No cars: it’s Car-Free Day

September 22 marks the Car-Free Day in many cities and towns of the world in a bid to encourage people to leave their cars at home and join the campaign “Space for People.” 

People from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to declare that the cities are spaces for people. 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 Washington Post said.

The first national campaign was inaugurated in Britain by the Environmental Transport Association in 1997, France followed suit in 1998 as “In town, without my car!” In 2000 the event was established as a Europe-wide initiative by the European Commission. 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 Car-Free 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.

Among Russian towns which joined the campaign are Belgorod (2005), Nizhniy Novgorod (2006) and Moscow (2008).