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15.
May
2018.
Car Free Day Success

Car Free Day was a resounding success on Sunday, with an estimated 10,000 people taking to the streets of Cardiff to enjoy the HSBC UK Let's Ride event and the on street entertainment.

Footfall in the city centre was up by 28% compared with the same day last year, with 125,173 people recorded in the city centre on Sunday compared with 90,005 people on Sunday May 14th, 2017. Organisers of the event have said that 5,000 people took part in the HSBC UK Let's Ride event, with a further 5,000 people taking part in the entertainment.

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, Cllr Caro Wild, said: "With the sun shining down on Cardiff, the city was looking its best and the turn out from the public was very encouraging.

"The streets were so peaceful and the amount of positive feedback that I received on the day and through social media shows what the city can do when we work with our partners to deliver an event of this scale. It was great to see so many families enjoying the streets of Cardiff with no traffic on our roads.

"We are also pleased that we were able to accommodate the Cardiff City Parade to celebrate the football club being promoted to the Premiership. In addition to the 10,000 people that turned out for Car Free Day, thousands of Cardiff City supporters then came in to support the Bluebirds at Cardiff Castle and the atmosphere was electric and the two events worked very well together."

As well as providing a carnival atmosphere for the public to enjoy, the idea of Car Free Day was also to monitor air quality and traffic flow in the city centre.

Working with Air Quality UK, air quality monitors were put up around the city to monitor the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (N02). Comparing data from Sunday May 6th, there has been a significant reduction. Records show that the levels N02 reduced by over 64% on Westgate Street; 42% on Duke Street and 7% on Stephenson Court, near Newport Road.

With the increase in footfall in the city centre, the Council was also keen to monitor traffic flows on specific roads that were still open on the periphery of the city centre closure. The results showed a 25% reduction on Newport Road; a 16% reduction on Central Link; a 22% reduction on Cathedral Road; an 11% reduction on Bute Street; an 8% reduction on Clare Road; a 30% reduction on Moira Terrace; an 8% reduction on Fitzalan Place and a 45% reduction on North Road.

Cllr Wild continued: "Walking and cycling is sustainable transport at its best, and the Council is committed to improving the infrastructure to make it safer and easier for people to walk and cycle in and around the city."

The Council has launched a Green Paper on Clean Air in the city and is urging residents to take part in the conversationabout the big ideas that could shape the future of Cardiff's transport system and the way the city could look and feel in the future.

The Transport & Clean Air Green Paper is available to view on www.cardiff.gov.uk/transportgreenpaperand a series of questions have been asked in each section to get feedback from residents on the proposals and ideas before the consultation closes on 1st July.

 How you can get involved - join the conversation by:

1)   Completing our online survey at https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=152154762388

2)   Emailing comments directly to us at:  consultation@cardiff.gov.uk

3)   Respond in writing to: Cardiff Research Centre, County Hall, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff, CF10 4UW

4)   Contact us on Facebook / Twitter: @cardiffcouncil