Car Free Days
Encyclopedia
A Car Free Day encourages motorists to give up their car for a day. Organized events are held in some cities and countries. September 22 is World Car Free Day. According to The Washington Post
, the event "promotes improvement of mass transit, cycling and walking, and the development of communities where jobs are closer to home and where shopping is within walking distance".
The events, which vary by location, give motorists and commuterists an idea of their locality with fewer cars. While projects along these lines had taken place from time to time on an ad hoc basis starting with the 1973 oil crisis
, it was only in October 1994 that a structured call for such projects was issued in a keynote speech by Eric Britton
at the International Ciudades Accesibles (Accessible Cities) Conference held in Toledo
(Spain). Thursday: A Breakthrough Strategy for Reducing Car Dependence in Cities
Within two years the first Days were organized in Reykjavík
(Iceland), Bath (Britain) and La Rochelle
(France), and the informal World Car Free Days Consortium was organized in 1995 to support Car-Free Days world wide. The first national campaign was inaugurated in Britain by the Environmental Transport Association
in 1997, the French followed suit in 1998 as In town, without my car! and was established as a Europe-wide initiative by the European Commission
in 2000. In the same year the Commission enlarged the program to a full European Mobility Week which now is the major focus of the Commission, with the Car-Free Day part of a greater new mobility whole.
Also in 2000, car free days went global with a World Carfree Day program launched by Carbusters, now World Carfree Network
, and in the same year the Earth Car Free Day collaborative program of the Earth Day Network and the World Car Free Days collaborative.
While considerable momentum has been achieved in terms of media coverage, these events turn out to be difficult to organize to achieve real success (perhaps requiring significant reorganization of the host city's transportation arrangement) and even a decade later there is considerable uncertainty about the usefulness of this approach. The sine qua non of success is the achievement of broad public support and commitment to change. By some counts by advocates (disputed), more than a thousand cities worldwide organized “Days” during 2005. The results have been extremely uneven.
Currently Bogotá
holds the world's largest car-free weekday event covering the entire city. The first car-free day was held in February 2000 and became institutionalised through a public referendum.
In September 2007 Jakarta
held its Car-Free Day that closed the main avenue of the city from cars and invited local pedestrian to exercise and having their activities on the streets that normally full of cars and traffic. Along the road from the Senayan traffic circle on Jalan Sudirman, South Jakarta, to the "Selamat Datang" Monument at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Jalan Thamrin, all the way north to National Monument Central Jakarta, cars are cleared out for pedestrians. Today the Car-Free Day in Jakarta's main avenue is held every two weeks on Sunday . It is held on the main avenue of the city; Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin, from Senayan area to Monas (Monumen Nasional) from 6 AM to 12 AM.
The exercise considered car users to be "addicts" who need to be "treated" in some way. The organisers considered this to mean that motorists should have no choice but to be without cars, at least for a time. In this particular instance the proposed "treatment" was to find an answer to the following question in three main parts:
Carfree days are also held in many US cities, such as Portland, Or., and in Japan.
The Environmental Transport Association
set the initial annual Car-Free Day on the first Tuesday in their Green Transport Week (around 17 June), since 2000 it was agreed to make it a self-standing day held on September 22, originally as a pan-European
day organised under the auspices of the European Commission
and later with international extensions—during which a large number of cities around the world are invited to close their centers to cars
. Pedestrians, bicycles, public transit and other forms of sustainable transportation are encouraged on these days. People can reflect on what their city would look like with a lot fewer cars, and what might be needed to make this happen. Advocates claim that over 100 million people in 1,500 cities celebrate International Car-Free Day, though on days and in ways of their choice. This claim however is not confirmed.
Over the first decade of the car-free day movement (1994–2005), the world has seen hundreds of cities giving the CFD (Car Free Day) approach a try in very different circumstances, some good, some undeniably bad, some of them on several occasions.
