Carfree movement
The Carfree movement is a coalition of people who believe that it is important to reduce both the number of cars in the world, and the usage of them. It comprises:
- those promoting alternatives to car dependence and car culture, including alternative transport methods such as cycling, walking and public transport;
- those promoting carfree lifestyle choices, within either a "car-dependent", "car-lite" or "carfree" local context;
- those promoting the building of (usually mixed-use) carfree environments on either brownfield or greenfield sites (usually sited to ensure easy access to a variety of non-automotive transport modes);
- those promoting carfree days, using the events as tools to bring about long-term on-the-ground change in infrastructure and priorities (example: Bogota); and
- those promoting the transformation of existing villages, towns and cities (or parts of them) into carfree environments.
Several terms have been coined, and have gained some currency within the movement
Car-lite - Either a person or place that is not completely carfree, but uses or allows for a variety of alternative transport modes in addition to the car. (Car-lite environments tend to still devote at least half the street space to the automobile, with street widths usually similar to those in car-dependent environments.) The New Urbanists are a group of North American architects, developers and planners who promote and build car-lite environments, expressly stating that the automobile must be accommodated.
Carfree environments - Places that do not accommodate (permit the entry of) automobiles. Some carfree environments allow motorised vehicles for deliveries and emergency services; other such places use non-motorised alternatives for some or all of these purposes, which is preferable if feasible. Some carfree environments have peripheral parking, and are thus still somewhat car-dependent; therefore solutions should be sought to avoid this. Some people take things a step further and work to encourage local use of local products, thus reducing the dependence of their carfree environment on long-distance goods transport and supporting the local economy over the transnational economy. Some carfree environments are such only part of the time, such as Central Park in New York City, where cars are banned from the Park's interior drives at certain times of the day depending on the season. (The is trying to make the ban complete.)
See also
