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!