Rising pollution and more use of cars has been a global concern. Boris Johnson, London Mayor had recently been on a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he came across car-free Sundays event there. Along with Joko Widodo, newly elected Indonesian President, Johnson had taken part for a bike ride and reportedly was overwhelmed by the entire fiasco.
Speaking more on the occasion, Boris Johnson said, “I will certainly be asking Transport for London to dust down those old ideas and let's have a look. We have been thinking about it for ages – I don’t think you are going to get the British people out of bed at six in the morning to do it quite like that but it is certainly food for thought. I think it would probably take time to bed in and it would take a few years before people got into the swing of coming out into the streets and making use of the space that a car-free Sunday provided. But it was very stimulating.”
In Jakarta, several main areas are closed for traffic post 6.00 AM. Then starts the carnival kind of atmosphere with lively music and stalls being set alongside streets, where citizens come out on foot or with their bikes. Emphasizing on the event, Boris Johnson stated that Britain roads are likely to be completely jammed in about 20 years with about extra seven million drivers being added to the streets. To improve conditions on over 100 Britain's busiest motorways and roadways, the government has announced £15bn funding for a complete overhaul.
