We would like to invite you now to add your name and comments here to the international guestbook that is being set up in an attempt to show our colleagues in Bogotá and their follow citizens that members of the international sustainable transport community, young and old, distinguished and just getting started in their careers, are willing to stand and be counted in support of their pioneering efforts. It would be good indeed of you if you could let them know who you are (for once let us put modesty aside), and if you have any particular comments or suggestions for them, this would be a great place to share them.
As you know very well the concept of sustainable transportation more often than not has to fight a hard uphill battle to make any progress at all in the world of transport policy and practice. And if this battle is already hard enough in cities like London, Berlin and Paris, Adelaide, Seattle and Toronto, it is a task almost beyond imagination in the great groaning cities of the developing world. But suppose that the team in Bogotá is able to make a crack in the wall of indifference and indolence with their Car Free Day. And suppose that one of the reasons that they worked even harder to achieve this is because some of us took the trouble to encourage them and put our reputations on the line for them. Do that, dear friends, and you will have done something concrete today for a more sustainable and more just world. And when you do that, please don't be shy. Tell your family and your friends. They will be proud of you and rightly so.
Wuppertal, Germany (1)
Dear Eric,
This is exciting news about Bogotá. The attempt in one of the most important cities of the Western hemisphere to have a car-free day has to be applauded.
It is important for people, rich and poor, to realize that the dependence on cars has become something like a nightmare. Congestions, pollution and ruptures in the social fabric are a high toll we are paying daily.
Although I know that modern cities cannot at present work without cars, it is worth to make the experience once how it looks and how it feels to do without car traffic.
I expect a new set of decisions about urban life can result from this unique experience.
Prof. Dr. Ernst von Weizsaecker
United Nations, New York (2)
"I understand that the City of Bogotá wishes to demonstrate its concern about urban environmental pollution by organizing a "Car Free Day" on 24 February 2000. This initiative demonstrates an important acknowledgement on the part of municipal authorities that superfluous car circulation is an unnecessary feature of modern urban centres.
Indeed, I would like to support the view that the "Car Free Day" in Bogotá becomes a symbolic first step towards an environmentally friendly approach towards urban development throughout cities in the developing world. I would hope mayors and municipalities worldwide become inspired to support public transport systems, pedestrian areas, cycling and other features that would make cities more livable in the 21st century. I would take this opportunity to wish to the Mayor and the population of Bogotá much success in this endeavour."
Jonas Rabinovitch
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France (3)
Dear Mr. Mayor and the People of Bogotá,
This is to express my appreciation and support of your initiative to organize a car free day in Bogotá on February 24, 2000. What impresses me most about your efforts as I understand them, is the fact that you appear to have undertaken to do this in a way which will not only provide an agreeable day for the people of Bogotá, but which may well also reveal some interesting, doable concepts and measures which can in the very short term help to make your city's transport system a more viable and sustainable operation. I think that many other mayors anywhere in the world would be extremely pleased to have such an opportunity in breaking the transport/environment impasse in their city.
Over the last five years, the OECD's Environmentally Sustainable Transport program (EST) has been examining the issues of the ecological and social performance of existing transport systems in OECD and developing countries. If we have concluded anything, it is that significant, particularly near term changes are required and that we do indeed have many of the means at our disposal for doing this. I'm confident that your Car Free Day is going to provide additional proof of this.
As an indication of the extend of our interest in supporting this first Third World Car Free Day (one of many I hope), I would like you to know that we shall be contacting today all of our national partners in the EST program and encouraging them to look at your Web site, think about, and do what they can to support your project for reasons that are not entirely unselfish. For you know well, Bogotá is not the only city in the world facing huge problems due to a transportation system concept which may have looked terrific in some place in 1950, but which in the year 2000 looks more than problematic. I'm confident that we have a great deal to learn from you and the people in Bogotá.
The very best wishes of the success of your important initiative, I look forward to hearing from on the experience of the day.
Dr. Peter Wiederkehr Cambridge, Mass., USA (4)
Estimados amigos,
Recibo con mucho gusto las noticias que Uds. estan preparando un "dia libre del auto" para la ciudad de Bogota. Es otro paso adelante para la ciudad en su camino hacia el transporte sustentable - junto con sus esfuerzos, ya bien conocidos en la region, enfocando en la promocion de la bicicleta como modo de transporte urbano y la priorizacion al transporte publico. Espero que otras ciudades latinas (y de todas las Americas) puedan aprender del ejemplo bueno de Bogota.
Les deseo mucho suerte en esta iniciativa tan importante. Es imprescindible mostrar a los automovilistas cuan responsables son ellos para los problemas urbanos que sufrimos todos. Un "Car Free Day" es manera muy efectiva para lograr esto. Espero que el dia se acompane con un programa de educacion para choferes de vehiculos - incluyendo informacion sobre cuanto contamina un vehiculo y que significa esta contaminacion, cuanto contribuye un auto a la congestion, y que significa ser un chofer responsable hacia los otros modos de transporte (el transporte no-motorizado y el transporte publico).
De nuevo, les felicito mucho y les deseo mucho suerte,
Christopher Zegras
London, U.K. (5)
I congratulate Bogotá on having the vision, initiative and confidence to carry out this experiment. A number of European Cities have sponsored car-free days, initially in isolation but now simultaneously as part of a concerted attack on pollution, congestion and bad travelling habits. So you are in good company.
Remember that your critics will make a noise, write letters, telephone their complaints; but those who support you will tend to be silent and enjoy the small step of progress you have achieved. Be patient and be persistent.
