to 6 Minute English,

where today we're chatting about a pedestrian topic

and six items of related vocabulary.

Neil: Hello, I'm Neil. A pedestrian is someone who

walks around rather than travelling by car

or bus. But in Rob's sentence he used the

adjective, and in this context it means dull

or uninteresting!

Rob: And of course I was making a pun, Neil. Because

of course the show is going to be extremely

interesting! It's about safety on the streets

- and whether pedestrianisation is a good

thing or not.

Neil: Pedestrianisation means changing a street

into an area that can only be used by pedestrians.

Rob: Well, it sounds like a good idea - no traffic,

less noise and air pollution. And no chance

of getting knocked down by a car or a bus!

Neil: There are plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street,

which is one of the busiest shopping streets in London.

Rob: That's right. The Mayor of London wants to

tackle - or make an effort to deal with - air

pollution in this very busy spot - where the

amount of traffic is definitely a problem!

In fact, can you tell me, Neil, what's the average speed

of a bus travelling along Oxford Street? Is it:

a) 4.6 miles per hour, b) 14.6 miles per hour or

c) 46 miles per hour?

Neil: And I think it's 14.6 miles per hour -

a) sounds too slow and c) sounds too fast!

Rob: OK, we'll find out the answer later on. The

problem is - the traffic doesn't just disappear.

You ban it from one area - and it gets rerouted

somewhere else.

Neil: Ban means to say officially that something

can't be done. And reroute means to change

the direction you're travelling in, in order

to reach a particular destination. That's true, Rob.

It must be a big headache for city planners.

Rob: Well, let's listen now to Joe Urvin, Chief

Executive of Living Streets. He's going to

talk some more about why traffic is causing

problems in our towns and cities.

Joe Urvin, Chief Executive of Living Streets:

In 1970 we had 20 million cars in this country.

Now we have over 30 million cars in such a short

period. So that creates three big problems.

One is space - because we've still got the

same street structures in our towns and cities,

causing congestion. It causes pollution, which

people are concerned about more and more.

And actually, it's kind of engineering walking

out of our lives. So we're actually not getting

enough exercise, which is a cause of a health crisis.

Smart cities are looking at pedestrianisation

- in Glasgow, in Birmingham, in London for

example, Manchester - as a way of not only

making their places, cities better and more

attractive, actually, building their local economy.

Neil: So Neil Urvin identifies three problems - the

first is that our city streets have stayed the same

while the number of cars on the roads

has increased dramatically.

Rob: That's right - and this has led to congestion

on our roads. Congestion means too much traffic,

making it hard to move.

Neil: The second problem is pollution - which we

mentioned earlier.

Rob: Pollution is damage to the environment caused

by releasing waste substances such as carbon dioxide

into the air.

Neil: And the third problem is that by travelling

around on buses or in our cars we aren't getting

enough exercise. And we all know that's a

bad thing! Would pedestrianisation engineer

walking back into our lives do you think?

Rob: I'm not sure, Neil. It would be great if we

could go shopping or walk to work without

breathing in fumes or worrying about getting

knocked down by a car. But banning all motorised

traffic from town centres might make life

difficult for people to get around.

Neil: Well, I'm not a town planner - and I don't

have the answers. But I would like to know

if I got the answer right to the question

you asked me earlier!

Rob: OK, well I asked you: What's the average speed

of a bus travelling along Oxford Street? Is it:

a) 4.6mph, b) 14.6mph or c) 46mph?

Neil: And I said 14.6mph.

Rob: And that's not slow enough, Neil, I'm afraid.

The answer is actually 4.6mph. And we pedestrians

walk at an average speed of 3.1mph apparently!

Neil: Good to know. OK - shall we go over the words

we learned today, Rob?

Rob: Sure - the first one is 'pedestrian' - a person

who is walking, usually in an area where there's traffic.

"Sorry, you can't ride your bike here.

The path is for pedestrians only."

Neil: The adjective - "This book is full of very pedestrian

ideas. I wouldn't read it if I were you."

Rob: I've crossed it off my list, Neil. Thank you.

OK - number two is 'to tackle' something,

which means to make an effort to deal with

a difficult problem. For example, "The government

isn't really tackling the problem of air pollution.

It needs to do much more."

Neil: Very true. OK, 'ban' means to say officially

that something can't be done. "The UK government

will ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars

from 2040."

Rob: And number four is 'reroute' which means to

change the direction you're travelling in.

Neil: "The council has rerouted all buses to avoid

the town centre."

Rob: 'Congestion' is number five - too much traffic,

making it difficult to move.

Neil: "Road congestion always gets better in the

summer when a lot of car drivers are on holiday."

Rob: That's true, isn't it? London always seems

emptier in July and August.

Neil: Except for all the tourists walking around

- congesting the streets!

Rob: Very funny! And finally, number six is 'pollution'

- which is damage to the environment caused

by releasing waste substances such as carbon

dioxide into the air, or plastic into the sea.

Neil: "You can help reduce air pollution by walking

to work every day instead of driving."

Rob: Are you talking to me, Neil? I always walk to work!

Neil: I know you do, Rob - you're an example to us all!

Rob: OK, that's all we have time for today.

Neil: But please don't forget to visit us via our

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages! Goodbye!

Rob: Bye bye!