The 29th of September was dubbed as the day without cars in Santiago, Chile and many other countires celebrated similar festivals close to this day. The entire event, that is 24 hours without the use cars is truly a contradiction of terms like ‘cold fire.’ It appears that an initiative was started around the world to promote ecological alternatives to the pollution-producing vehicle, but how successful is it?All this talk about Car-free days became a serious notion during the 1973-1974 oil crisis but it wasn’t till October 1994 that an actual stucture for the said event was drafted, although by that time many cities world wide had already start promoting car-free days. The document briefly states that the community should spend one carefully prepared day without cars, to then observe and closely study what exactly goes on during that day. Later, participantes and organisers should reflect collectively on the days’experiences and on how to improve the event for the future. The whole idea behind this goes beyond the reduction of car use, it is in fact a window to see how cities and lives in said cities can be improved by reducing harmful emissions and keeping people more active. But one has to ask if it is truly possible to get drivers out of their cars and on to other more enironmental safe transport? And, if not, could they co-exsist with cyclists, skateboarders, rollerblader and other like kin or with they continue to act like cats and dogs.
Here in Santiago, two lanes on the city’s major avenue were reserved for alternative transport, but only for a limited time. I was impressed by the gesture but was also disappointed to see that all was as usual once the rush hour mass began heaping up. I have also participated in serveral “critical mass” rallies in Barcelona, Catalunya and proudly use my bicycle as a means of transport in the Santiago, Chile everyday (not just on the anti-automoble days) and I hate to admit that I feel like I’m fighting a lost battle. The concept of NOT using a car as the major means of tranportation is absolutely foreign to western societies. I get the impression that no once is reflecting or thinking back on the day’s event to find out how to improve and motivate people to get off their ass!
Please… lets think this one over and make suggestions to governments and urban planners around the world to make ecologically friendly means of transportation around the city safe, easy and an efficient.
Here in Santiago, two lanes on the city’s major avenue were reserved for alternative transport, but only for a limited time. I was impressed by the gesture but was also disappointed to see that all was as usual once the rush hour mass began heaping up. I have also participated in serveral “critical mass” rallies in Barcelona, Catalunya and proudly use my bicycle as a means of transport in the Santiago, Chile everyday (not just on the anti-automoble days) and I hate to admit that I feel like I’m fighting a lost battle. The concept of NOT using a car as the major means of tranportation is absolutely foreign to western societies. I get the impression that no once is reflecting or thinking back on the day’s event to find out how to improve and motivate people to get off their ass!
Please… lets think this one over and make suggestions to governments and urban planners around the world to make ecologically friendly means of transportation around the city safe, easy and an efficient.
