Goh Chin Lian Straits Times 19 Sep 10;
The motorcar may be king in next weekend's Formula 1 races here, but several hundred motorists will leave their metallic rides at home this Wednesday.
This is when more than 200 motorists mark the revived Car Free Day with the Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS), joining a worldwide movement introduced here by an environmental body in 2001 but abandoned two years later.
Also adopting Car Free Day in a separate campaign are more than 200 employees and customers of document equipment provider Fuji Xerox Singapore. The company is dangling 100 Nets FlashPay contactless cards and three iPod Shuffle audio players to staff and customers who sign up on its website.
AAS chief executive officer Lee Wai Mun told The Sunday Times: 'We are not asking people to give up driving, but to consider greener modes of transport, for example, carpooling, taking the public transport or using greener vehicles.'
Fuji's senior executive for corporate social responsibility, Mr Steven Liew, adopted the event for his company to dovetail with existing green efforts such as energy-saving measures in its buildings.
Their marking of Car Free Day follows a larger-scale green transport event today in Marina Bay: The Singapore G1, which promotes energy-efficient cars and alternative transport like cycling.
The organiser is the Singapore Environment Council, with government bodies like the National Environment Agency and Land Transport Authority endorsing it.
The council first organised Car Free Day in Singapore in 2001, but stopped after 2003 for several reasons, said its executive director, Mr Howard Shaw.
It found that motorists will not give up their car after spending so much money on it. Transport planners also did not envisage a car-free Singapore, but deemed cars to be part of an integrated transport system, said Mr Shaw.
Promoting greener transport, including fuel-efficient cars, is the way to go, he said.
'These are low-hanging fruit that we need to harvest first before looking at road closures and bringing people back to the streets,' he said.
Assistant Professor Paul Barter, a specialist in urban transport policies from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, suggested going further, by closing parts of the busy North Bridge Road or South Bridge Road to cars.
He said: 'It can make people realise how wonderful some familiar streets can be without traffic.'
Successful car-free events tend to be high-profile, he noted, with huge participation from the public, non-governmental organisations, community groups and the media, as well as high-level support from government.
He said: 'Car-free days can be dramatic events which prompt vigorous debate and shake people out of familiar habits.'