My best wishes for your venture
Eric Sampson
Lancaster,United Kingdom (6)
The realisation of a car free day in Bogota could not be more significant. It breaks the traditional isolation and compartmentalisation of transport planning and urban thinking in the "North" and the "South". If our collective efforts to map out a new course for civilised urban living are to have any relevance at all then we have to show that these things work in Bogota (and Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok).
All those involved are to be congratulated and thanked and even more importantly, supported. I look forward to acknowledging this pathfinding contribution to global sanity, learning from it and repeating it in Calcutta!
John Whitelegg Oxford, U.K (7)
This is an enthusiastic message of support and best wishes for Bogotá's Car Free Day. The damage done to human health, the environment, and quality of life - including productive economic activity - by the growing pollution and congestion of cities all over the world is one of the biggest challenges we all face. If Bogotá can give a successful lead, by this symbolic example of determination to tackle the problem, you will be doing a vitally important service to us all. My very best wishes.
James Robertson
Adelaide, South Australia (8)
"Congratulations to the City of Bogota and its citizens on the decision to hold a Car Free Day in February 2000.
Compared to your large metropolitan area, big population and serious traffic congestion, my home city of Adelaide, Australia, has all the characteristics of a "small town": population of 1.1 miliion, wide streets, and few points of congestion. People of Adelaide are wedded to their automobiles.
A successful Car Free Day in Bogota will demonstrate to the rest of the world that urban life in general and the city economy in particular are not at the mercy of the private car.
Best wishes for a successful day.
Derek Scrafton
Professor of Transport Policy & Planning Paris, France (9)
I would like to express my sincere congratulations and warm support to the citizens of Bogotá for their first Car Free Day. This initiative is truly a symbol of a new kind of a "glocal" citizenship, slowly but surely emerging, more and more conscious of the global impact of local actions. The Car Free Day is just one step, but very significant, on the long road towards Free Minds.
Philippe Queau
OECD, Paris, France (10)
A "car-free" day for Bogotá...
What a completely unreasonable proposition!
What a shame that there are so few unreasonable cities in the world!!
What a delight to discover that Bogotá is planning a car-free day! I can think of no better way to welcome the new millennium than to affirm, as the citizens of Bogotá are, that people are the heart and soul of cities and the civilizations they enable-all the rest is peripheral. This affirmation counters an existing paradigm in which it is completely reasonable that cities devote more space to vehicles than to children's play, in which it is completely normal to sacrifice several hundred victims so that an extra 20 minutes can be squeezed into every day, in which few question the wisdom of subjecting current and future generations to pollution and environmental damage so that others may shield themselves from the unpleasant experience of having to endure the close proximity of their fellow citizens. How unreasonable!
What a delight that it is Bogotá and not New York, San Francisco, London, Stockholm, Sydney or Osaka, that has the courage to be so unreasonable. What a pleasure to see such a valuable lesson in global citizenship coming from the south to the north. What a good omen for things to come.
I offer my most heartfelt words of support to the Mayor and citizens of Bogotá as they prepare for what, in the best of cases, will be a watershed moment in the city's development, and, in the worst of cases, an open-air lesson in civism and city planning.
Will it be easy? -- of course not. Will everyone be happy? --is everyone ever happy?. Will lessons be learned? -- you bet! -- and one of the first ones will be that, with a little thought and effort, cities and, indeed, societies, can operate just as well (if not better) when policies are made for people and not for the vehicles they drive.
Philippe Crist
Tokyo, Japan (11)
Dear friends,
I would like to inform you that I have some experience relating to the Car Free Day. I took part (as visitor of the city) in the Car Free Day in Rome in September,1999. I think this initiative is a really great idea to organize urban society to reduce pollution, encourage people to use more environmentally benign transportation, reduce resource consumption and help to preserve cultural heritage (for example old buildings in Rome).
Thank you for undertaking such an attractive initiative - Car Free Day in Bogotá - and I wish you a very successful event.
Janis Gravitis
Luxembourg, Luxembourg (15)
I welcome your initiative to stimulate in your country a car free day, to demonstrate that pollution has no frontiers, and that it is now time, in all countries of the world, to show the need of networked actions aimed to propose the revamping of transportation and development policies in cities. The Internet can help here in several ways: by providing the infrastructure between organizers to allow networked initiatives and by stimulating the occurrence of teleservices which can help in providing a more efficient and sustainable economy.
In complement, I would also ask you to consider the Stockholm Challenge at http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/, where several initiatives involving environment and cities are documented. Maybe you could also provide your own entry in this challenge?
In closing I would like to suggest that you consider some form of linkage in the framework of the Internet Fiesta 2000 (http://www.internet-fiesta.org), to use it as a networking tool with other similar initiatives around the world.
Patrice Husson
http://www.ispo.cec.be/hlt
Vienna, Austria (17)
It is great to see that the car free day is becoming substantial reality. Let us hope that the experiments about changing the modes of urban mobility can also mobilize thoughts to minimize the burden of urban commuting.
Its not only about new communication technologies, its about rediscovering neighbourhood, its diversity and entrepreneurship. We see great new examples of new urban villages starting to replace the anonymous building blocks of the past; I can report that one of these new villages in the new Floridsdorf/Donaufeld development here in Vienna carries the title of a "Car Free Quarter", where every day is a car free day. Lots of measures must guarantee that sustainable life quality will emerge out of this. I am sure Eric Britton and his coworkers will do their best to facilitate international networking of progressive city-planners.
Franz Nahrada, m.phil.
Vienna, Austria (21)
Dear Sirs!