Activists in this field wondered what were the actual accomplishments. They suggested that it was agreeable to have a pleasant day with fewer cars and probably fewer accidents at least in some parts of the city, but considered that this was not the bottom line. For them the goal of a Car Free Day had from the beginning been to serve as a small step, as a catalyst in a much larger and more ambitious process of city-wide systemic transformation toward a more truly sustainable mobility system. They suggested that wit
The persons involved in the movement thought that after ten years it was time to stand back and look hard to see what if any difference this approach has made. They asked themselves if CFDs made here or there had produced any significant permanent impacts on cities and the ways human beings get around in them. They wondered if they could be content with what the great bulk of these projects and programs had achieved and just keep going on as-is, or if it were not time to stand back and look again. They decided to fight complacency with a new international collaborative program starting in 2004.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the event "promotes improvement of mass transit, cycling and walking, and the development of communities where jobs are closer to home and where shopping is within walking distance".
The events, which vary by location, give motorists and commuterists an idea of their locality with fewer cars. While projects along these lines had taken place from time to time on an ad hoc basis starting with the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, it was only in October 1994 that a structured call for such projects was issued in a keynote speech by Eric Britton
Eric Britton
Francis Eric Knight Britton is an American Political Scientist and Sustainability Activist who has lived and worked in Paris, France since 1969. As the main convenor of The Commons: Open Society Sustainability Initiative and its various networks, he is well known for promoting integrated public...
at the International Ciudades Accesibles (Accessible Cities) Conference held in Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
(Spain). Thursday: A Breakthrough Strategy for Reducing Car Dependence in Cities
Within two years the first Days were organized in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
(Iceland), Bath (Britain) and La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
(France), and the informal World Car Free Days Consortium was organized in 1995 to support Car-Free Days world wide. The first national campaign was inaugurated in Britain by the Environmental Transport Association
Environmental Transport Association
The Environmental Transport Association is a United Kingdom breakdown and road rescue company, but unlike the Automobile Association or RAC plc which are perceived as pro-car, the ETA aims to raise awareness of the impact that transport has on the environment and help individuals and organisations...
in 1997, the French followed suit in 1998 as In town, without my car! and was established as a Europe-wide initiative by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in 2000. In the same year the Commission enlarged the program to a full European Mobility Week which now is the major focus of the Commission, with the Car-Free Day part of a greater new mobility whole.
Also in 2000, car free days went global with a World Carfree Day program launched by Carbusters, now World Carfree Network
World Carfree Network
The World Carfree Network is an international network that coordinates the actions of car-free advocates from around the world. It is the main hub of the global car-free movement...
, and in the same year the Earth Car Free Day collaborative program of the Earth Day Network and the World Car Free Days collaborative.
While considerable momentum has been achieved in terms of media coverage, these events turn out to be difficult to organize to achieve real success (perhaps requiring significant reorganization of the host city's transportation arrangement) and even a decade later there is considerable uncertainty about the usefulness of this approach. The sine qua non of success is the achievement of broad public support and commitment to change. By some counts by advocates (disputed), more than a thousand cities worldwide organized “Days” during 2005. The results have been extremely uneven.
Currently Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
holds the world's largest car-free weekday event covering the entire city. The first car-free day was held in February 2000 and became institutionalised through a public referendum.
In September 2007 Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
held its Car-Free Day that closed the main avenue of the city from cars and invited local pedestrian to exercise and having their activities on the streets that normally full of cars and traffic. Along the road from the Senayan traffic circle on Jalan Sudirman, South Jakarta, to the "Selamat Datang" Monument at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Jalan Thamrin, all the way north to National Monument Central Jakarta, cars are cleared out for pedestrians. Today the Car-Free Day in Jakarta's main avenue is held every two weeks on Sunday . It is held on the main avenue of the city; Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin, from Senayan area to Monas (Monumen Nasional) from 6 AM to 12 AM.
How it works
The 1994 Car Free Day Call set out a challenge for a city, neighborhood or group:- • To spend one carefully prepared day without cars.
- • To study and observe closely what exactly goes on during that day.
- • Then, to reflect publicly and collectively on the lessons of this experience and on what might be prudently and creatively done next to build on these.
The exercise considered car users to be "addicts" who need to be "treated" in some way. The organisers considered this to mean that motorists should have no choice but to be without cars, at least for a time. In this particular instance the proposed "treatment" was to find an answer to the following question in three main parts:
- • Is it possible to get drivers out of their cars in one or more cities...
- • In ways that will be tolerable in a pluralistic democracy...
- • For at least long enough to demonstrate what needs to happen to make a car-less (or, more accurately, less-car) urban transport paradigm actually work?
Europe
- In town, without my car!
