1

Earth Car Free Day? How does this work?

The first Earth Car Free Day ever was held this year on Thursday, April 19th. Led by The Commons, Earth Day Network, and with the support of hundreds of volunteer partners all around the planet, if served to spark and support hundreds of celebratory events and striking demonstrations around the world: all based on the common theme of personal responsibility, citizen-based activism, and vital new public/private/community partnerships.

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2

Isn't this sort of extreme? Exuberantly unrealistic? Immature?

Well, we don't think so. But of course if you think that global warming is nothing other than unproven hearsay or a bit of greenish paranoia, then you may well find this extreme. Or if you are convinced that cars and cities are doing perfectly well together as things stand and that no one is suffering in any consequential way as a result of their incompatibilities. But if you suspect that there may be some real problems in the cites/cars/people nexus that need to be better defined and addressed, this may be an interesting place for you to visit.

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3

Are you really proposing to get rid of ALL the cars?

Here is where it pays to be a bit careful! A Car Free Day, as we understand and are promoting it here, is not a day in which all cars are officiously and unilaterally pulled off all streets in all places by benevolent but possibly misguided central planners -- leaving people and businesses somehow to scramble to make their way as best they can in an unfamiliar imposed environment. Rather it is, for those who wish it, a day of open, cooperative reflection on the problem of cars and traffic in cities, which also provides an occasion for people and communities to learn about and even try some alternative ways of getting around in a "less-car" environment.

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4

Isn't this undemocratic and unfair to all of us who have cars?

"After all, this is a free country. If I have a car and pay my taxes, I should be able to use it where and when I wish." Behind all aspects of this event is the constant drumroll that very large numbers of private cars driven without constraint simply do not "work" in cities. So we, drivers and the rest, simply have to learn to live in new and better ways with each other in these tighter spaces. We can expect that while there will still be plenty of cars around in the years ahead, they are going to be used in different and better ways. In fact, they have to.

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5

And won't it be a total disaster for local business?

It surely could be if a very serious effort is not made to involve actively and from the beginning the local business community in the planning and preparation of all aspects of the day. We have seen car free days that have been imposed on unwilling local businesses and -- surprise! -- they have given poor results indeed. On the other hand, we also know that better and more space-efficient transport can be an important element in the revitalization of center city business. Thus a car free day, properly planned, can help point the way to a whole range of new improvements that will support local business.

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6

Doesn't a Car Free Day need to be run by the government?

Indeed in the last few years many Car Free Days have been organized "top down", with city or even national authorities proclaiming the Day and then taking the lead. When carefully prepared and broadly supported, this approach has worked well (see the famous City of Bogota project for the most successful and best known of these) -- and indeed the ECFD team will be working hand in hand with projects coming out of cooperating City Halls. But we are also here to take ECFD 2001 further: to support grass-roots movements and demonstrations led by other actors on the local scene, offering new partnerships with local government. (Have a look at the draft Mayor's Charter for some ideas on how this new partnership can be put to work.)

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7

Who is responsible for all this anyway?

This is a question that we hear quite often. It is, one might fairly say, almost part of the problem. Let us try to clarify. There is no official body or government or sanction of any sort behind Earth Car Free Day. On the one hand, if rather superficially, we can say that it is a joint venture led by the Earth Day Network and The Commons, both of whom are well known and clearly identified in these pages and elsewhere. But what is really behind all this is a concept: the firm belief that informed and responsible citizens can accomplish a great deal if they simply get together and start to make their knowledge and will known. In the case of ECFD 2001, this is an all-volunteer activity. No one is paying anybody to do anything. Those of us who are involved are doing this on our own time and simply because we believe that this is the right thing to do. It's that simple!

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8

What do you mean when you refer to a "trickle-up" CFD?

The Trickle-Up approach to CFD planning and execution puts the older top-down government or bureaucratic model on its head. Earth Car Free Day 2001 is thus a joyful, wide-open, non-bureaucratic, 100% volunteer event. It does not use a drop of taxpayer money and takes a vigorous "Big House" approach to CFD organization: celebrating diversity and active local commitment above all. With the Trickle-Up approach it provides support for self-organized local actions and projects that can show the way to more permanent changes. We see it as a shining model for citizen consultation and action, and for democracy, for the 21st century.

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9

What's the right number of car free days in a year? One? Yours?

In fact Earth Car Free Day is part of a process that has been going on for a long time and is now beginning to pick up real momentum. Thus you will find car free day proposals being promoted by individual cities, various kinds of public interest groups and even national and international governments. We think that's great and indeed, it's our view that the best number of car free days (really "less car" days, to be perfectly frank) in our cites is closer to 365 than just one. (For some of the story on that see the Car Free Day Timeline and the section here on Other Car Free Days and Weeks".)

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10

Why me?

Because we have to start somewhere and, haven't you noticed?, none of the other stuff seems to be working. At the end of the day, a safer and better planet and more sustainable lives are not going to come out of some international treaty convention, some new law, some bit of terrific new technology, nor some magic bottle -- but out of the unending multitude of personal choices that each of us make in our own daily lives. There is an old Sicilian saying that goes, "he who is born perfect has nothing to learn". So we better learn to learn. And this is where Earth Car Free Day comes in.

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11

Now what do I do?

Well, you have come to the right place to be able to out that one for yourself. The first step is to have a good look at the website and program as is set out here. It's quite complete and if a bit long, at least (we hope) fairly well organized and relatively easy to get at. Then, once you have sorted out the issues a good next step is to see what is going on in your city or country. Of what groups elsewhere are doing which my be of interest to you and a useful step in your city. And if you don't see anything yet in your area that you would like to support, why don't your just go on line and let others know who you are and that you are ready to help.

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12	But first a quick visit . . .
	Before you dig in, please spend two minutes with the Navigation Guidelines section here, which provides a good set of tips as to how to make best use of this site. "We must be the change we wish to see."

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