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The New York City transportation guru who closed Times Square to cars says Ottawa could do the same in the ByWard Market.

Janette Sadik-Khan visited the Market on Wednesday as part of a day-long stop here, which was to culminate with an evening keynote speech to hundreds at the Aberdeen Pavilion.

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“Try it, you’ll like it,” she said. “Cars don’t shop, people do. When you prioritize pedestrians and make it easy for them to walk in and out of stores, it’s much better for the bottom line of businesses.”

Faced with some initial reluctance, Sadik-Khan, New York’s former transportation commissioner, created a six-month pilot project in 2009 to close Times Square to cars. That gave business owners and the public time to see how such a thing would work.

“It’s not like looking at dry renderings or computer models. People can actually see and touch and feel it themselves. If it works, you keep it, and if it doesn’t work, you can put it back.”