Car Free Day

Today is China's fifth nation-wide Car Free Day. Since the annual event first began in France, organized events are held every year on September 22nd in many cities and countries around the world. However, how many people in China really know about this day? And what do people say about the campaign?

Zhang Wan¹ takes a closer look.

 
Although Beijing is a participant in this world-wide event, people are largely unaware² of or simply ignore Car Free Day. Using the question "do you know today is the World Car Free Day?", I randomly³ ask ten people on the street, all of them give me the same answer: they have no idea about it.

According to worldcarfree.net, a website that promotes carfree day activities, people from around the world get together every September 22 in the streets, intersections⁴, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that people don't have to accept a car-dominated society.

The Ministry⁵ of Housing and Urban- Rural Development announced earlier that Beijing is one of the 147 Chinese cities voluntarily participating in the event this year, promoting cycling and walking as a means of transportation. Liu Heming from the Ministry explains:

"We'll encourage public transportation system to enhance their service quality, thus making traveling in the city more convenient and comfortable. Currently, it's very cheap to travel by buses, but they are too crowded sometimes. With better environment and services, more people would turn to public transportation."

In some cities today, cars are taken off the streets to give people an opportunity to consider how their city might look with fewer cars.

In Beijing, certain roads are cordoned⁶ off from 7 am to 7pm. Meanwhile, in order to ensure people's travel in the city, 300 more buses along 40 routes are put to use to accommodate public demand.

In Shenzhen, the closing hour of five subway lines will be delayed to midnight. And in Guangzhou city, only 10% of cars from the local government and public-service organizations are allowed to be on roads for emergency use today.

In Shanghai, an estimated 200,000 private car owners will opt⁷ to take public transportation today. And the city's subway authorities advise commuters to avoid peak travel times today as all 11 lines will be under added pressure due to the Car-Free Day.

Zhang Yu, head of the Car Free Day from The Ministry of Housing and Urban- Rural Development says through their promotion⁸ over the past years, more and more people have started to support the Car Free Day. This can be seen in the results of a poll they've done.

"In the poll, there has been a great change in recent years. In the beginning, few people knew about Car Free Day. But after several years of publicity⁹, more and more people started to pay attention to green transportation and began to support Car Free Day. And more people are willing to turn to environmental friendly ways of traveling."

By advocating and building green transport systems in cities, urban traffic will be sustainably improved. But we do not want just one day of celebration and then a return to "normal" life. When people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It will take permanent change to benefit pedestrians¹⁰, cyclists, and other people who do not drive cars.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.

1 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

2 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

3 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

4 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

8 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

9 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

10 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》