Car Free Day Proclamation - September 22, 2005
Approximately half of individual greenhouse gas emissions come from personal transportation and individuals across Canada are taking the One-Tonne Challenge, doing their part to fight climate change by reducing their own personal greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, or one tonne.
Car Free Day is organized on September 22 each year and is an ideal time to facilitate the implementation of permanent measures in favour of sustainable mobility at the local level. Concerted action by all stakeholders is needed to raise awareness, to promote changes in harmful behaviour and to involve residents, businesses and administrations in the development of sustainable and efficient urban transport systems.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor David Miller, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim September 22, 2005 as "Car Free Day" and encourage individuals to use this day as a symbol of their efforts to reduce personal greenhouse gas emissions through transportation.
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By JACK B., TORONTO SUN (Sunday)
For downtown Torontonian Joe LaFortune, every day is car-free day.
LaFortune, who owns five bikes, said he hasn't owned a car in five years and loves to commute via two wheels from his home near Dovercourt Ave. and Dupont St.
"I'm a firm believer in lowering the number of cars we have in this city and finding alternative means of transport," said LaFortune, as he sat on his recumbent bike at Dundas Square. "It is too important to this city. There is too much smog and there are much easier, faster, cheaper and convenient ways of getting around.
"Quite frankly, with what you'd pay for parking, gas, insurance, you don't need it."
Yesterday, it took LaFortune about 12 minutes to ride from his home down to the the International Car Free Day event, held at Dundas Square, put on by the Sierra Club of Canada and the city.
BET ON TRIP
LaFortune and his wife, Sue, bet on who would arrive at the event faster.
It took Sue under 30 minutes to arrive after taking a bus and two subway trains, plus a brief detour, to meet up with her husband.
The LaFortunes aren't completely against car use. If needed, Joe said, he rents a car for a weekend to do chores or go on trips.
Dan McDermott, president of the Sierra Club of Canada's Ontario chapter, said the Car Free Day program originated in Europe in the mid-1990s and has become a global event.
"Europeans drive as many automobiles as North Americans, but their cities are structured in a way that you can get around without private automobiles," he said. "So Canada needs to get with the global program in terms of new transportation."
At least 20 Canadian cities participated in yesterday's event, with Montreal being the leader closing down a large section of rue Ste-Catherine, their counterpart to Toronto's Yonge St.
There's some real sustained bull about how "green" Smogtown is - and it's beyond hypocritical to mention the Toronto Target at this time without the minor detail that we're about 20% ABOVE the target according to one City estimate, and whose author was de-hired when his job was surplused. Somehow we're an oasis of green and fresh air more because we say so, but we're far more aligned with our nat'l emissions increase of 26% from UN stats.
Bikes are very helpful, ride on with respect and care.
I really wish he would hop on his broom and go join Lastman down in Trailertrashland, Florida. Well maybe not so fast, I have seen his potential replacements... big snooze factors.
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