Carfree days are also held in many US cities, such as Portland, Or., and in Japan.
First Ten Years
The Environmental Transport Association
Environmental Transport Association
The Environmental Transport Association is a United Kingdom breakdown and road rescue company, but unlike the Automobile Association or RAC plc which are perceived as pro-car, the ETA aims to raise awareness of the impact that transport has on the environment and help individuals and organisations...
set the initial annual Car-Free Day on the first Tuesday in their Green Transport Week (around 17 June), since 2000 it was agreed to make it a self-standing day held on September 22, originally as a pan-European
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
day organised under the auspices of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and later with international extensions—during which a large number of cities around the world are invited to close their centers to cars
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
. Pedestrians, bicycles, public transit and other forms of sustainable transportation are encouraged on these days. People can reflect on what their city would look like with a lot fewer cars, and what might be needed to make this happen. Advocates claim that over 100 million people in 1,500 cities celebrate International Car-Free Day, though on days and in ways of their choice. This claim however is not confirmed.
Over the first decade of the car-free day movement (1994–2005), the world has seen hundreds of cities giving the CFD (Car Free Day) approach a try in very different circumstances, some good, some undeniably bad, some of them on several occasions.
Activists in this field wondered what were the actual accomplishments. They suggested that it was agreeable to have a pleasant day with fewer cars and probably fewer accidents at least in some parts of the city, but considered that this was not the bottom line. For them the goal of a Car Free Day had from the beginning been to serve as a small step, as a catalyst in a much larger and more ambitious process of city-wide systemic transformation toward a more truly sustainable mobility system. They suggested that wit
The persons involved in the movement thought that after ten years it was time to stand back and look hard to see what if any difference this approach has made. They asked themselves if CFDs made here or there had produced any significant permanent impacts on cities and the ways human beings get around in them. They wondered if they could be content with what the great bulk of these projects and programs had achieved and just keep going on as-is, or if it were not time to stand back and look again. They decided to fight complacency with a new international collaborative program starting in 2004.
Timeline: Some major Carfree Day-related events
The following chronology assembles some of the main events of the last decades, which together have gradually built on each other's accomplishments to leave us today with a movement that is, to say the least, only now beginning to get under way. There are a very large number of cities and events that are not covered here.- 1956, Low CountriesLow CountriesThe Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. The first car free Sundays in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
because of the Suezcrisis. Every Sunday from November 25 to January 20, 1957 were car free. - 1958, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Demonstrations of neighbors of the Washington Square ParkWashington Square ParkWashington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
area of New York City eventually block a proposed extension of Fifth Avenue, which would have eliminated this popular public park and social oasis. - 1961, New York City. One of the ringleaders of the 1958 demonstration, Jane JacobsJane JacobsJane Jacobs, was an American-Canadian writer and activist with primary interest in communities and urban planning and decay. She is best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities , a powerful critique of the urban renewal policies of the 1950s in the United States...
, publishes The Death and Life of Great American CitiesThe Death and Life of Great American CitiesThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, is a greatly influential book on the subject of urban planning in the 20th century...
, Vintage Books, opening up the discussions of car restraint in cities. - Autumn, 1968, Groningen, Netherlands. First neighborhood WoonerfLiving streetA living street is a street in which, unlike in most 20th century streets, the needs of car drivers are secondary to the needs of users of the street as a whole. It is a space designed to be shared by pedestrians, playing children, bicyclists, and low-speed motor vehicles...
. The goal of this at first entirely illegal project led by local residents is to claim back the street from cars and create safe space for people. - 1972, DelftDelftDelft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, Netherlands. First official Woonerf opens. - 1973, Abbaye de Royaumont, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The OECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
Development Center and EcoPlan (The Commons) organize a 4 day international brainstorm on combining car restraint and non-conventional or "in-between" transit (paratransit) in Third World cities. - January-February, 1974, Switzerland. Four car free Sundays were organized during the "Oil Crisis".
- 1981, East Germany (DDR). First German Carfree Day took place.
- October 1988, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. "Cities without Cars?" program begins. International, unstructured, non-bureaucratic, topic-driven, long term cooperative program is launched by EcoPlan and the Commons. It later morphed into today's New Mobility Agenda. - September 1991, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. First International Conference on Auto-Free Cities. Organized by Transportation Alternatives. - September 1992, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Second International Conference on Auto-Free Cities. - September 1992, San Francisco. Critical MassCritical MassCritical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. The purpose of Critical Mass is not usually formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and...
