LONDON: A stretch of London’s iconic Oxford Street was made traffic-free “forever” from Monday, as pedestrians took over the country’s most famous shopping street, absent of the capital’s red double-decker buses and black cabs.

Shoppers walking along the street said this was a “good idea”, but drivers of London’s famous black taxi cabs rejected the move as “crazy”.

“This is a momentous day for Oxford Street, but also for London,” Mayor Sadiq Khan told reporters on the thoroughfare, one of the busiest shopping zones in Europe.

“I want to be supporting our shops in Oxford Street and have a kilometre worth of this street — almost half of this street — traffic-free forever,” Khan said, adding the pedestrianisation would increase the number of shoppers. Those walking in the area on a rainy Monday said they backed the move.

“Overall, I think it’s a very good idea. It should have been done before,” said John Oxford, an 83-year-old professor of virology. “It gives people more of a chance to actually explore the shops, explore the iconic Oxford Street,” said Madaki Kanya, a 19-year-old visiting from Manchester in northwest England. “It’s a lot more comfortable walking around, not dodging the cars and the traffic,” agreed Paul Facer, 62, from Weymouth in the southwest, who was visiting with his wife.

The street brings in some $4.1 billion spending annually, but has faced challenges, including shops shuttering during the Covid-19 pandemic and a loss of footfall due to a shift to online shopping.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026