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Participants in the 2009 Car-Free Day declaration (July 30) pose in front of Seoul City Hall. Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon is at center left.
Two of the busier thoroughfares in Seoul - Jongno in central Seoul and Teheran-ro in the south - will be free of cars except for buses from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday (Sep. 22), according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The international car-free day event, initiated in Europe in 1997, started in Seoul in 2006. Over 2,000 cities in some 40 countries in the world will be hosting similar events on the day.
On Jongno (from Sejong-ro to Dongdaemun: 2.8km) and Teheran-ro (from Samseong to Yeoksam subway stations: 2.4km) during the cited hours, no other cars but buses will run using two central lanes, and temporary bike lanes will also be installed.
Seoul's car free day last year was commemorated only along short sections on Jongno and Cheonggyecheon (Cheonggye Stream) areas, but it was extended to include Teheran-ro, a major road in the Gangnam area.
Slogans for the events are “Eco-friendly Jongno” and “Bike-oriented Gangnam.” Jongno is to be the venue for a variety of performances aimed at environmental improvement while Teheran-ro will also host such events as free bike rentals and repairs.
Seoul Metro and the city buses will charge no fares on the early morning of Tuesday, up until 9 a.m. (Remember! You should not place your T-money fare payment card on the electronic readers when you ride on a bus during this time.) Use of parking lots in the capital city will be limited as well. The metropolitan government plans instead to operate 141 more buses and 16 more subway trains to deal with expected transportation burden.
Other major cities in Korea will also join the car-free day event and a total of 33 kilometers of roadways in the country will allow only buses for most of the day on Sep. 22.
According to the Ministry of Environment, Seoul's car exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions were both 20 percent less on last year's car-free day.
By James Ro
Korea.net Staff Writer
