[sustran] The tenth "Dia sin carro" (Car Free Day) in Bogotá

[Eric Britton]

Last Thursday was“Día sin carro”  (Car Free Day) in Bogotá. A really big
day, the tenth anniversary of the original which I had the honor to work on
in close collaboration with the then mayor, Enrique Penalosa and his
assistant Oscar Edmundo Diaz. Planning it was a huge challenge, and making
it actually work an even larger one. And if I feel somewhat ambivalent about
all the Car Free Days out there that are not able to make a dent in the
transport policy and habits of their cities – that being the original idea –
there are a much smaller number of them that really do manage to pass this
acid text. And of course Bogotá right up at the top of the lot.

 

I was in a way sad not to be there for this important anniversary, but it
would have been a long way to go (and lots of CO2 ) just to watch a huge
number of cars no moving for those hours. Still, I wrote a note to my
collaborators on it, and one wrote back inviting me to have a look at an
article by Dr. Fabio Arévalo Rosero a very active and ingenious soft
transport innovator (and medical doctor - he worries about obesity,
respiratory infections, and injuries as a result of traffic, hence his
interest)), which appeared in a Colombia weekly Semana at
http://comunidades.semana.com/noticias/tutores-del-dia-carro/4116.aspx which
I copy below along with a quick machine translation that follows. 

 

Thanks very much Fabio. A very nice present from Colombia on this cold wet
morning in Paris. (PS. And for those of you who do not know it, teams of
doctors and medical personal from Colombia arrived in Haiti very quickly
after the disaster and are still there working under very tough conditions.)

 

If you ever want to see what the original idea was back in 1994 – the title
was "Thursday: A Breakthrough Strategy for Reducing Car Dependence in
Cities"--  you can find the original paper referred to in the article (in
English) at www.thursday.worldcarfreedays.com . Not so bad and here it is 16
years later and still going strong. 

 

Eric Britton 

- - - 

Los tutores del "Día sin carro"

Autor: Fabio Arévalo Rosero MD

	

	

http://comunidades.semana.com/Comunidades/20100204/Cliente_125023/Noticias/G
randeimages%5b3%5d.jpg                        Eric Britton, el "Papá" del
Día sin carro en el mundo 

Si el 80 por ciento de los bogotanos pueden vivir sin auto propio todo el
año, ¿por qué ese 20 por ciento, o quizá menos, no pueden prescindir de esa
comodidad si quiera por un día? Lo que menos puede significar esta jornada
es solidaridad, democracia, integración, etc. Una propuesta innovadora que
se le debe originalmente al señor Francis Eric Britton. 

El Carfree Day o “Día sin carro” DSC, nace en la Conferencia Ciudades
Accesibles realizada en Toledo el año 1994 gracias a la idea y presentación
del activista franco-norteamericano Eric Britton. Originalmente el DSC
estaba pensado para ser implementado en una ciudad, en un barrio o para ser
organizado por cualquier grupo de personas. Sin embargo, luego del año 2000
cuando la Comunidad Europea se suma a la iniciativa, la propuesta se
convierte en un llamado planetario a realizar un día libre de automóviles
por acuerdo de todos los habitantes de las distintas ciudades adherentes.

Hoy la ciudad con la mejor experiencia en el mundo es Bogotá. Una iniciativa
que nació hace 10 años con Enrique Peñalosa, quien para ello invitó a
Colombia al “padre” del DSC, Eric Britton. Así quedó instaurado de manera
obligatoria, por norma y acto democrático, el primer jueves de Febrero. Hoy
se celebra la jornada número 11 como una manera de imaginar una ciudad sin
automóviles, o al menos motivar su empleo racional.

El DSC es una acción colectiva y concertada entre ciudadanos y autoridades
para hacer un gran experimento. Es la oportunidad de probar nuevas formas de
movilizarnos, de buscar maneras más sustentables de resolver nuestros viajes
diarios, de difundir masivamente las externalidades negativas del uso
indiscriminado del automóvil, de relacionar calentamiento global,
contaminación acústica y deterioro del aire con el incremento del parque
automotriz.

Es un espacio para invitar a combatir la epidemia del sedentarismo y la
obesidad con el uso del transporte activo, de comenzar a comprender la
integración de la bicicleta y de la tracción humana como imperativos éticos
de equidad, democracia, ampliación del acceso de todos a los bienes de la
ciudad. Es una intervención en la salud pública para reflexionar sobre los
males de la mecanización excesiva y una invitación a explorar mejores
posibilidades de salud mental y social.

