Transportation / Mobility

January 27, 2005

 

Car-Free Day Held in Yokohama

Keywords: Government NGO / Citizen Transportation / Mobility 

Yokohama Car-Free Day 2004, a one-day campaign to call on citizens to refrain from driving their automobiles and to reflect on city traffic and the urban environment, was held in the Minato Mirai 21 district in Yokohama on September 23, 2004. The Minato Mirai 21 district is the location of several major new development projects. The Car-Free Day event was organized by a committee of 38 citizen groups that work on community development, environmental conservation and city traffic issues.

Car-Free Day was an experiment organized on the community level to see how citizens would react to spending a day in a central part of the city without using their cars. Automobiles were banned from the Minato Mirai district, but in contrast to a mere "No Car Day," the Car-Free Day event included increased public transport services and discounted fares. Citizens were also encouraged to use rental bicycles. The aim of Car-Free Day was to encourage understanding in the community that the inconvenience of not having a car in the city can be offset by these kinds of measures.

The Car-Free Day movement started in France in 1997 and has taken root in other countries all over the world as part of an environmental project promulgated by the European Union. In Japan, "the implementation of Car-Free Day" was included in the 2004 Environmental Action Plan drawn up by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Car-Free Day aims to provide citizens with an opportunity to experience the absence of exhaust gases, traffic jams, traffic accidents and traffic noise. It also gives people an incentive to consider how to improve transport systems and what would be their ideal urban environment. While people enjoyed walking and cycling in the area, they could also view fuel cell vehicles, solar power generators, miniature city buses for children and other attractions on display for Yokohama's Car-Free Day.





Posted: 2005/01/27 01:41:12 PM
Japanese version

 

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