Leaving cars at home

last updated 8 January 2015

Brussels

Major parts of 1,400 cities in 30 European nations were closed to cars last week, as environmentalists staged the third annual “car-free day.” Brussels, where the environmental initiative was conceived, cordoned off 60 square miles to nonessential traffic. In Paris, eight out of 20 arrondissements were closed to automobiles. Some citizens complied with the spirit of the day, riding bicycles or walking, but thousands of others grumbled when they got tied up huge traffic jams. Street closings in Athens left thousands of drivers stuck motionless for hours. “I knew this was bicycle week, but not that they were going to cut off the main avenue,” said one driver. “It’s mental.”