. More or less anarchist, at least self-organizing, group cranked up to take back the streets from cars. Still at it. - Fall 1992, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France. First @ccess Forum opened in cooperation with ECTF on Internet. Carfree Day concept discussed and expanded on this international list. - Fall 1992, OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada. Auto-Free Ottawa Newsletter started. - March 1994, AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Car Free Cities Network launched by DG XI and Eurocities. - 14 October 1994, ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain. Thursday: Carfree Day Proposal, work plan and public call for international collaboration is presented at Spanish "Ciudades Accesibles" Congress. (Representatives of Car Free Cities and later Reykjavík, Bath and La Rochelle CFD projects all present.) - 8 May 1996, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. Copenhagen Declaration is issued by international meeting of European government groups. - June 1996, ReykjavíkReykjavíkReykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland. Carfree Day is organized by local government and held in Iceland's capital city. - 11 June 1996, Bath, the first British Carfree Day organised within the Environmental Transport AssociationEnvironmental Transport AssociationThe Environmental Transport Association is a United Kingdom breakdown and road rescue company, but unlike the Automobile Association or RAC plc which are perceived as pro-car, the ETA aims to raise awareness of the impact that transport has on the environment and help individuals and organisations...
's Green Transport Week. - 17 June 1997, WeybridgeWeybridgeWeybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, the world's first national Car-Free Day inaugurated by the Environmental Transport AssociationEnvironmental Transport AssociationThe Environmental Transport Association is a United Kingdom breakdown and road rescue company, but unlike the Automobile Association or RAC plc which are perceived as pro-car, the ETA aims to raise awareness of the impact that transport has on the environment and help individuals and organisations...
in Britain. The ETA co-ordinates the annual CFDs. - 9 September 1997, La RochelleLa RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, France. Journée sans voiture. Led by Mayor Michel Crépeau and Jacques Tallut, La Rochelle organize France's first real CFD. - 21 October 1997, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Thursday: Carfree Day proposal made to French Ministry of the Environment. Proposal from this Consortium made as part of the Common's "Smogbuster" package for fighting car-related pollution and other problems in French cities. (The Ministry used this foundation to launch its own "En ville, sans ma voiture?" program one year later.) - 26 October - 1 November 1997, LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France. Towards Carfree Cities I conference. Organized by European Youth for Action and the Lyon-based Régroupement pour une ville sans voiture. Carbusters Magazine & Resource Centre launched. - Winter 1997, AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Carfree Times. Carfree Times published Volume 1, Number 1 (with no public support and made freely available). - Winter, 1997, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. @World Carfree Day Consortium. This open NGO site is established by The Commons as part of their long term New Mobility program on the WWW to support Carfree Day organization and expert follow-up in cities all over the world. - 21 June 1998. Mobil Ohne Auto, Germany-wide Car Free Mobility Day.
- 22 September 1998, "En ville, sans ma voiture?", France. French Ministry of the Environment and 34 French cities organized "En ville, sans ma voiture?" ("A day in the city without my car?).
- 1 December 1999, Britain. First National ETA Carfree Planning support (UK) sharing information on planning for European Carfree Day in Britain
- 19 September 1999, Netherlands. First National Carfree Sunday in the Netherlands.
- 22 September 1999, First European "Pilot Day". On Wednesday, 22 September 1999, 66 French towns participate in "En ville, sans ma voiture ?" (2nd edition), while in parallel 92 Italian towns organize the first Italian National Carfree Day, "In cittá senza la mia auto". The Canton of Geneva also participates in what later was later called the first European "Pilot Day", wherein all the participating cities designated car free areas in their centers.
- Sunday, 26 September 1999. First Belgian CFD announced.
- 1 December 1999, Britain. Consortium of interested individuals and groups set up the first independent national support group on Web to promote CFDs in Britain (see menu to left for direct link)
- Sunday, 6 February 2000, Italy. Environment Minister Edo Ronchi opens first of 4 successive Car Free Sundays in Italy, to take place on first Sunday of month for next four months.
