[sustran] UPCOMING EVENT: Mumbai to Host Its First “Car Free Day”

[Vinay Baindur]

UPCOMING EVENT: Mumbai to Host Its First “Car Free Day”
Submitted by Erica
Schlaikjer<http://mumbai.thecityfix.com/author/erica-schlaikjer/>on
February 19, 2010No
Comment<http://mumbai.thecityfix.com/upcoming-event-mumbai-to-host-its-first-car-free-day/#respond>

http://mumbai.thecityfix.com/upcoming-event-mumbai-to-host-its-first-car-free-day/

[image: mumbai_car_free_day]<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mumbai-Car-Free-Day/248020591215>

*This upcoming Sunday, February 21, for the first time ever, Mumbai is
holding a Car Free
Day<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mumbai-Car-Free-Day/248020591215>,
similar to Ciclovia <http://www.streetfilms.org/ciclovia/> in Bogotá and Summer
Streets <http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/home/home.shtml> in
New York City. The all-day event is organized by the Khar-Bandra-Santacruz (
KBS) Foundation, a community-based non-governmental organization that
promotes cycling and walking as a way to improve the environment and quality
of life for local residents. Seema Tiwari, advisor to the KBS Foundation and
a former staff member of the Centre for Sustainable Transport in
India<http://www.cstindia.org/>(part of the EMBARQ
Network <http://www.embarq.org/>, which produces this blog), shares her
insights about why Car Free Day matters for her city and what it means for
the global sustainable transport community.*
*
TheCityFix: How did this idea come about?*

*Seema Tiwari: *While I was working for EMBARQ <http://www.embarq.org/> to
establish the India office, I lived in Bandra. Over the weekends, in my own
time, I started talking to the local community. Khar-Bandra-Santa Cruz (KBS)
Foundation loved the idea and decided to implement the Mumbai Car Free Day.

As some background info: KBS Foundation was involved in taking the lead on
extending the Carter Road Promenade, which is a best practice for public
space utilization in Mumbai’s western suburbs. The road is widely being used
by the local community for fitness and recreational purposes. KBS
Foundation’s mission is to motivate people to take up cycling as a mode of
transportation, sport, recreation and environment protection. In the past,
it has organized a film screening on cycle-friendly
cities<http://www.embarq.org/en/news/09/06/26/films-put-cycling-awareness-right-track-mumbai>at
the Carter Road open-air amphitheatre, which attracted 100 cyclists
and
more than 200 viewers.

*TCF: Who started Car Free Day?*

*ST: *KBS Foundation took up the idea as a public awareness campaign under
their much larger project, the Khar-Bandra Bicycle Project, which plans to
implement 15 kilometers of dedicated cycle lanes in the neighborhood. As an
immediate outcome of Car Free Day, the Foundation will be installing six
bicycle stands with local politicians’ support.

This would not have been possible without the support of  Phirojsha Godrej
Foundation, Cloud 9, PCRA, EMBARQ, Wescon Group of Companies, Maharashtra
Marine Board, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Awaaz Foundation, Radio
City 91.1 FM,  Fountainhead Promotions & Events and www.wherecity.com.

*TCF: What is the mission of Car Free Day?*

*ST:* There are six overarching goals:

   - Develop cleaner, greener and beautiful surroundings for a better
   quality of life by going eco-friendly.
   - Promote active transportation by creating a pro-walking and -cycling
   culture based on zero-pollution mobility.
   - Create a need for promenades, walkways and dedicated cycle lanes by
   active citizenship and community mobilization.
   - Improve quality of public spaces by assisting the government in
   developing dedicated cycling infrastructure like dedicated cycle lanes,
   cycle parks and cycle parking facilities in three phases.
   - Educate the community in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and make
   Khar, Bandra, and Santacruz carbon-neutral.
   - Protect and conserve the mangroves and the environment in the
   neighborhood.

