Mumbai Joins World-Class Cities to Celebrate “Car Free Day”

Submitted by Erica Schlaikjer on February 24, 2010 THE CITY FIX NEWS

Last Sunday, Mumbai hosted a local event with global importance: Car Free Day. It was the first time the city in India had ever organized such an event, modeled after popular car-free days in other cities, such as Ciclovia in Bogota and Summer Streets in New York City. About 140,000 people attended the communitybased activities, which included not only walking and cycling but also yoga, cricket, dancing, skating, kite flying and musical performances. Organizers said the huge turn-out exceeded their expectations.

Now that the city has enjoyed its first taste of vehicle-free people-friendly streets, local residents appear to want more: “We can breathe fresh air now,” one inhabitant said. “We want a car-free day every week.” As other cities have demonstrated, it’s not uncommon for car-free events to spark other sustainable transport projects.

TheCityFix interviewed two of the Mumbai Car Free Day organizers, Seema Tiwari and Madhav Pai, before and after the event, to understand how Mumbai’s firstever Car Free Day made a difference for Mumbaikers and what it means for the global sustainable transport community. Read some excerpts below.

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

Seema Tiwari: For Mumbai Car Free Day, we carefully reviewed Bogota and New York City’s car-free days. The key difference is 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. Our intention is to bring behavioral change in people to appreciate and use the city’s facilities, rather than rebel against the government’s sustainable transport projects.

TCF: What are plans for the future?

Seema Tiwari: 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 government.

TCF: Do you think Car Free Day will motivate policymakers to create more bicycle infrastructure in the city?

Madhav Pai: I hope so. There are some initial ideas driven by NGOs, and we’re trying to educate advocacy groups who can push for bicycle improvements. But no plans are being formulated at the government level yet. We hope that if we show decision makers the citizens’ growing interest, they’ll respond.

TCF: What are the most important actions the government and NGOs could take to increase cycling and non-motorized transport in Mumbai?

Madhav Pai: First, there are a lot of people who routinely cycle and walk in Mumbai. 42% of people are walking to work. And a significant number of people who work in the informal sector and who have no other transport alternatives depend on bicycles. The government’s policies must support those people. However, we also want to reach out to potential cyclists who are now commuting by car, in order to shift more people to less-polluting forms of transport.

For both groups, there is one solution: providing cyclists with safe space, including bicycle lanes and parking. This is the most important thing the government can do to increase the viability of the bike as a commuting mode for a wider population, and it must be a focus of their policies.

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According to Seema Tiwari, the Mumbai Car Free day was