Coronavirus: London moves to boost walking, cycling

London’s mayor announced plans Wednesday to widen pavements for pedestrians and increase the number of cycle routes, to ease pressure on buses and trains forced to limit numbers because of coronavirus.

“The capacity of our public transport will be dramatically reduced post-coronavirus as a result of the huge challenges we face around social distancing,” Sadiq Khan said.

“Many Londoners have rediscovered the joys of walking and cycling during lockdown and, by quickly and cheaply widening pavements, creating temporary cycle lanes and closing roads to through traffic we will enable millions more people to change the way they get around our city.”

A man wears a mask to protect against the coronavirus as he looks out of the window of a bus in London on May 4, 2020. (AP)

The number of people using buses and trains in the British capital has plummeted since a nationwide stay-at-home order was introduced six weeks ago to slow the spread of COVID-19.

London has been the epicenter of the outbreak in Britain, which has now recorded the second-highest number of deaths in the world, with more than 32,000.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to set out on Sunday plans to gradually ease the lockdown, while still keeping people apart in order to avoid new infections.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson waves as he leaves Downing Street in. London, Britain on March 25, 2020. (Reuters)

Transport for London (TfL), which runs the capital’s public transport network, says social distancing measures mean it may only be able to cope with a fifth of pre-virus passenger numbers.

It also expects a 10-fold increase in kilometers cycled and up to five times the amount of walking on pre-virus levels.

Read more:

London buses step up coronavirus measures after 20 drivers die

Coronavirus: Pope Francis calls for fasting during day in Ramadan for end of COVID-19

$266,374 fine, 5 years jail for coronavirus measures violators in Saudi Arabia