Bogota Blogger

I think that one of the coolest things that happens in Bogota is the Dia Sin Carros, or Day Without Cars.  This is one day a year, in February, when no private vehicles are allowed on the streets between 6:00AM and 7:00PM.  While it cuts down on pollution, both air and noise, for the day, the purpose has more to do with reminding people to think about their relationships to their cars, and to the environment, and to possibly get more of a mindset towards trying to be more friendly to the ecology.  Can you imagine this happening in the US???

Now, on this day, buses, commecial vehicles, and taxis are still allowed to be on the roads.  These vehicles are all easily identified by the license plates that they must have painted on both sides and the roof.  Of course, the normally crowded buses are even MORE crowded this day, and taxi drivers have maybe their biggest day of the year.  But also, people walk a few blocks, or even a few miles, that they might normally have driven.  I live five blocks from my local grocery, and I always walk because I have 365 dias sin carro per year, but my neighbor who ALWAYS drives to the grocery will walk on that particular day.   Then, he might realize that walking is not so bad, good exercise, kind of pleasant, and decide to try to do it more often.  That’s how this day helps.

Since buses are allowed on the roads, the really major thoroughfares, like Septima, are still very, very crowded, but it’s still a reduction from the normally choked streets.  Lots of folks might decide to ride bikes, which has additional benefits.  And there are always editorials in the newspapers and on TV talking about conservation, and conversations in offices and schools all over the  city about how we can contribute. 

Driving your private vehicle during this day is truly against the law, with a heavy fine associated.  People accept this, which I am sure would never happen in the US. 

Then, at 7:00PM, if you are out on a major street when the cars are allowed to pour back onto it, it’s like being at the bottom of a waterfall.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at 11:14 am and is filed under Transportaion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.