D.C. Goes Car-Free on Monday as Part of Global Effort

“Go car-free and don’t stop,” was the slogan that greeted commuters yesterday in recognition of World Car Free Day 2008.

Georgetown University did its own part in celebrating D.C.’s Car Free Day 2008 by providing members of the Georgetown community who biked, walked or took public transportation to campus with free showers and a breakfast of coffee, juice and bagels at the Yates Memorial Field House from 6 a.m. until 10 a.m.

“Not too many people took advantage of it [Car Free Day],” said Judith Harvey, director of membership and assistant to the director of Yates. “But people did appreciate the bagels and coffee.”

The Washington, D.C. area first celebrated Car Free Day last year with approximately 1,000 area residents pledging to be car-free for the day. This year, 5,445 people pledged to be car-free yesterday, according to the Metro D.C. Car Free Day Web site.

As a further incentive to participate, the Washington, D.C. Circulator offered free rides all day, while 4,000 free SmarTrip cards were distributed by the City to Metrobus and Metrorail riders yesterday.

According to a World Car Free Network press release, World Car Free Day was created as a grassroots movement in 2000 by the World Carefree Network to correspond with European Mobility Week. Today, it has grown to include participants from over 1,000 cities in 40 countries.

Eco-Action president Jonathan Cohn (COL ’10) stressed the importance of reducing dependence on automobiles within the Georgetown community.

“For far too many students here, their frame of reference ends at Wisconsin Avenue; however, there is so much more to the District of Columbia, and it is all surprisingly walkable,” Cohn said.
— Leah Strelsin