Commuting - Car "free" day?

I saw on the news that there was a car free day in the "plateau/downtown" area of montreal,

Taken from the Car free day website (http://www.carfreeday.ca/news.php?id=90)



MONTREAL - Montreal is among 1,500 cities in 38 countries around the world taking part in Car Free Day, a global effort to reduce fossil fuel emissions.


More Montrealers than ever before are finding other ways to get around.

In Canada, several cities, including Quebec City, Gatineau, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and Victoria have activities planned.

I don't go trhough this area @ all, but I was wondering if there are ppl here who participated to this event (they metions 1500 cities participating). Just wondering how nice it felt to "claim" the streets, and if you think that this kind of things actually raises awareness, or makes ppl pissed off more then anything.

I remember back in the the great gas wars of the 70's hoping that a car free day would be the result of the odd/even gas thing.

Perhaps with rising gas prices this may still come to pass. :D

I think the effect of things like this is pretty neutral. What percentage of the overall population would you say participated? Probably pretty negligible at best. The Gold Coast supposedly participated, but the gridlock on the Sundale Bridge that day was the same as it is every other day. I think the only people who bothered to participate were a few who felt guilty about driving every other day of the year.

For me, every day is car-free day.

I'm hoping that the rising gas prices would change things, but you know how spoiled some Americans are for their SUVs...

I hope the gas prices take a jump up to $4.25 per gallon. Then people will really start to think about that gas-hog of a vehicle they drive!

Chris: My understanding is that there was an entire section of downtown that was barred for cars.. I saw images of the streets filled with ppl.

Which DID force some ppl to use alternate mode of transportation...

Chris: My understanding is that there was an entire section of downtown that was barred for cars.. I saw images of the streets filled with ppl.

Which DID force some ppl to use alternate mode of transportation...

And just how big was that section of town? And how busy is it normally? I'd say the likelihood here is that a few people just parked their cars and walked an extra 50 metres for a day.

Now if urban planners were serious about promoting alternative transportation...

Oh forget it!

I mapped it from the info on that webpage I linked to, and it's an area of about 0.5km by 1km.

This is usually one of the busiest area of montreal. The thing is... I just saw that the times is 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, conveniently outside of the rush hours, so I bet many joe motorheads were not even affected by this.

I'm sure it was nice though, to see the streets completly devoid of cars in the afternoon, and I saw (on the news) that restaurants put tables on the sidewalks, and lots of businesses were booming on that day. I hear the plan is to make the covered area larger next year.

Clearly not enuf to show what a car-free downtown would be, but the message has to be spread slowly I guess, or opposition would be too high for it to even happen. I def. think it's a step in the right direction, and from what I see, the businesses in this area were jubilating, and will be pushing for a bigger area, and more time...

We had the "car free" day (as did several other towns in Finland). An area in downtown Helsinki was barred for cars, all public transportation tickets cost 1 euro (normally anywhere between 2 - 3,40€), they received some decent media coverage etc. Just a couple of days before that a large portion of local bus / tram / metro drivers organised their own "public transportation free" day by staging a one day strike.

My guess is the effects of the two theme days pretty much cancelled each other out.

--J

Car industry manipulations???? sometimes you wonder....

I reckon oil price rises will just filter down to more fuel efficient infernal combustion engines, not less cars. I read somewhere that if the cars in the US were as fuel efficient as the cars in Europe the US would be self sufficient in oil. Not sure about that but over here the engine of an SUV will typically be about half the size in litres or cc of an SUV in the States.

It takes government to act to reduce numbers of cars. Integrated transport solutions? I'm not holding my breath. Inconveniencing Mr and Mrs couch potato is a vote loser.

Ayway, I'll get off my soap box

You got a point there.. But I'm thinking, if it shows 10 couch potatoes that public transit isn't so bad, then it's good. For those who allready use the transit, it's a nice change to be able to walk safely on normally busy streets, and for the businesses it means more money. Perhaps the message will pass slowly like this?

I'm hoping that the rising gas prices would change things, but you know how spoiled some Americans are for their SUVs...

I hope the gas prices take a jump up to $4.25 per gallon. Then people will really start to think about that gas-hog of a vehicle they drive!

In the UK we're paying $1.50 -$1.60 for a litre. Roads are still jammed.

In Montreal rue Mont Royal, near the mountain is supposed to become car-free for about 3-4 blocks. This was being talked about a few years ago, and seemed like a definite go ahead least year, but I haven't heard since. There was car free week in Hamilton Ontario with free bike tune ups given by the repair coop, some parties, a street party, some art work created in the theme, etc. Hamilton is heavily car dominated so the walking, mass transit and bike advocates are very passionate. You wouldn't even want to hear how bad it is in this city.

In the UK we're paying $1.50 -$1.60 for a litre. Roads are still jammed.

That's the point I made in the "tax breaks for commuters" thread. Don't forget here that it's not just the fuel prices that makes cars more expensive to drive -- what about repair costs? I've heard people complaining that just a new set of tyres for a car costs more than my bike did. The whole issue here is that people are prepared to pay more to drive -- well hey, so be it. It just means that the campsite I want at Wilson's Promontory in November is less likely to be booked out because none of them can afford to take a proper holiday.