- 24 February 2000, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Colombia. The Bogotá Challenge. The City of Bogotá organizes Sin mi carro en Bogotá in cooperation with the World Carfree Day Consortium, the world's first large scale "Thursday" CFD project, and launches its Bogotá Challenge to the rest of the world. - 10–18 June 2000, British Green Transport Week organised by the Environmental Transport AssociationEnvironmental Transport AssociationThe Environmental Transport Association is a United Kingdom breakdown and road rescue company, but unlike the Automobile Association or RAC plc which are perceived as pro-car, the ETA aims to raise awareness of the impact that transport has on the environment and help individuals and organisations...
. - 24–27 June 2000, Bremen, Germany. Car Free Cities conference in Bremen.
- 21 September 2000. World Carfree Day - first global carfree day, launched and promoted by Carbusters (now World Carfree Network) and Adbusters Media Foundation.
- 22 September 2000. First European Carfree Day. The government sponsors report that 760 European towns jointly organized the first pan-European "In town, without my car!" day. Perhaps indicating growing confidence, the question mark has now become an exclamation point.
- 14 October 2000. Chengdu City of Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China, starts the first ever "Car-Free Day" in that nation.
- 29 October 2000. Bogotá holds the world's first Car Free Referendum (which passes with flying colors).
- 1 November 2000. Earth Carfree Day program launched by the Commons and WC/FD Consortium in cooperation with Earth Day Network.
- 23 November 2000 Shed Your Car Day - Fremantle. First Australian CFD (http://www.freonet.net.au/shed-your-car/index01.html & http://www.freonet.net.au/shed-your-car/).
- 1 February 2001. Bogotá launches the first ECFD 2001 project with its second Dia sin Carro.
- Spring 2001. "Domeniche ecologiche 2001" - The Italian Ministry of the Environment organises the first Ecological Sundays car-free program, running on five weekends.
- 19 April 2001. First Earth Carfree Day. More than 300 hundred groups and cities around the world participate in this first ECFD organised by The Commons WC/FD program and Earth Day Network.
- September 2001. Second European CFD and second World Carfree Day.
- September 22, 2001. Toronto becomes the first North American city to officially host a Carfree Day.
- November 2001. United Nations contacts The Commons and proposed a joint world level project: the United Nations Carfree Days Programme, to be organized as a run-up to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, demonstrating that this approach is one that can make a difference.
- 6–8 February 2002. First United National Regional Carfree Days Practicum organized for Latin America, in cooperation with and support of the third Carfree Day in Bogotá, Colombia. Practicum brings together a delegation of mayors from across the region to observe and exchange information on the CFD approach for their cities.
- 8–10 May 2002. Second UN Carfree Day Demonstration and Practicum for Regional Mayors took place in Fremantle, West Australia.
- 19 April 2002. First European Mobility Week launched by EC in Brussels. Planned as annual event in September around their "In town without my car!" program.
- 22 September 2002. Third World Carfree Day, promoted by Carbusters (now World Carfree Network) and Adbusters Media Foundation.
- 2002. CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Carfree Day Network established, and is active in a growing number of cities, including TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. - April 2003. Towards Car-Free Cities III, PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic, organised by Carbusters (now World Carfree Network). - September 2003. MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
becomes the first Canadian city to hold a major downtown, weekday street closure. - September 2003, CamdenCamden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
, UK. Camden celebrates the first Travelwise Week building on Carfree Days celebrated every year since 2000. - 22 September 2003. Fourth World Carfree Day, promoted by World Carfree Network and Adbusters Media Foundation.
- July 2004. Towards Car-Free Cities IV, Humboldt University, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, organised by World Carfree Network in partnership with Autofrei Wohnen, Autofrei Leben!, BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), ITDP Europe, and other German organisations. - 19 to 24 September 2004. Toronto's first New Mobility Week launched a public enquiry into new less-car packages of policies and measures.
- 16–23 September 2004. European Mobility Week.
- 22 September 2004 "In town, without my car!", organized by the European Commission and national partners.
- 22 September 2004. Fifth World Carfree Day, promoted by World Carfree Network and Adbusters Media Foundation.
- July 2005. Towards Car-Free Cities V, BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary, organised by World Carfree Network and Clean Air Action Group, in partnership with Hungarian Traffic Club and Hungarian Young Greens. - 22 September 2006. Car Free Day on Yonge Street and Yonge Dundas Square. The first downtown weekday street closure in celebration of Toronto Car Free Day.
