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| D.C. celebrates alternatives on car-free day |
VOICE writes, "D.C. celebrates alternatives on car-free day
BY KATIE PEARCE
Yesterday the District joined more than 1,000 cities worldwide by embracing the trend of a designated car-free day.
“It was a good morning,” said Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser of the first annual D.C. Car-Free Day. “We're just encouraging everybody to see D.C. without driving their cars. We know that they can walk, bike, use public transportation and the like.”
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells proposed the event in July and received unanimous support from other council members.
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It's difficult to gauge how many people took part in yesterday's event, said Wells' spokesperson, Charles Allen. He said more than 1,000 people signed an online pledge to take a “Car-Free Challenge,” saving an estimated 3,000 miles of car driving on D.C. roads.
All 13 D.C. Council members, along with Mayor Adrian Fenty, participated. Using various modes of transportation — at-large Council member Kwame Brown rode on a Segway — the council members convened at the Wilson Building around 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
“Part of it was trying to lead by example,” Allen said.
Dupont Circle Citizens Association president Rob Halligan said he “hadn't heard of [the event]” until he pulled up in front of the Wilson building yesterday morning and saw the council members arriving.
Advertising efforts about D.C. Car-Free Day — including coverage by major news outlets, a Fenty press conference and signs on the sides of buses — “got the word out there,” said Allen.
Bowser spokesperson Kristen Barden said the council member recorded a promotional spot for D.C. Car-Free Day that aired several times on CNN Headline News.
But Allen acknowledged that, with only two months of planning, this year's event was “a modest endeavor” and should expand and gain momentum by next year.
Nikki Marks, general manager at Bike the Sites — one of D.C. Car-Free Day's many sponsors — remarked that more preparation time might have increased the day's impact. She said her company, which offers bike rentals and guided bike tours, “only started the conversation [about the event] at the end of August.”
Bike the Sites offered a special deal for D.C. Car-Free Day, slashing prices on bike rentals from $35 to $15 per day. Around eight people took advantage of the offer, said Marks — “not as many as we would have liked.”
A traffic snarl on 16th Street yesterday morning also proved a setback. Bowser said she participated in a bike caravan setting off from Coolidge High School before joining Fenty on the S2 bus on 16th Street.
“Unfortunately, there was a pretty significant accident that shut 16th Street down in both directions,” she said. She and Fenty got off the bus for a few blocks and walked, she said.
International car-free events will culminate Saturday on World Car-Free Day, which organizers call “a celebration of cities and public life, free from the noises, stress and pollution of cars.”
The annual celebration began in 2000 and has attracted the participation of cities such as Toronto, Canada; Portland, Ore.; Oakland, Calif.; and Santiago, Chile. International events promote alternatives to car dependence and automobile-based planning, according to World Carfree Network's Web site.
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Posted on Sep 20, 2007 07:53am.
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