An Idea from Bolivia: No Cars Day

I read this on a Bolivian blog today. Why don’t we have the nerve to do this?

“Today is one of my favorites in Cochabamba, “Pedestrian Day”. On this Sunday (repeated once each year) there are no cars on the streets of this city of 700,000. No giant green Ford Explorers. No white 1991 Toyota station wagon taxis. No “trufi” minibuses imported from Korea (with the Korean lettering still on them as proof). No red, white and value painted Micros (that look like small re-painted US school buses).

No vehicles except for bikes, bikes in abundance, and families out on foot for the afternoon. Ice cream anyone?

Imagine. Imagine if my old US stomping grounds, San Francisco, did this for a day. Imagine flying on two wheels from the foot of Market Street up through the Haight, onward through Golden Gate Park and then to the Pacific Ocean, all without seeing a car.

Here is something really special that Bolivia has to offer to the rest of the world, a message. One day a year, just one day, say No Cars! It really isn’t quite so hard as you think and, truly, it is amazing to see (especially when it is isn’t accomplished because someone blocked the roads as a protest).”