- 22 September 2007. Car Free Day in JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, organized by Jakarta municipal government. The Car Free Day closed Jakarta's main avenue such as Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman from cars, and invited locals to have their sports and activities on the street. Since then Car Free Day is become a monthly event in Jakarta, held every last Sunday of the month. However every other Sundays these main avenues is closed from cars for a shorter period. - 22 September 2007. Car Free Day in KaohsiungKaohsiungKaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, organised by the Kaohsiung City Council. Thousands cycled from the Tower of Light, to Singuang Ferry Wharf (see map). All city public transportation service was made for free for a week from 22 to 28 September 2007. Kaohsiung has started celebrating the International Car Free Day since year 2004. And this year's slogan is 熄火愛地球, 高雄齊步走. A total of 1953 towns and cities participate from 38 countries around the world. - 16–20 June 2008. Towards Carfree Cities Conference VIII in PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
organized by SHIFT. - 21 September 2008. Annual Car Free Day in the Netherlands. At least 22 cities such as Nijmegen, Tilburg, Rotterdam, Arnhem, Gouda.. are car free. See Autovrije Dag Nederland.
- 28 September 2008. Car Free Day at Wood Green High Road, London, UK. See Haringey News Archive.
- 29 September 2009. World Car Free Day celebrated in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
with free bike repairs, yoga classes and groups that encourage environmentally friendly lives. One such group was involved in petitioning avid car users to go car-free for the first time: The Car-Free Diet
See also
- Buy Nothing DayBuy Nothing Daythumb|Buy Nothing Day demonstration in [[San Francisco]], November 2000Buy Nothing Day ' is an international day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2011...
- Carfree city
- Car-free movementCar-free movementThe car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations including social activists, urban planners and others brought together by a shared belief that cars are too dominant in most modern cities...
- Car-free zoneCar-free zonePedestrian zones are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian only use and in which some or all automobile traffic may be prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have pedestrian-only areas...
- Carless daysCarless daysCarless days were introduced by the Muldoon government of New Zealand on 30 July 1979. The enabling legislation was one of several unsuccessful attempts to help the declining New Zealand economy after the oil shocks of the late 1970s - other such policies included the Think Big strategy.In this...
(New Zealand political history) - Critical MassCritical MassCritical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. The purpose of Critical Mass is not usually formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and...
- Cyclovia
- Hoy No CirculaHoy No CirculaHoy No Circula is the name of an environmental program intended to improve the air quality of Mexico City. A similar coordinated program operates within the State of México, which surrounds Mexico City on three sides...
(Mexico) - In town, without my car! (EU)
- List of car-free places
- Mayor of London's Sky Ride
- No Car DayNo Car DayIn 2007, China launched the Green Transport and Health week campaign. The campaign ended with a No Car Day Saturday.This Chinese national urban transport campaign was implemented by the Ministry of Construction. During the week of September 22, walking, biking, public transportation, and carpooling...
(China) - Reclaim the StreetsReclaim the StreetsReclaim The Streets is a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterize the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalization, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport.-Protests:Reclaim The...
- Spare the air day (San Francisco Bay Area)
- United Nations Car Free DaysUnited Nations Car Free DaysUnited Nations Car Free Days is a process and event driven approach to promote sustainability in the developing world, relating to transport in cities....
- World Carfree NetworkWorld Carfree NetworkThe World Carfree Network is an international network that coordinates the actions of car-free advocates from around the world. It is the main hub of the global car-free movement...
External links
- Towards Carfree Cities Conference 2008
- European Mobility Week/Car Free Day
- World Carfree Network
- World Carfree Day
- World Car Free Days Collaborative
- World Carfree Day Wiki
- International/Regional Car-Free Day Programs
- National Car-Free Day Programs
- Thursday: A Breakthrough Strategy for Reducing Car Dependence in Cities
- United Nations Car Free Days
- Car Free Day UK
- Dutch site of (annual) National Car Free Day in Holland
- Street Party
- Streets Alive!
- Shed Your Car Day (Australia 2002)
- Kaohsiung Car Free Day 2007
- Living Car Free forum
- Campaign-website for Flanders - Belgium