Thread: Bangkok to join Car Free Day campaign

over in jakarta - the idea wasnt received so roseily...

‘No Car Day’
a no clue day as
plans fall apart

Adianto P. Simamora
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
An attempt to turn the
city’s main thoroughfares
of Jl Jend.
Sudirman and Jl MH Thamrin
into a car-free zone degenerated
into a farce Saturday, with
poor coordination resulting in
traffic jams and many cars
entering the closed-off streets.
The City Environmental
Management Board (BPLHD),
the organizer of No Car Day,
blamed poor communication
between police and the Jakarta
transportation agency for
the day’s failure, and said it
was reconsidering plans to
hold a similar day in October.
“Private cars are still using
the slow lanes of the closedoff
roads. It’s out of our control,”
BPLHD head Budirama
Natakusumah said.
The planned No Car Day
was to see only public transport,
bicycles and pedestrians
allowed on the main roads
from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
While the event was aimed
at reducing the influx of cars
into the city, motorists simply
took alternative roads, leading
to congestion across the city.
Governor Sutiyoso and
Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo
launched the event in the
morning, arriving — without
a hint of irony — in their
official cars at the Hotel
Indonesia traffic circle.
In his speech, Sutiyoso said
the increasing use of private
cars worsened air quality in
the capital.
“Air quality in Jakarta has
been declining year by year
due to a massive rise (in the
use of) private vehicles, which
have reached five million
units with annual growth of
11 percent a year,”he said.
“I appreciate those who
have left their cars at home
and used public transport
during this No Car Day.”
Between 2001 and 2005,
Jakarta experienced an average
of less than 11 clean air
days a year. In 2006, there were
45 clean air days, while there
have been 54 so far this year.
The Bike To Work community,
a group that aims to
encourage the use of bicycles,
awarded Sutiyoso a bicycle at
the event.“I will cycle out of
City Hall after finishing my
term (as governor) on Oct. 7,”
Sutiyoso said.
Sutiyoso also received an
Indonesian Records Museum
(MURI) award for the mass
emissions testing of private
cars passing through the area.
But as with everything else
at Saturday’s event, the tests
failed to match expectations.
Only 354 private cars were
tested throughout the day,
far lower than the target of
1,000 cars.
Last year, Sutiyoso won the
Asian Air Quality Champion
award for his role in cleaning
up the city’s air as well as
other awards from local nonprofit
groups for his administration’s
ban on smoking in
public places.
All the policies are in line
with the administration’s 2005
air pollution control bylaw.
The bylaw also stipulates
that each of Jakarta’s five
municipalities hold its own
No Car Day once a month,
which the administration says
will be put into effect following
Idul Fitri.
Sutiyoso said he has ordered
his staff to assess if the carfree
day had negatively affected
business in the capital.
A police officer managing
traffic at the Hotel Indonesia
traffic circle was skeptical of
the day’s efforts, saying closing
off the two street would
cause gridlock and worsen air
pollution.“It is impossible to
totally close the streets,”the
officer said.
Environmental campaigners
complained that poor preparation
and a lack of coordination
had hampered the implementation
of No Car Day.
“It’s still a half-hearted
effort to clean the city’s air,”
Joint Committee for Leaded
Gasoline Phase-Out chairman
Ahmad Safrudin said.
‘No Car Day’
a no clue day as

“Bangkok Car Free Day” campaign launched
Weeranuwat Saengsawang

BANGKOK, 26 September 2010 (NNT) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has officially launched the "Bangkok Car Free Day 2010" campaign to persuade commuters to ride bicycles instead of driving.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra this morning presided over the opening of the“Bangkok Car Free Day” campaign at the Bangkok City Hall. More than 1,000 participants reportedly joined the event.

The event is aimed at promoting the use of bicycles instead of cars in order to save energy and tackle global warming.

Initially, the event was slated to take place on 19 September, but has been postponed until today, as the date coincided with the day the anti-government rally planned to rally marking the 4th anniversary of the 2006 military coup.

thainews.prd.go.th

The air quality in Bangkok, according to The Pollution Control Department as of this weekend, is still registering as 'Unhealthy'.

As a cyclist myself, i would be concerned about gulping down lots of carbon dioxide/monoxide in a city abound with motorised vehicles despite the good intentions.

I'm unsure what other initiatives are being contemplated by those in pollution management, in order to improve air quality in the capital and other major cities for that matter but readings would have to improve dramatically before i would consider residing in such an environment.
Many of those people who work and live in Bangkok, i suspect don't have that choice and also may be unaware of the dangers of air pollution in the medium/long term.

Are the government doing enough?

Riding a bicycle anywhere in Thailand is dangerous. Almost had my right leg torn off the other day by a pack of soi dogs while biking thru my Moo Ban...