The Austrian nonprofit organistaion The World of NGOs, acting an information platform for associations and NGOs in Austria, would like to express their support to the decision which was made in Bogotá for a car free day and congratulate the responsible decision makers.
It's our pleasure to announce your initiative on our website www.ngo.at in order to demonstrate your encouraging "first step"!
All the best wishes and a lot of success,
Christiana Weidel
This is to express our strong support of you forthcoming Carfree Day initiative in Bogotá.
The background to all this is important, so you please permit me to briefly our position on this after years of study and work on the question of cars in cities.
Cars took over our cities so gradually that we never really realized just how badly they affect the quality of urban life. To suddenly have the cars disappear, even if only for just one day, is a powerful reminder of just how large an impact they have on our lives.
Do please make sure that large areas of the city really are carfree. Simply doing what has so often been done-asking people to leave their cars at home for a day-does have some effect, but until the sounds and smells of cars are replaced entirely by human sounds, you have not really held a carfree day. Until the children can play safely in the middle of the street, you have not seen a true carfree day. When people take back the streets and use them as an public social spaces, then you have at last achieved an event that people will remember and that they will want to repeat.
I hope Bogotá will not think of this in terms of a one-off event. A carfree day will be a far more powerful event when it is repeated regularly, say once a month. Here in the Netherlands, we held a carfree day last fall (the first since the 1973 oil crisis), and the response was so positive that we are now seriously considering holding ten carfree days every year.
I wish the city of Bogotá and its people a great success and much joy with the forthcoming carfree day. I look forward to reporting on the occasion in the next issue of Carfree Times.
Calgary, Canada (22)
I am delighted to learn of Bogotá's leadership in this car free demonstration project. Given the city's geographic location (high altitude basin) a car reduction strategy will be essential to Bogotá's sustainable development. This sounds like a great start.
I have one suggestion to propose. A few years ago, I was in Amsterdam for "Orange Day" a de facto car free day when the streets of the Dutch capital are given over to people (and businesses) to do business, and to play, in. The day begins as a huge "garage sale" as people stake out their spaces on the streets and sell whatever odds and ends they no longer have use of - or sell crafts or other products they make
themselves. Amsterdam's merchants join in the effort by having clearance sales in front of their shops. By the late afternoon, business is over, and the streets turn into a place for people to party and celebrate the Queen's birthday. By nightfall there were fireworks over the city. It really was a magical moment an already traffic calmed city.
I hope that Bogotá can put its temporarily "liberated" street spaces to some similarly creative uses. Best of luck in the effort!
Anthony Perl, Director
Alameda, California, USA (23)
I wish you 'much mobility and less traffic' ...
Conrad Wagner
Warm greetings from Malaysia.
I would like to express my strong support, admiration and encouragement to the City of Bogotá for taking this significant initiative towards an urban transport system that is more sustainable, equitable and people-centred. Holding a Car-Free Day event is an excellent and ambitious step in the right direction which deserves the greatest support. I hope that Bogotá's effort will be a success and that your example will be an inspiration to many other cities around the world. I will do my best to make your initiative known widely so that others can share their experiences and learn from yours.
Congratulations and best wishes.
Dr A. Rahman Paul Barter
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute congratulates the city of Bogotá for sponsoring a Car Free Day. Our institute has performed research indicating that there are significant economic, social and environmental benefits from maintaining a balanced transportation system. This means using each mode for what it does best. This is most economically efficient, and provides the greatest benefit to the most city residents.
A Car Free Day can help focus citizens and decision makers on the importance of maintaining transportation choices, including effective public transit services and good walking and cycling conditions. It can show the urban environmental benefits that occur when automobile use is reduced.
We wish you the best of success.
Todd Litman, Director
I would like to add my best wishes and congratulations to the people of Bogotá for their vision and imagination in organizing a car free day. This is exactly the kind of action that will be effective in overturning the received 'wisdom' that otherwise constrains us from fundamental change. The evidence is overwhelming that things get better when cars are excluded - but such badly-needed evidence is thin-on-the-ground: people always fear the worst, even though the best often happens.
Every success.
John Thackara
Portland, Oregon (33)
I enthusiastically support the forthcoming Car Free Day in Bogotá and hope that it will serve as a catalyst for the widespread adoption of this concept.
Richard Katzev, Ph.D.
Moving The Economy in Toronto sends much support and admiration to Bogotá for your efforts to create a Car-Free Day. Toronto has not as yet embarked on Car-Free Day efforts, so we look forward to learning from your experience and being inspired by your success.
At Moving the Economy we work to find, share, and develop transportation solutions that are good for the economy, the environment, and people at the same time (win-win-win solutions). We are sure that your car-free day is more than a step in the win-win-win direction. Best of luck.
Sue Zielinski
Los Angeles, USA (35)
We applaud Bogotá for leading the way; being from LA I hope there is a mechanism in place to try to measure the impact; surely a difficult task.
Donald H. Brackenbush
Congratulations!
I'm delighted to hear that Bogotá have joined the Car Free Day project. It's of extreme importance that the citizens of the developing countries don't get stuck in the same traps as the industrial ones. A Car Free Day is a very good way of showing people how to manage to live in a city without destroying their common future.
Peter Markusson,
To the Bogotá CFD Support Group
Congratulations on your wonderful Car Free Day initiative. It is entirely appropriate that the capital of Colombia should be the first city in your country to embark on this potentially paradigm-changing action. As a citizen of Australia's capital city, Canberra, I am sad to say that our city is far too car-friendly, and that government policies are ineffective in reducing the dominance of the car.
