On February 3, the city of Bogotá [2] held a Car-Free Day [3]–a day when restrictions are placed on the circulation of private vehicles. The day is designed as a strategy to raise environmental awareness and improve, for one day, vehicular traffic in cities worldwide.
Sysmaya shared [4] [es] information from the radio station RadioSantafe [5] [es] with its readers:
Un balance positivo del día sin carro ó del día del aire limpio entregó el alcalde Mayor de Bogotá, Samuel Moreno Rojas, quien reportó una sustancial reducción de la contaminación ambiental con la salida de circulación de 1 millón 430 mil vehículos particulares.
En los trece puntos de control a las emisiones de las fuentes fijas, revisaron un total de 526 vehículos de los cuales 551 no pasaron las pruebas atmosféricas y 80 automotores fueron inmovilizados.
A positive review of the car-free day or clean air day was presented by the Mayor of Bogota, Samuel Moreno Rojas, who reported a substantial reduction of air pollution from the absense of 1 million 430 thousand vehicles from circulation.
In the thirteen emission control points, a total of 526 vehicles were reviewed, of which 551 failed the atmospheric tests and 80 vehicles were immobilized.
On Twitter [6], the hashtag #Diasincarro [6] (car-free day) documented opinions on the different situations that arose during the day. The reduction of carbon monoxide levels was highlighted as one of the positive outcomes of the day:
Mejor en bici (better in a bike) (@mejorenbici [7]) reported:
44 por ciento bajó el monóxido de carbono en el #diasincarro [8] Muchas gracias BOGOTA y feliz fin de semana.
Carito Camargo (@Caritoesoterica [9]) wrote about how peaceful it was to move around the city:
Excelente este #diasincarro [8] nada mejor que desplazarse por la ciudad con tranquilidad….ademas llegue por fin a las 6 a la U bien bien
Lina Gutiérrez (@ChefGuty [10]) noticed a decrease in noise levels:
Mi #diasincarro [8] paso sin pena ni gloria….no sentí la diferencia del trancón pero si en el ruido me hizo feliz el silencio.
For some, like Robert Salazar (@SoySalazarR) [12], there were no major differences and even reported traffic congestion:
la 10 con el #diasincarro [8] es peor!! no crei que fuera a poder decir esto algun dia. La decima puede empeorar
Lina Hurtado (@linhure [13]) tweeted about the difficulties in using public transportation and in getting from one place to another:
Esto sonará anticívico de nuevo, pero me molesta ver que son las 10:30pm y mucha gente aun no puede llegar a casa por culpa del #Diasincarro [14]
Felipe Gutiérrez (@PiPe_DaRk) [15] and Alfonso Penagos (@AlfonsoPenagos) [16] think there was no major environmental impact with the measure. In that order, they wrote:
creo que el #diasincarro [8] funciona mas para los taxistas que para el medio ambiente…seguimos respirando humo.
Bueno creo que el balance del #díasincarro [17] es un completo fracaso… ni siquiera el medio ambiente se vio favorecido.
I think that the #carfreeday [8] is better for cab drivers than for the environment…we are still breathing smog
Well I think that the outcome of the #carfreeday [8] is a complete failure… not even the environment was favored
However, others think the car-free day should be implemented in other places and with greater frequency. Christina Méndez (@ImChrizM [18]), for example, said:
El #diasincarro [8] fue lo máximo, debería ser con más frecuencia.
David Olaya (@DavidOlaya [19]) added:
Debería haber mas de un #diasincarro [8] al año, no solo en #Bogota [20] sino en otras ciudades.
With a similar view, Yenny Moreno (@chela_moreno [21]) wrote:
#diasincarro [8] una de las mejores formas para cuidar el planeta, lastima que no sea tan frecuente.
Finally, Sebastián Movilla (@sebasmovilla [22]) shares his satisfaction with the day's results linking to the Colombian newspaper El tiempo, which wrote the headline: “Speed increased and pollution decreased in the car-free day,” where it reviews what happened during the day:
Muy satisfactorios los resultados de este #diasincarro [8] en #Bogota [20], deberia hacerse muchas veces mas al año http://bit.ly/eIQG0w [23] #mejorenbici [24]
You can read more about this initiative in a previous post published by Global Voices when this same day was held in the city of Medellín. [25]