世界节假日博览 第153期:世界无车日

World Car-Free Day is a very important holiday on the environmental calendar. Every September 22, governments, green groups and ordinary citizens highlight the damage cars are doing to the Earth. The day is a reminder that we do not need to rely so much on cars. Those who take part hope others will realize we do not have to accept our car-dominated society. Carlos Pardo from Colombia's Sustainable Urban Transport Project summed things up, saying: “World Car-Free Day is not only a celebration of fun ways to get around the city, but a demonstration of what is possible: unclogged streets, clean air, and city traffic participants with their usual stress levels turned down drastically.“

世界无车日是环保日程上的重要节日。每年9月22日，政府、环保组织和普通市民都会强调汽车对地球的危害。世界无车日提醒我们不必过分依赖汽车。那些参与这一节日的人希望别人会意识到：我们不必接受汽车为主导的社会。来自哥伦比亚可持续城市交通项目的卡洛斯·帕尔多总结说“世界无车日不仅是赞美城市中的步行是种有趣的出行方式，同时也展现着一切皆有可能：畅通的街道、洁净的空气、城市道路上的人们日常紧张程度戏剧性地下降。”


World Car-Free Day aims to take a sizeable number of cars off the streets for all or part of a day. This will give people a chance to see what their town might look like with a lot fewer cars. The idea for this day came in October 1994 at the International Accessible Cities Conference in Toledo, Spain. The first national campaign was held in Britain three years later. The European Union adopted the idea in 2000. Today, as many as 100 million people in over 1,500 cities worldwide celebrate this day. There are many critics of the day. They say it is a one-day gimmick and does not make people give up their cars for the rest of the year. They say what is needed is a move towards a more sustainable city transportation system.

世界无车日的目标是在全天或一天的某一时段内减少街道上的大量汽车。这也给人们机会来观察车辆减少时城镇的样子。1994年10月，西班牙托莱多的国际城市访问会议上有人提出了世界无车日的想法。三年后在英国举办第一次全国性的活动。2000年欧盟采用了这一想法。如今，世界范围内1500多个城市的1亿人庆祝这一节日。但也有很多人批评这一节日。他们说世界无车日只是一天的游戏，并不能使人们在其他时间放弃开车。他们说迫在眉睫的是推进一个更具可持续性的城市交通系统。