Car Free Days have enormous potential to demonstrate how much better a city can be as a place for people. Cities with far less cars are not only more environmentally sustainable, but they are better places for all city residents. Most importantly, a dramatic reduction in the use of cars allows spaces within cities to become more humane places, where people can have more spontaneous contact with each other. In turn, this facilitates exposure of people to new ideas: an essential component for innovation.
To achieve more sustainable cities, and hence to achieve more livable cities, will require much more than changes to speed limits, or widespread traffic calming, or even increases in the density of provision of services. It will require a fundamental change in social values, a cultural revolution, toward greater collective responsibility and away from individualism. Car Free Days, such as the one planned for Bogotá, can provide a powerful illustration of the value of collective action. If enough people agree not to use their cars, this then enables people to avoid the social traps that compel people to use their cars, simply because everyone else is doing so.
Achieving a cultural revolution (of the kind needed to create more sustainable cities) is possible if there can be a celebration of the values that have been submerged. One of the values we need to celebrate is the traditional role of the street as a place for walking, cycling, social interaction and playing. Car Free Days allow a celebration of these values.
So, have a great celebration on Thursday, February 24 2000.
Congratulations Bogotá! You will be well remembered for your pioneering work on this symbol of the future. I hope it transfers into traffic reductions.
Professor Peter Newman(author of 'Sustainability and Cities')
A courageous idea sure to give rise to important ideas for the future in a city that has already experimented with a number of important traffic actions. Everyone will be watching.
Ralph Gakenheimer
Davis, California, USA(40)
I am delighted to see that Bogotá is directly confronting the issue of proliferating cars. Cars certainly provide high value to people, and that's why car ownership is booming around the world. The problem, though, faced by all expanding economies, is threefold:
Every city and country must find its own way in managing proliferating car use. This first car-free day in Bogotá could be a first step to sensitizing travelers and politicians to the problem (and opportunities). I congratulate those who are leading the way in Bogotá.
Daniel Sperling, Professor and Director
Brussels, Belgium
Congratulations and best wishes. (41)
I would like to inform you that I have some experience relating to the Car Free Day. I took part in the organization of the Car Free Day in France in September,1999 and 2000, for the French Ministry of Environment. I think this initiative is a really great idea to organize urban society to reduce pollution, encourage people to use more environmentally benign transportation, reduce resource consumption and help to preserve cultural heritage (for example old buildings in Rome).
I wish you a very successful event.
Vincent Fabre
Vienna, Austria (44)
Although a car free day is not going to resolve the world's transportation problems, it
allows us to break the routine cycle of life and may be find some time to think as
people are confronted with this unusual situation: No cars on the road. We are all
time-poor, rushing about (usually supported by a motor vehicle), dismayed by traffic
congestion and pollution but are an integral part of this system. When the time
comes and metropolitan areas have run out of roads it will be too late.
Infrastructures are inherently long-lived and thus change over time frames in the
order of 50 to 100 years or more. Whatever change is initiated now will be felt by
mid 21st century earliest. A day off the usual routine which used to contemplate is a
good beginning. Bogota is to be commended for this brave first step.
Dr. Hans-Holger Rogner
New Brunswick, NJ USA (45)
Congratulations to the Mayor and citizens of Bogata for your pioneering efforts in the realm of sustainable transportation. May many cities of the world learn from your example! Best of luck February 24th.
Heather M. Fenyk
International Energy Agency, Paris, France (46)
Welcome to car free day from a biker in.. ugh..Paris. with no car in sight. I have lived without a car since July 1996 and find that even in a city of mad drivers and smokey busses, my bike beats all other forms in time..with less sweat..up to about 5 kilometres!
Lee Schipper
Wuppertal, Germany (47)
Dear organisers of this great event, Dear citizens of Bogotá,
Having seen the environmental and social impact of increasing motor verhicle traffic in Bogota during the last years for several times, and knowing that a number of initiatives from politicians, scientists and concerned citizens are working to improve the situation, we congratulate you to this remarkable project. Keeping major roads of the city free from motor traffic on Sundays, as it is already done in Bogotá, may have prepared the way to the upcoming event. We hope that the car-free day and further activities will make non-motorized and public transportation more convenient and safer, as well as lead to a reduced use of cars. This will prevent the city and the citizens from those damages caused by fast growing passenger car traffic.
The initiative in Bogotá will foster the initiatives of groups all over the world to change the direction of transport development in general. For us in Western Europe it is not only necessary to act in a similar way but do even more, because Europe and the US cause the major share of global waste of natural resources, and emissions of greenhouse gases as well.
Wuppertal Institute's Transport Division welcomes and supports the car-free day and similar actions. We see Bogota's efforts as part of a growing global quest for solutions, for alternatives to the destructive automobile-oriented life-style that unfortunately has spread within the wealthier countries. Let us create transport solutions that are clean, energy-efficient, socially favourable and also cost-efficient - with all external cost included into calculation. The awareness that a change towards sustainability is possible will grow when car-free life is demonstrated, with people experiencing that it is feasible and enjoyable.
Our acknowledgement goes to the groups that make the car-free day in Bogota happen, and to the supporters all over the world. We would be willing to provide information and assistance in any questions concerning sustainable transport and urban development where we have activities in Europe as well as in developing countries. Comments and requests are welcome.
Rudolf Petersen
Geneva, Switzerland (48)
Si Bogotá extendera sus domingos con ciclovias a un dia sin carros, sera un mensaje maravilloso para todos quienes quieren repensar el transporte para mejorar la calidad e vida de todos
Dr. Gunter Pauli
"If you have no dreams, you must be asleep!"
