Artist’s impression of Tower Bridge, London, on Car-Free Day, September 22.
TFL
World Car Free Day is an event celebrated in cities around the world on September 22 every year, encouraging motorists to give up their cars for a day by highlighting that roads are not just for motor traffic.
London will be staging one of the most significant global Car-Free Days, with the City of London and some surrounding streets becoming the venue for a major festival.
As well as a sunrise yoga session on Tower Bridge, there will be a later classic-cycle ride across the iconic bridge. All of the city’s cycle hire bike will be free for the day, and organizers are hoping that 150,000 people will take to the streets and discover what London is like when it’s not clogged nose-to-tail with space-inefficient motor cars.
More than 20 miles of London’s roads will be closed to motor traffic for the day, and 340 residential streets will be made into “PlayStreets” for children.
Orchestral and dance performances will be staged at the Bank Junction in the City of London, and spectators will be able to relax on the roads on deckchairs, armchairs and bean bags.
Additionally, 15 London boroughs–including Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest– will be staging their own Car-Free Day events.
“I’m really proud that London will be holding its biggest Car Free Day celebrations on Sunday,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
“By enabling Londoners to explore our city without cars and traffic, we will inspire them to walk and cycle as part of their daily routine–something which is crucial to clean up our toxic air.”
Israel’s “Car-Free Day” is held on Yom Kippur, a major Jewish religious holiday. On this day Israelis refrain from using cars. The empty streets are overtaken by pedestrians and cyclists. Credit: Michael Jacobs/Alamy live news (Photo by Michael
Corbis via Getty Images
The clean-air theme was continued by Dr. Audrey de Nazelle of the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London who added: “For one day Londoners will walk, bike and play down the streets devoid of the most immediate sources of air pollution, noise, and traffic stress. Hopefully, they will develop a taste for it and soon be demanding more permanent car-free solutions.”
Cities have been organizing International Car-Free Days annually since 1995. In the EU, the day caps the end of European Mobility Week. Bogotá in Colombia holds the world’s largest car-free day, which was formalized after a public referendum.
