Every year on September 22, many countries celebrate World Car Free Day. Its motto was the slogan “City - space for people, space for life”. Participants in this action are closing some streets for cars, reducing the cost of public transport, and holding public campaigning events. This tradition began in Holland.
In the Netherlands, the first so-called Car-Free Day, or World Carfree Day, took place back in 1972. It is believed that the idea was submitted by youth rebels - hippies, greens, anarchists. As you know, Amsterdam has become their unofficial capital since the 60s. Active young people protested against the way of life, for the sake of the psychology of consumption that destroys nature. They viewed the dominance of machines as evil.
Indeed, by the early 1970s, there were two cars for every inhabitant of the Netherlands. Traffic jams constantly appeared on the streets of cities, the atmosphere was polluted. Young rebels began to take to the streets with banners, hold meetings, and create environmental groups. More and more people joined the movement. The authorities were forced to listen to their opinion. In addition, the fuel crisis has begun.
The country's government began to declare Car-Free Days on weekends. Then there were bans on the entry of cars on the main streets of Amsterdam. Then the country began to build special lanes for bicycles. As a result, today Holland has the most developed infrastructure for bicycle paths and pedestrian zones.
Residents everywhere move by two-wheeled vehicles, there are even so-called public bicycles, which anyone can rent from one of the numerous parking lots. Many small towns are generally prohibited from entering cars. Driving there are only taxi drivers, ambulance drivers, policemen.
Gradually, the initiative of the Dutch was picked up in Europe, and then throughout the world. To date, 1.5 thousand cities are participating in the action. On a Car-Free Day, about 100 million people switch to bicycles, rollerblades, or, in extreme cases, public transport. Traffic in the center is blocked, and representatives of the greens make runs through the cities on bicycles.
