Downtown Oslo will be completely car-free by 2019.
Anybody who ever watched Captain Planet knows that cars are one of the major ways we pollute our atmosphere. I know it would be really easy to just blame Volkswagon for all this, but the truth is, every car, no matter how ‘green’ it is, releases some kind of pollutant into the air. In a bid to try and correct this problem, metropolitan cities around the world are looking into various strategies on how to make the air cleaner. Oslo, the capital of Norway is pretty much leading this charge, and has vowed that their downtown area will be completely car-free by 2019.
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This will obviously require a hefty investment, as the Norwegian city is planning to build more than 35 miles of bike lanes and up the budgets tremendously for public transit. The ban will not only clean the air, but it will also make the city much safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and set an inspiring precedent for other cities around the world.
I would say I think New York should follow in its footsteps, but I highly doubt most of us could get around without drunken cab rides home. Still. I applaud what Oslo is doing, and think the rest of the world should follow suit.
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