London has lowest car ownership in Britain

LONDON: Fewer people own cars in London than anywhere else in Britain, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a report yesterday to mark World Car-Free Day.

Around the country 27% of households remain car-free, the office reported.

September 22 is designated as a special day to encourage people to be less dependent on their cars and make more use of walking, cycling or public transport.

The idea is to highlight that emissions from cars and other vehicles contribute to climate change by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Cars also contribute to emissions of other pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide which contributes to smog and acid rain.

ONS came up with several facts about motoring in Britain in the 21st century.

Cars are the most used mode of daily transport with 57% of the population saying on a typical day they used their cars; 20% used public transport, others walked and cycled.

Around 40% of drivers used cars for journeys of 3km, 42% admitting they could easily walk that distance. Making short journeys by car causes more pollutants as catalytic converters designed to reduce these pollutants do not work effectively on trips under 8km. – Xinhua