World cities drive change on Car-Free Day

A global event which aims to shift cars off the road and encourage people onto alternative transport modes takes place on Sunday. World Car-Free Day 2019 gives metropolitan areas from Bangkok, Thailand to Reykjavik, Iceland, the opportunity to stop traffic and open their streets to pedestrians and cyclists. While some cities, including Vancouver, Canada and Berlin, Germany, hold car-free days at other times of the year, the weekend will see a number of events. In Washington, DC, it is hosted by Commut
September 20, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

A global event which aims to shift cars off the road and encourage people onto alternative transport modes takes place on Sunday.

World Car-Free Day 2019 gives metropolitan areas from Bangkok, Thailand to Reykjavik, Iceland, the opportunity to stop traffic and open their streets to pedestrians and cyclists. While some cities, including Vancouver, Canada and Berlin, Germany, hold car-free days at other times of the year, the weekend will see a number of events.

In Washington, DC, it is hosted by Commuter Connections and will be celebrated over three days, with people encouraged to “take the pledge, even if you’re already car free”.

Paris is also celebrating on Sunday, but the French capital’s first four arrondissements are already closed to automobile traffic one Sunday per month.

In the UK, large areas of central London will be closed, with 6352 Santander Cycles free to hire across the whole of the capital for 24 hours as part of the ‘Reimagine’ festival.

However, a new white paper - Kicking the UK’s car habit - reveals that 44% of the British population claim ‘nothing’ would induce them to give up their private car. Commissioned by 5957 Ito World, the research finds that just 5% of those who say they could be persuaded to do so cited ‘concern for the environment’ as a reason for ditching their car.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Trust is the key, says Cubic’s Crissy Ditmore
    August 7, 2019
    Trust is the key to encouraging people to take up shared mobility and MaaS services, thinks Cubic Transportation Systems’ Crissy Ditmore. She tells Adam Hill why sharing must be the way forward Crissy Ditmore is on the move. Director of strategy at Cubic Transportation Systems since September last year, she lives in Boise, Idaho, but doesn’t see a great deal of the city as she is “90% of the time on the road”. This is appropriate for someone whose business is working out how to get people from place to p
    Read More
  • Whim launch in Birmingham: new day dawning
    June 4, 2018
    MaaS Global’s Whim mobility service is expanding with its first launch outside Finland – and has chosen the UK’s second city as its base. Adam Hill reports from Birmingham
    Read More
  • ARTBA president: what happened to the hoverboards?
    October 28, 2019
    What keeps Dave Bauer up at night? David Arminas caught up with the head of ARTBA at his Washington, DC office during daylight hours Dave Bauer doesn’t really have many sleepless nights. He might sleep, though, with one eye open, just in case. “We have become a much more divided country politically,” says Bauer, president of ARTBA – American Road and Transportation Builders Association. “Whether you are thinking about federal government, or state or local government, there’s a hostility now in our politi
    Read More
  • Congestion pricing - no such thing as a free ride
    October 2, 2018
    The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles is likely to increase congestion, many experts believe. But Wes Guckert of Traffic Group believes that tolling could provide the answer. While it is still hard to wrap your head around the idea of getting into a vehicle without a driver, the industry is now used to hearing, reading, participating in the advancement of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Those in the industry have heard about Uber delivering a shipment of Budweiser, or the convoy of driverless trucks
    Read More

Highlighted Content