Britton es uno de los expertos internacionales más reconocidos en el campo
de las políticas urbanas, con una gran experiencia tanto en el campo
económico y empresarial como en el de las administraciones públicas. Es uno
de los miembros fundadores de EcoPlan, prestigioso organismo internacional
de consultoría, con sede en París, que desde 1966 lleva ayudando a la toma
de decisiones estratégicas a gobiernos e instituciones de medio mundo. 

Como consultor internacional, Eric Britton ha servido como consejero a más
de treinta agencias nacionales a través de los contactos mantenidos con la
OCDE y la Comisión Europea. Ha realizado cientos de documentos y ha
publicado más de doscientos artículos, informes y libros, algunos de
importancia capital en el campo del transporte. Eric Britton fue,
precisamente, miembro del consejo de redacción del informe World Ttransport
Policy & Practice, referencia obligada sobre la política y la práctica del
transporte en el mundo. 

En Junio del 2000 Eric Britton, junto a Enrique Peñalosa, recibió el
prestigioso premio "Stockholm Prize" por su trabajo para reestructurar el
sistema de transporte de la ciudad de Bogotá conforme a intereses
sostenibles y de justicia social. Si Britton gestó la iniciativa DSC en
Toledo hace 16 años, Enrique Peñalosa la acogió y la modernizó. Hoy Bogotá
es el referente para el mundo.

 

 

 

Google machine translate – untouched by human hands

 

The Guardians of the Car Free Day 

 

Eric Britton, "Papa" of the World Car Free Day 

 

If 80 percent of Bogotá itself can live without a car all year, why this 20
percent, or even less, can not do without this comfort if you want for a
day? What this may mean less time is solidarity, democracy, integration,
etc.. An innovative proposal that was originally owed to Mr Francis Eric
Britton. 


The Carfree Day or "Day without a car" CFD, was born in the Accessible
Cities Conference held in Toledo in 1994 thanks to the idea and presentation
of the Franco-American activist Eric Britton. CFD was originally intended to
be implemented in a city, in a neighborhood or to be organized by any group
of people. 

However, after 2000 when the European Community endorsed the initiative, the
proposal becomes a global call to make a car-free day by agreement of all
the inhabitants of various cities adherents. 


Today the city with the best experience in the world is Bogota. An
initiative that was born 10 years ago with Enrique Penalosa, who called on
Colombia to do the "father" of the CFD, Eric Britton. This was introduced on
a compulsory basis for democratic rule and act, on the first Thursday of
February. Today is the day number 11 as a way to imagine a city without
cars, or at least encourage its rational use. 


The DSC is a collective and concerted action between citizens and
authorities to make a great experiment. It is an opportunity to try new ways
to mobilize them to seek more sustainable ways to solve our daily trips to
spread the negative externalities of mass indiscriminate use of cars, to
link global warming, noise pollution and deterioration of air with increased
car park . 


It is an inviting space to combat the epidemic of inactivity and obesity
with the use of active transport to begin to understand the integration of
cycling and the human drive as ethical imperatives of equity, democracy,
expanding access for all to property of the city. It is a public health
intervention to reflect on the evils of excessive mechanization and an
invitation to explore a better chance of social and mental health. 


Britton is one of the most recognized international experts in the field of
urban policies, with extensive experience in both the economic and business
field as in the general government. It is one of the founding members of
EcoPlan, a prestigious international consulting agency, based in Paris,
which since 1966 has been helping to make strategic decisions for
governments and institutions of half the world. 


As an international consultant, Eric Britton has served as advisor to over
thirty national agencies through contacts with the OECD and the European
Commission. He has made hundreds of documents and has published over two
hundred articles, reports, books, some of importance in the field of
transportation. Eric Britton was, precisely, a member of the editorial board
of the World Transport  Policy & Practice a benchmark policy and practice of
transport in the world. 


In June 2000 Eric Britton, along with Enrique Penalosa, received the
prestigious Stockholm Prize "for his work to restructure the transport
system of Bogotá under sustainable interests and social justice". If Britton
gestated in Toledo CFD initiative 16 years ago, Enrique Penalosa welcomed it
and put it to work. Today Bogotá provides the benchmark for the world.

 

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