By Angela Johnston
Ottawa’s recent Car Free Day was anything but.
To celebrate the Sept. 22 event at City Hall, activist choir Just Voices heralded the lyrics, “Car Free City, clean and pretty.”
An environmentally friendly Snakes and Ladders was sketched on the pavement with chalk. Then there was the true belle of the ball – a shiny OC Transpo bus parked proudly in front of City Hall.
City councillors played a heated car free trivia game – though city staffers gave them cheat sheets – and Deputy Mayor Clive Doucet officially proclaimed the day car free. But two parkades near City Hall, on Slater Street and Albert Street, were full.
Marcel Desormeaux, manning a toll booth in the busy Centre Parking parkade on Slater Street, chuckled when asked about Car Free Day: “Not here,” he said.
Some drivers said they were unaware of the event. “I had no idea,” said Mary Birtch, walking to her car. Traffic near City Hall looked busy.
Many Ottawa drivers seem to have taken little heed of Car Free Day, including some city councillors.
Councillors Jan Harder, Alex Cullen and Janet Stavinga drove to work on Car Free Day and a spokesperson in Coun. Rick Chiarelli’s office said that he “probably drove.”
Several other councillors walked, biked or took the bus.
Though city officials insist Car Free Day is primarily an awareness campaign, many experts believe that there are more effective ways to craft a truly car-free community.
“Having car free days are, to me, a gimmick,” said Prof. Gordon Ewing, who chairs the geography department at McGill University. He has researched what makes commuters use public transit.
Transportation accounts for 40 per cent of Ottawa’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to city estimates. In January, city council approved the Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan, which committed to reducing Ottawa’s greenhouse gas emissions 20 per cent by 2012.
“It really needs some meat to it,” said David Jeanes, president of Transport 2000 Canada, a non-profit transit lobby group, of Car Free Day.
Jeanes said the city’s commitment to a Car Free Day has been half-hearted. Two years ago, the city closed part of Wellington Street, but only on the weekend during off-peak hours.
Last year, Metcalfe Street was closed – but with an access lane. This year, however, a city bylaw prohibited closing down any streets.
“Holding a civic event without closing streets isn’t really a car free day,” said John Bennett, senior energy policy advisor for the Sierra Club of Canada.
The Sierra Club runs its own Car Free events – Bennett said they decided not to unite with the city because they felt that Ottawa, by not closing streets, did not take the event seriously.
“The trouble is that you need an event,” said Ned Lathrop, deputy city manager of planning and growth management. He said that the main goal for the day was to show drivers different transportation possibilities. Statistics Canada just reported an increase in truck sales of 11.3 per cent for July.
Jeanes said more serious city initiatives are needed. On Clean Air Day in June, for example, OC Transpo offered two-for-one fares.
Such incentives diverge from plans to increase transit fees by 7.5 per cent in December and already-cut bus routes, said Jeanes.
Ewing said people will not stop driving until congestion becomes unbearable. He said rising gas prices or increased parking fees would not have an effect. Congested cities in Europe, such as London, have introduced congestion charges for travel through the busy downtown.
Lathrop dismissed this idea, saying that it only penalizes people: “We’re not there yet.”
Lathrop said the city will continue to focus on an educational campaign. Bennett said that he believes Car Free Day is still an effective way to encourage drivers out of their seats. “These things take time,” he said.
Last year, Car Free Day was celebrated in 1,321 towns and cities in 36 different countries.