Car-Free Day Lets Europeans & Canadians Breathe Easier

[Guest guest]

It was absolutely amazing to me the amount of car related pollution

there was in Europe... In Florence, Italy, especially, I remember

feeling bad for those who lived near ground level in those huge

apartment buildings. The degree of carbon monoxide present made it

feel like I was choking in those narrow streets jammed with cars, at

all hours of the day... For the people living near the ground, I

imagine they can't even open their windows because of it, but then

neither could they get fresh air in their homes... This is at least

a step in the right direction... And a step that here in the

States, we have not even begun to take...

 

Be Well,

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Car-Free Day Lets Europeans Breathe Easier

Millions leave their cars at home

—By Leif Utne, Utne.com

September 26, 2003 Issue

 

http://www.22september.org/

http://www.carfreeday.ca/

 

On September 21, millions of people breathed easier as Europeans and

others in over a thousand communities in at least 20 countries

observed the sixth annual international " car-free " day. Started in

France in 1998, " car-free " days have spread around the globe as a way

for local activists and officials to demonstrate the impact of

private cars on air quality and showcase sustainable transportation

alternatives. According to the European Mobility Week web site,

nearly 40 percent of all transport-related carbon dioxide emissions

come from private cars in cities. On this " car-free " day, cities from

Athens to Paris to Dublin closed off major roadways, allowing only

pedestrians, bicycles, buses, emergency vehicles, and trucks powered

by clean alternative fuels or electricity. British organizers even

prepared a humorous Car User's Survival Kit on bus etiquette, reports

TerraDaily, including helpful phrases like " Is that seat free? " and

" Is this the correct bus stop for...? " Canadians got in on the act as

well, shutting down major streets to auto traffic in Toronto,

Montreal, Ottawa and Victoria.

-- Leif Utne

 

= = = = = = = = =

 

Europe gets break from high pollution on annual " car-free " day

PARIS (AFP) Sep 22, 2003

 

http://www.terradaily.com/2003/030922120029.8b9vdh35.html

 

Millions of Europeans breathed easier Monday as they used bicycles,

public transport or their own two feet to get to work on annual

" car-free " day, but the push to curb pollution failed to take off in

Asia. Some 1,000 cities, towns and communities in more than 20

countries across Europe urged commuters to forego their vehicles for

more environmentally friendly modes of transport in a bid to raise

awareness about pollution.

 

The initiative -- introduced in France in 1998 -- also provides

officials with an opportunity to test alternative mass transit

solutions, as traffic is barred in large areas of some of Europe's

most clogged cities.

 

From Amsterdam to Athens, cyclists, rollerbladers and pedestrians

replaced endless streams of exhaust-spewing cars on main

thoroughfares, with bicycles available for rent -- or for free -- in

several capitals.

 

In Paris, officials barred vehicles from much of the city center and

the Montmartre neighborhood from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (0700 to 1700

GMT), with only taxis, emergency trucks and vehicles powered by

" clean " liquid propane gas or electricity allowed on the roads.

 

Austrian schoolchildren learned a unique lesson about the benefits of

car-free cities, taking their classes in parks, city squares and even

roads closed to traffic.

 

Car devotees in Britain were offered a light-hearted phrasebook -- as

part of a Car User's Survival Kit -- on bus etiquette, with helpful

phrases like " Is that seat free? " and " Is this the correct bus stop

for...? "

 

But the country's junior transport minister Alan Whitehead insisted:

" This initiative is not an anti-car one and should not be portrayed

as such. We recognize the valuable role the car plays in an

integrated transport system. "

 

" Car-free " day came as a welcome respite to Europeans gagging for air

after an unusually hot, sunny summer, during which pollution levels

in congested cities repeatedly reached all-time highs.

 

Ozone levels in France this summer -- where a blistering heat wave

left at least 11,400 mainly elderly people dead, according to the

latest government estimates -- were the most dangerous on record

since 1991, officials said.

 

While many European cities had yet to measure pollution levels, Greek

environment ministry spokesman Angelos Niotakis said simply: " The

atmosphere is good. "

 

But strikes by Athens taxi drivers and petrol station workers seemed

to help reduce traffic more than the observation of " car-free " day,

with Niotakis admitting that Greek drivers were " not yet mature

enough to give up the wheel. "

 

Not all of Europe latched on to the idea, with Portugal's two largest

cities, the capital Lisbon and the northern city of Oporto, refusing

to shut their bustling downtown areas to car traffic.

 

" I'm not going to turn people's lives into hell, " Oporto's

center-right mayor Rui Rio said to justify his decision. Only a few

streets were to be closed in a symbolic show of support for the

Europe-wide initiative.

 

In Rome, officials organized informational seminars, but cars

continued to flow through the Italian capital. Only 11 cities across

the country including Padua, Palermo and Siena elected to reclaim the

streets from cars.

 

In Asia, the European initiative failed to drum up widespread

support, with only Taiwan showing any enthusiasm as thousands of

people cycled, walked or skated in clean air marches.

 

Despite the fanfare, traffic in Taipei -- as through much of the

region -- seemed as heavy as usual. In Tokyo, where " car-free " events

have been held since 2000, officials said a lack of funding was to

blame for this year's hiatus.

 

Some European cities held their " car-free " days on Sunday including

Budapest and Brussels, where balmy late-summer temperatures and free

public transport encouraged attendance at a series of street parties

and concerts.

 

Several cities in Canada including Toronto and Ottawa hosted

" car-free " events at the weekend, with Montreal due to shut down its

main roads during the day on Monday.