Carless town!
With idling and road construction season upon us I am always relieved to hear about other ways of doing things! The town of Vaudam in Germany has gone car free! They have completely re-organized their way of life and 56% of the population have sold their cars. If you do own a car you pay €20,000 for a space in one of the garages on the outskirts of the district. (The UK Independent)
A number of other cities, including New York have begun to close streets to cars on some days of the week as well:
experiments in Paris, London, and Bogotá, Colombia, New York City will close off to traffic a 6.9-mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street on three consecutive Saturdays, giving New Yorkers to a chance to explore and enjoy “car-free recreation corridors” — well, for six hours a stretch, at least. (New York Times)
Ottawa and Gatineau also close some parkways for cyclists and runners on Sunday’s along the Ottawa River and in the Gatineau mountains. Personally, I think the market should be closed to cars, with parking arranged on the outskirts and people walk in. Booth Street was closed due to construction last year and that was also great.
Why not less cars, more transit and a bit of reconfiguration!