*TCF: How does this Sunday’s event compare to other car-free initiatives in
cities around the world?*

*ST*: For Mumbai Car Free Day, we carefully reviewed Bogota and New York
City’s car-free days — these two were our inspiration. The key difference is
these that those events are led and funded by the government, whereas in
Mumbai, it’s led by an NGO who fundraised with the private sector.
In India, the challenge is to get the government to reach an understanding
that urban projects are just not “technical” but “socio-technical” in
nature. It is important for them to make budgets for public awareness
campaigns, like Car Free Day, through which we hope to bring behavioral
change in people to appreciate and use the city’s facilities, rather then
rebel against the government’s sustainable transport projects.

*TCF: Explain how this is innovative for Mumbai, in particular, and India,
in general?*

*ST*: The events planned for the day are very local, just not country- and
city-specific, but neighborhood-by-neighborhood. Local gyms, clubs,
Bollywood singers, restaurants, and artists are all participating. Local
politicans, including Mrs. Priya Dutt, a member of Parliament, and Baba
Siddique, a member of the Legislative Assembly, along with some Bandra-based
celebraties, are all cycling with the community.

In addition, Car Free Day is integrated with other events, such as the Mumbai
Cyclothon <http://mumbaicyclothon.topdoctorsonline.com/>, where 4000
cyclists will pass through our Car Free Day venue on Carter Road. And about
10 cyclists from the Bangalore Cycling
Club<http://groups.google.co.in/group/bangalore-bikers/browse_thread/thread/56042f9d9cd2dffe?fwc=1>will
bike 1,000 kilometers from Bangalore to Mumbai, to help promote the
festivities. (Follow the ride on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/blrcyclingclub.)

We’re also pleased to share that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board
and Awaaz Foundation are doing air and noise pollution studies before and
after the event on Sunday. The test on February 17 will establish normal
levels of air and noise pollution, while the test on February 21 will
provide comparative data on a day without cars. We anticipate a significant
reduction in both on the latter date and the result promises to be very
interesting.

Other Car Free Day events will include morning ragas, Tibetan yoga, BMX
stunts, gully cricket, pranic healing classes, dance exercises by Leena
Mogre, skating, healthy eating classes, Odissi dancing, karaoke, kite
flying, art camp and ghazals by Ghulam Hashir. The evening schedule will be
highlighted by a pop music performance by Shaan.

*TCF: That sounds fun! How has the response been so far?*

*ST*: Very positive. KBS members have held community meetings with residents
along Carter Road, to gain their support and cooperation. Local police and
other municipal agencies have also offered support. There’s been a ton of
press and blog coverage, too.

*TCF: What are plans for the future?*

*ST*: There will be an evaluation of the event to note down successes,
failures and recommendations. This pilot project will be compiled into a
report and submitted to the Ministry of Urban Development and the
Maharashtra government. MOUD’s national urban transport policy clearly
states the importance of such events for public awareness. Plus, under the
funds provided by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM), there is a budget for capacity-building and public awareness
campaigns, but it has not been mobilized so far. We would love for the
Maharashtra Government to host future car-free days in cooperation with KBS
all across Mumbai, as has already been done in Bogota and New York City.

* ADDITIONAL READING:*

   - Individuals Can Make a Difference: A View from
India<http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/individuals-can-make-a-difference-a-view-from-india/>(Streetsblog)
   - Pedal2Mumbai – a 4 day 1010kms cycle ride by Bangalore Cycling Club in
   support of Mumbai car free day
   <http://groups.google.co.in/group/bangalore-bikers/browse_thread/thread/56042f9d9cd2dffe?fwc=1>(Google
   Groups)
   - B’lore cyclists peddle to city for a ‘car-free day’
   <http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2010/02/16&PageLabel=11&EntityId=Ar01102&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T>(Times
   of India)
   - Decongest roads, pedal your way
around<http://www.deccanherald.com/content/53085/decongest-roads-pedal-your-way.html>(Deccan
Herald)
   - Fuelling the passion for cycling in
Mumbai<http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=10&contentid=20100216201002160635107023281f10f>(Bangalore
Mirror)
   - It’s car-free time at Mumbai’s Carter Road this
Sunday<http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_it-s-car-free-time-at-mumbai-s-carter-road-this-sunday_1348857>(DNA
India)
   - Car-free Sunday for Carter
Road<http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=201002172010021702042559835271108>(Mumbai
Mirror)