Birmingham,United Kingdom (49)
Dear Bogotá,
I would like to express my full support for this leading initiative. We, in Europe, are also pursuing the same route as yourselves and our Car Free Day will be in September this year.
Examples from all over Europe show that it works and it can work!
My feeling is that if it works for one day it could work for longer periods of time if we manage to provide alternatives to the car on a more regular basis, if we improve public transport and if we raise people's awareness of the problem and involve them as part of the solution. Thus we must include all segments of society in this process (of change) and ask them for their support and collaboration to make the day a very sucessfull one! I will use the international Car Free Web site informed about the Bogotá Car Free Day in Bogota and wish that other cities in the developing world follow Bogotá's leading example. GOOD LUCK!!!!
Dr Paulo Camara
Lima, Perú (50)
Una vez estuve en Bogota, vi a los peatones cruzar apurados con temor a ser arrollados, vi a las bicicletas subir con gran esfuerzo las inmensas vias elevadas, vi a los automovilistas molestarse con el trafico, molestarse detras de un semaforo. Una vez.
Tambien tuve oportunidad de ver el lado de los sueños, saber que los domingos cerraban las avenidas o mejor dicho las abrian para que la vida pasara. Escuche y discuti los planes de las nuevas ciclovias. El tiempo de mirar la vida desde el otro lado. Ahora me dicen que estan en plena construccion, ahora me dicen que hasta tendrán en un día libre de autos, un día libre, un día.
Toda ciudad merece un día, un rato pequeño, un descanso creativo, toda ciudad merece ser libre, aunque sea por un rato.
Al menos para que pueda seguir siendo una ciudad.
Carlos Cordero Velásquez
Toronto, Canada (51)
With best wishes to Bogotá for its carfree day. May it be the first of many.
Richard Gilbert
Santiago, Chile (52)
Congratulations on your courage and example.
The next thing is how to overhaul collective transport to make this a long run sustainable venture.
Professor Joseph Ramos
High Bridge, New Jersey (53)
Para el Alcalde, Hon Enrique Penalosa:
Reciba un atento y cordial saludo de parte de Pedales para el Progreso, junto con nuestros deseos de exito en la ejecucion de la iniciativa innovadora de un "Car-Free Day" en Bogota.
Lamentablemente, nuestro aporte por el momento solo consiste en apoyo moral. Si en el futuro vuestra administracion y la ciudad de Bogota contempla otras iniciativas a mediano y a largo plazo a favor del transporte no motorizado como parte de un esfuerzo para ampliar la mezcla de opciones para la poblacion, sugiero que nos tomen en cuenta.
Pedales para el Progreso es una organizacion no gubernamental y no lucrativo que rescata bicicletas usadas de los Estados Unidos, donadas por el pueblo americano, y las envia por contenedor (400-500 bicicletas c/u) a otros paises donde se reacondicionan y se entregan a bajo costo a personas de escasos recursos economicos, para propositos de trabajo, acceso al estudio, programas de salud comunitaria preventiva, etc.
La metodologia de Pedales para el Progreso es donar las bicicletas y repuestos y accessorios, siempre que la institucion recipiente-normalmente una ONG-pueda identificar una fuente de financiamiento para el transporte y lograr la exoneracion de impuestos de la Aduana. Se busca una institucion socia que sea eficiente, transparente, y manejado con criterios empresariales, aun siendo un ente social y no lucrativo.
Desde 1999, Pedales para el Progreso ha donado casi 33,000 bicicletas y mas de US$5 millones en repuestos y accessorios, a instituciones en 20 paises de America Latina, el Caribe, Africa y el Pacifico Sur. Normalmente nuestros socios han podido importar repetidos embarques, generando los recursos necesarios para el contenedor subsiguiente.
En Colombia, hemos donado un contenedor al Centro para Asistencia Legal Ambiental en Cali. No obstante, por las dificultades encontradas en la Aduana y la necesidad de pagar unos impuestos altos sobre el primer contenedor, el CELA no ha podido generar los recursos para importar un segundo embarque.
Estaremos abiertos a recibir una breve propuesta (ver www.p4p.org y el guia de solicitud adjunto) de un ente colombiano, sea privada sin fines de lucro o publico autonomo, para incorporar la bicicleta en sus programas de microempresa, salud comunitaria, educacion vocacional o de alfabetizacion, o transporte, dando preferencia a aquellos que puedan evidenciar capacidad de masificarse y sostenerse a largo plazo.
Espero que este contacto sea de interes y relevancia para sus actividades o las de otros.
Atentamente,
Keith Oberg
Antwerp, Belgium (54)
Congratulations. Only the fact that in Bogotá a Car Free Day could be planned is already a success. The Belgian Fietsersbond made attempts to do something similar in Antwerp without success until now. I hope it will be an example for the rest of the world and mainly for the so called 'industrialized western' world. Bogotá will not vanish after that one day. The Bogotanos will learn what their city might be to live in during the other 364 days.
Stef Leroy
Bogotá (55)
First let me congratulate you on your "Focus on Bogotá". It certainly helps
increase the excitement over the big day.
I want to suggest you include a link to information on Bogotá famous
"Ciclovía" on your Background Information page. I know the IDU has
information in English on available on the web (sorry I don't have the
link it self).
The important thing is that Bogotá has an extremely successful bikeway
program, where some 100 kilometers of major streets are blocked off the
vehicular traffic every Sunday and holiday from 7:00 - 14:30. I believe I
recently read that it is currently estimated that some 1,000,000 people
(mostly cyclist, but also skater, joggers, strollers, etc) every Sunday. It
is very well organized and beloved.
