World Carfree Day Press Release

Hello everyone!

I send here the Press release we sent to the world press to notify everyone,
but also to ask you to forward it to any Press contacts you might have. We
will send one more copy next week, labelled 'For immediate release'.

All the best,

Theo


PRESS RELEASE



* *

*Prague, September 10, 2008*

*FOR LATER RELEASE*

* *
* * *World Carfree Day 2008 Hits the Streets*



Thousands of people will be taking to the streets in cities around the globe
on Sept. 22 to celebrate the annual World Carfree Day: a joyous public
celebration characterized by festivities, mass bicycle rides and free public
transportation for all to enjoy.



The World Carfree Day, promoted by the World Carfree Network, is intended to
advance the economic, social and environmental benefits of self-propelled or
mass transportation. It also aims to show how livable modern cities can be
when free from the noise, stress and pollution caused by cars. Highlights
for this year include the closing down of Brussels' Capital Region to all
motorized transport from 9.00 a.m. until 7.00 p.m. and the plans by
Washington's citizens to surpass last year's 10,000 "carfree pledges".



With crude oil prices remaining over US$100 per barrel for most of 2008,
people around the world are re-evaluating their relationship with the car.
Evidence can be seen by the rapid increase in the United States' transit
systems usage to levels unseen since the 1950's, by the success of Paris'
Velib bike-sharing program that was ridden 27 million times in the past
year, and by the 16% fall in car sales this year in the USA.

.


CONTACT DETAILS

* *
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK


Europe

Mr. Chris Coleman

Tel. (+420) 274-810-849, (+420) 774-646-804

E-mail: [email protected]


North America Ms. Sara Stout

Tel. (+1) 718-344-8154

E-mail: [email protected]


South America

Mr. Étienne von Bertrab

Tel. (+5233) 3630-9336

E-mail: [email protected]


Notes for editors



1. *World Carfree Day* was established in 2000 as a grassroots movement by
the World Carfree Network to coincide with the European Mobility Week. It
has grown to involve official and unofficial participants in over 1,000
cities in 40 countries.



2. The *World Carfree Network* coordinates the promotion of global events of
the World Carfree Day from its offices in Prague, Czech Republic. Activities
of the Network include the publication of the quarterly Carbusters Magazine
and other carfree-related literature, and conducting the annual Towards
Carfree Cities Conference.



3. The *carfree movement* is a broad, emerging network of individuals and
organizations brought together by a shared belief that cars are far too
dominant in most modern cities. The goal of the movement is to create places
where car use is greatly reduced or eliminated, and to liberate road and
parking space for public use.



4. For more information, visit www.worldcarfree.net.




Quotes

* *

"World Carfree Day is not only a celebration of fun ways to get around the
city, but a demonstration of what is possible: unclogged streets, clean air,
and city traffic participants with their usual stress levels turned down
drastically."

 - *Carlos Pardo, *Sustainable Urban Transport Project - Bogota, Colombia



"With gas prices so high, we are literally seeing people come in everyday to
ask for a bicycle. Nothing fancy, just a cheaper way to commute."


- *Sara Stout,* City Bikes - Portland, Oregon, USA



"Streets overfilled with big-engined cars and traffic jams and in need of
bicycle infrastructure are the main reasons that make us act.  And of course
we'd like to be part of the global carfree process and make our small
citizens' contribution into the
European integration of our country!"

 - *Viktor Zahreba*, Kyiv Cyclists' Association in Kiev, Ukraine



-- 
Carbusters Magazine
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK
Krátká 26
100 00 Prague 10
Czech Republic
www.worldcarfree.net
www.carbusters.org

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