World Car Free Day (22/09)

World Carfree Day, celebrated annually on September 22 in many countries, is held to promote the idea of walking and cycling and the use of public transport.

The main motto of the Day: «City as a space for people, a space for life».

Too many cars — is not just a problem in big cities. This problem has been global for quite some time. After all, motor transport destroys both the biosphere of the planet and man himself — it is estimated that every day a car kills more than 3,000 people. And every minute a brand new «killer car » — comes off the assembly line these are the statistics.

With all this, production rates continue to grow: the car is one of the first places among the most advertised products.

Car Free Day was first held in 1973 in Switzerland, when the country's authorities, in connection with the fuel crisis, called on citizens to give up cars for four days. Separate actions to abandon cars in different European countries continued until 1997, when the first national action was carried out by Great Britain, and a year later it took place in France. Then this day was celebrated by only about two dozen cities. But by 2001, more than a thousand cities in 35 countries had officially joined the movement. Currently, according to rough estimates, more than 100 million people in 1.5 thousand cities around the world participate in this action every year.

Realizing that in modern conditions it is simply impossible to completely abandon cars, city heads and heads of various organizations want to remind the public about the problems that motor transport brings with it. At least once a year.

Large cities in many countries are reducing the use of cars for city trips on this day in favor of trams, trolleybuses, buses, subways and other types of public transport, as well as bicycles and walking. Some cities also host specially organized events on this day.

In Russia, Car Free Day was first held in Belgorod in 2005, then the action was supported by Nizhny Novgorod, and in Moscow it has been held since 2008. In the capital, traditionally on this day the cost of travel on city public transport is halved, and the authorities urge motorists to abandon personal vehicles and switch to public ones.

Also, as part of the Day, environmental, educational and interactive events are held in different Russian cities: bike rides, show programs, interactive games, sports attractions, mini-football matches, test drives of environmentally friendly vehicles and much more.



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