Ellen Beattie
Brussels, Belgium (56)
On behalf of the cities and regions that make up our network, I am pleased
to bring my message of support to the city of Bogotá and to the mark of its
commitment to innovative transport solutions and sustainable transport
planning. I wish the people and the city of Bogotá all the success they
deserve for carrying out such a thoughtful and constructive initiative.
Congratulations and good luck to Bogotá's car free day!
Anne Grünkorn
Kuala Lumpur, Maylasia (57)
Dear Eric,
I am writing in response, in support and (somewhat in awe!) of the Bogotá
Car-Free Day planned for the 24th Feb 2000.
I am truly envious of the very progressive step taken by the Mayor of
Bogotá and hope that my own city, Kuala Lumpur, will one day have enough
conviction to re-orient our transportation needs away from the private car.
"Car-lobby" groups often are hard to contend with but it appears that the
Mayor of Bogotá has taken this in his stride and gone ahead with the
initiative.
Arturo Ardila Gomez's four reasons for the Car-Free Day serve as excellent
reasons as to why other cities and towns ought to emulate this wonderful
initiative. I am keen to find out how it goes and will keenly check the site.
Congratulations to all who have actively lobbied and made it happen. It's
great.
Toni Mohamed Kasim - tkasim@pc.jaring.my
Utrecht, Holanda(58)
Saludos y felicitaciones desde .
I hereby want to express that I am very impressed by the fact that the City of Bogotá is organizing its first Car Free Day and I hope with all my heart that it will be a success most of all as a reflection point to everybody who has the opportunity to choose between different modes of transport.
Last two years I visited Bogotá several times as project director coordinating the studies and designs for a cycle track in one of the most complicated urban corridors of the city working for the Urban Planning Institute of Bogotá. From this experience I know of the problems of the saturated urban traffic system.
From my working experience I never would suggest the bicycle to be The Solution for traffic and mobility problems, however as Part of the Solution it can play a huge role
In organizing this CFD the City of Bogotá shows that changes in modal split should be accomplished from different angles to influence the behavior of its citizens.
I very much hope the CFD in Bogotá will be a large success ( un gran exito) and that in some years the figures of users of different transport users will show us that that in huge cities like Bogotá changes in modal split are possible.
Ton Daggers - daggers@knoware.nl
Project Coordinator Designs and Studies Cycle Track
Bogotá (59)
In an op-ed in Today's El Tiempo, Arturo Ardila Gomez (aardil-@mit.edu)
gives four reasons (he calls three "technical" and one "frivolous") for
supporting Bogotá's Car Free Day:
and, finally Ardila's "frivolous" and "banal" argument:
Ardila notes that just by announcing the CarFreeDay, some international news coverage of the city has become more positive.
European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (60)
I am delighted to hear that the Mayor and the people of Bogotá are organising their first Car Free Day on 24 February 2000. A Car Free Day is important as it helps to change public opinion in the direction of a more sustainable mobility culture. Building on the success in France and Italy a similar initiative was recently launched in Brussels by the European Commission together with 9 EU countries. The first European Car Free Day will take place on 22 September 2000. In addition to raising awareness of more sustainable lifestyles, it can also be seen in the light of the environmental legislation framework that has been established in the European Community.
I wish the city of Bogotá a very successful Car Free Day and hope that it will turn out to be a contribution to the process towards sustainability in the cities of the whole American continent.
Margot Wallström
Add Your Name and Comments here
Messages of congratulations and support have thus far come in from . . . Ministers, Commissioners, transport activists, professors, cyclist groups, environmentalists, authors, international civil servants, mayors, students and citizens of all stripes... and from the European Commission, the United Nations, UNDP, UNESCO, OECD, International Energy Agency, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, International Atomic Energy Agency, and from leaders in the field from the cities of Lima, Santiago, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Birmingham, Cambridge (Mass.), London, Oxford, Lancashire, Gothenburg, Paris, Tokyo, Brussels, Utrecht, Luxembourg, Rome, Vienna, Wuppertal, Worcestor, Los Angeles, Alameda and Davis (California), Calgary, Victoria (British Columbia), New Brunswick (NJ), Portland (Oregon), Washington DC, Toronto, Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth. With all these considerable people and groups behind us, Bogotá must be doing something right.
Note: The guest book is maintained manually. To post your entry, please click here, so that the Bogotá CFD Support Group can collate and post to this site..
Messages of 25 January
President of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Member of the Federal Parliament
Senior Urban Development Adviser
United Nations Development Programme
New York
OECD Environment Directorate
2 rue André-Pascal
75775 Paris France
wiederkehr@oecd.org
http://www.oecd.org/env/ccst/est
Cooperative Mobility Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Director, the Integrated and Local Transport Directorate
Department of the Environment, Transport & Regions (UK)
{Also past-President of ERTICO}
Editor in Chief
World Transport Policy and Practice
President, EcoLogica
Lancaster LA1 3ES United Kingdom
j.whitelegg@lancaster.ac.uk
Former policy maker in the British Cabinet Office. Former adviser to the House of Commons. Co-founder of the New Economics Foundation (London), etc.
Author of "The New Economics of Sustainable Development" (published 1999 by Kogan Page for the European Commission) and other books on economics for people and the earth.
