By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai: If you notice more pedestrians than usual on the streets on Wednesday it’s because it’s World Car Free Day – the only day in the year when people around the world are urged to abandon their vehicles in favor of public transport or walking.
The idea is to publicise the need to reduce carbon emissions and promote alternative modes of transport.
According to Dubai Municipality statistics, Dubai has 1,021,880 vehicles on its roads, producing over 23.3 million kilogrammes of CO2 each day.
And although Dubai metro has recorded 135,000 passengers per day, or 30 million total users, since it opened just over a year ago, no special celebrations have been organised to bring the car-free message home and urge commuters to use the metro instead of taking their car to work.
However, Nol card holders can use the Metro, or avail of the water and bus rides free of charge in celebration of Public Transport Day on November 1, which the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched to commemorate its fifth anniversary.