(Director-General of Transport, 1972-1997)
Transport Systems Centre, University of South Australia
Adelaide, South Australia 5000
Australia
email: derek.scrafton@unisa.edu.au
http://www.unisa.edu.au/tsc/index.html
Director of Information and Informatics Division - UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/webworld
EST Program, Organisation de développement et coopération économiques
Paris, France
Visiting Professor
United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies
53-67 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8304, Japan
e-mail: gravitis@ias.unu.edu
URL: http://www.ias.unu.edu
The MLIS Programme
DG Information Society
European Commission in Luxembourg
Director, Globally Integrated Village Environment (GIVE) Project, Vienna
Facilitator of Global Village Symposia I - III on "Life in the Age of Telecommunication" (1993-97)
f.nahrada@magnet.at
The World of NGOs
Vienna, Austria
office@ngo.at
Amsterdam, the Netherlands (20)
Dear Mayor Peñalosa Londoño,
J.H. Crawford
Author, Carfree Cities (publication due Spring 2000)
Editor, Carfree Times
(http://www.carfree.com/cft/)
Research Unit for Public Policy Studies
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
aperl@acs.ucalgary.ca
Former Co-President, Mobility CarSharing Switzerland
Consultant, WestStart-CALSTART
2701 Monarch Street, Suite 220
Alameda, CA 94501, USA
Messages of 26 January
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (30)
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
P.O. Box 11501, Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia.
E-mail: sustran@po.jaring.my
Victoria, Basque Country, Canada (31)
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
E-mail: litman@vtpi.org
Website: http://www.vtpi.org
Amsterdam, the Netherlands (32)
Director, Doors of Perception Foundation
Amsterdam
www.doorsofperception.com
john@thackara.com
President and Principal Investigator
Public Policy Research
Portland, Oregon USA
rkatzev@reed.edu
Toronto, Canada (34)
Director, Moving the Economy
Transportation Planner, Urban Development Services,
City of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario M6J 2K3
szielins@city.toronto.on.ca
City Planner and Advisor
9440 Readcrest Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
brackbush@aol.com
Gothenburg, Sweden (36)
Car Sharing Consultant
Gothenburg, Sweden
peter.markusson@telia.com
Canberra, Australia (37)
Dr Paul Tranter
Senior Lecturer, School of Geography and Oceanography
University College, University of New South Wales
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
p-tranter@adfa.oz.au
Perth, Australia (38)
Director, Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy
Murdoch University
Perth Western Australia 6150
e-mail: newman@central.murdoch.edu.au
web site: http://wwwistp.murdoch.edu.au
Messages of 27 January
Cambridge, Mass., USA (39)
Professor of Urban Planning
Mass. Inst. of Technology
Cambridge, Mass.
rgaken@MIT.EDU
Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California, Davis
www.engr.ucdavis.edu/~its
Consultant Communication and Environment
Red-on-line
70, avenue Emile de Beco
1050 Bruxelles - Belgique
Messages of 28 January
Head, Planning and Economics Study Section
International Atomic Energy Agency
P.O. Box 100
Wagramer Strasse 5
A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Email: h.h.rogner@iaea.org
Transportation Policy Institute
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ USA
International Energy Agency
9 rue de la Federation,
75739 Paris 15, France
ljsocd@dante.lbl.gov
Messages of 31 January
Director, Transport Division
Wuppertal Institute
D-42103 Wuppertal, Germany
http://www.wupperinst.org
Rudolf.Petersen@wupperinst.org
Zero Emissions Research Initiative
Foundation
Geneva, Switzerland
gunter@zeri.org
www.zeri.org
Maunsell Ltd
1 Worcester Walk
Birmingham B2 4NX United Kingdom
pcam@maunsell.co.uk
Messages of 1-6 February
Director de CICLORED - Centro de Asesoría y Capacitación
para el Transporte y Ambiente
San Juan 242, Lima 33, Perú
casilla: ccordero@amauta.rcp.net.pe
Managing Director/Directeur général
Centre for Sustainable Transportation/ Le Centre pour un transport durable
15 Borden Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2M8
E-mail: cstctd@web.net Website: http://www.web.net/~cstctd
Department of Economics, University of Chile
Email: jramos@decon.facea.uchile.cl
Web Page: http://www-decon.facea.uchile.cl/academic/jramos/
Vice Presidente
Pedales para el Progreso
High Bridge,
New Jersey
www.p4p.org
Messages of 7-15 February
General Secretary of the Fietsersbond (Vlaanderen, België)
Hopland 37
2000 Antwerpen
België
fietsersbond@pi.be
http://www.fietserbond.be
Proyecto PNUD Col97001
[ebeattie@colnodo.apc.org]
Executive Director
POLIS European Cities and Regions -
Networking for New Transport Solutions
Rond-Point Schuman 6, box 8, B-1040 Brussels
General e-mail: polis@pophost.eunet.be
Web site: http://www.polis-online.org
A0602 Palm Court, Brickfields
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Calle 80 Santa Fé de Bogotá
I-ce/Restrepo y Uribe/IBC
[The following extract is reproduced here as one example of the reactions the project is getting. One among many, we might add.]
Messages of 16-17 February
Environment Commissioner
Member of the European Commission
Back to topMe ha causado mucha satisfacción oír que el alcalde y los ciudadanos de Bogotá están organizando su primer día "Sin mi carro en Bogotá" el 24 de febrero 2000. El día "Sin mi carro en Bogotá" es muy importante en la medida que ayuda a cambiar la opinión pública hacia una cultura de movilidad más sostenible. Siguiendo el éxito en Francia e Italia, se ha lanzado recientemente por la Comisión Europea una iniciativa similar en Bruselas, junto con nueve países de la Unión Europea. El primer "European Car Free Day" tendrá lugar el 22 de septiembre 2000. Además de la toma de conciencia de un estilo de vida más sostenible, podría verse dentro del marco legislativo para el medio ambiente que se ha establecido en la Comunidad Europea.
Deseo los mayores éxitos a la ciudad de Bogotá en el día "Sin mi carro en Bogotá" y espero que resulte ser una contribución hacia el proceso de ciudades más sostenibles en todo el continente americano.
Margot Wallström
Comisaria para el Medio Ambiente
Comisión Europea
Perth, Australia (61)
I believe car free days are an important instrument in raising citizen awareness about the loss of mobility incurred because of the use of cars in cities. I would like to commend Bogotá for tackling this problem head on. It is especially in the less economically fortunate areas of the world where over-reliance on the car is economically devastating.
We are currently collecting evidence of this from 100 cities worldwide and are keen to include Bogotá in the sample. Our efforts so far in retrieving the required data have not been encouraging and I have the gravest fears that we will end up with incomplete or wrong data on Bogotá.
I would like to plea to any officials in Bogotá who would like to participate in this global urban exercise, to please come forward to felix@central.murdoch.edu.au to see if we can ensure a proper inclusion of Bogotá in the Millennium Database of Towns and Regions. Thanks, and Bon Courage
Felix
Millennium Database of Towns and Regions
felix@central.murdoch.edu.au
Messages of 18-25 February
Washington, D.C.(62)
February 24, 2000
His Excellency Enrique Peñalosa Londono
Mayor of Bogota
Carerra 8 #10-65
Santa Fe de Bogota
Colombia, D.C.
Dear Mr. Mayor:
Congratulations to you and to the people of Bogota on the occasion of "Sin mi carro en Bogota." On February 24, 2000, the city of Bogota takes its place among dozens of visionary communities worldwide that have set aside a day to use and promote clean transportation.
As you know, this special day may bring a variety of immediate benefits, such as a reduction in traffic congestion, vehicle emissions, and noise. The citizens of Bogota may also experience the feeling of community one gets from interacting with each other and one's surroundings by walking, bicycling, and taking public transit. President Clinton and Vice President Gore value these goals and support initiatives to make communities more livable.
In the U.S., we are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality by enhancing transit services and supporting transportation alternatives such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes, ridesharing, bicycle and pedestrian paths, and cleaner fuel fleets. We are also promoting more sustainable community development by encouraging our states and localities to coordinate land use plans and transportation alternatives.
By your efforts, you are setting a fine example for this hemisphere. I hope that more cities will follow your lead, enabling others to experience and enjoy more livable communities. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation, I applaud your efforts to encourage transportation alternatives.
Sincerely,
Rodney E. Slater
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
Rome, Italy, (63)
Wonderful news from Bogotá.
The experience here in Italy is quite interesting, since we had last 22 September a car free day with the participation of 90 cities and with 82% of citizen in favor of such events.
Now we (the Italian Government's Ministry of Environment) are organizing 4 car free Sundays (one each month). The first was last 6th of February, with 145 towns involved (18 million people) and a very successful result. These events are putting pressure on local and national institution to act more radically towards a sustainable urban mobility.
The fact that such initiatives are capturing interest in many part of the world (at least 9 countries will participate in the car free day of the year 2000), is a sign that an important opinion movement is being created in order to reduce the auto-dependency.
Good luck Bogotá!
Gianni Silvestrini
National Coordinator of Car Free Days
Italian Ministry of Environment
Bogota (64)
Queremos felicitarlos por la jornada, nos unimos y ofrecemos toda nuestra ayuda para que se realicen muchas veces mas.
SALVAMAR
Quienes somos?
Desde 1997 un grupo de 20 buzos PADI, liderados por Ricardo Sánchez M. (Course Director PADI para Colombia) han organizado anualmente un evento denominado "Clean Up" en Santa Marta (1997, 1999) y San Andrés (1998) respondiendo a la iniciativa del día mundial de la limpieza sub acuática de la Fundación AWARE* de PADI*.
Debido a los resultados de los años anteriores que muestran un creciente deterioro del medio ambiente marino, este grupo de buzos ha decidido comprometerse directamente y actuar; Para ello el 21 de julio de 1999 se reunieron con el propósito de crear la Fundación Salvamar como una fundación sin ánimo de lucro.
Visión
Ser en Colombia la organización no gubernamental, sin ánimo de lucro líder en la conservación y cuidado del medio ambiente marino.
Objetivos
- Limpieza submarina
- Educación ambiental de la sociedad.
- Creación de parques submarinos.
- Conservación de corales.
- Creación de arrecifes coralinos artificiales.
- Boyaje de zonas de buceo.
- Divulgar los diez puntos que debe tener encuenta todo buzo para
- proteger el medio ambiente submarino.
- Concientizar a las personas sobre la importancia que tiene el cuidado
- y preservación del medio ambiente submarino.
- Disminuir el impacto negativo en el medio ambiente, que puedan estar
- ocasionando los turistas en las playas.
- Institucionalizar el evento Salvamar para que sea realizado por lo
- menos una vez al año e irlo ampliando a otros destinos costeros
- turísticos del país.
Belgium (65)
Dear Eric,
I saw the webside of Bogota, and was really impressed by all you are doing to advance toward a sustainable future.
Congratulations from the European Cyclists Federation. Europa can learn something from you.
We shall tell about Bogota as much as possible and make relevant people aware to look and find out all good initiatives mentioned on your webside.
Your sincerely,
Jan Verschooren
President of ECF
E-mail : President@ecf.com
Afgevaardigd Beheerder Fietsersbond
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Updated 25 February 2000