Few residents celebrate World Carfree Day

Tuesday’s rain might have washed out the town of Chapel Hill’s efforts to get people out of their cars to celebrate World Carfree Day.

Chapel Hill Transit leaders hoped residents would leave their cars at home and use public transportation, but bus driver Jeremy Hall said he did not notice a difference or know what Carfree Day was.

“It seemed like the same amount of people on the bus to me,” Hall said. “I think that some people probably drove anyway because of all of the rain.”

Brian Litchfield, assistant director of Chapel Hill Transit, said he hoped the annual event would promote sustainable methods of transportation.

“We expected there to be a slight increase in bus riders today,” Litchfield said.

“While it is typically a grassroots movement, the idea is to promote other ways of transportation besides driving, including using public transportation, walking or biking.”

He said every day is busy for Chapel Hill public transportation, and the bus system averages 35,000 to 36,000 trips a day during the school year.

Litchfield said the town has done Carfree Day for the last two years, but the event has been promoted internationally by the World Carfree Network on Sept. 22 since 2000.

The town of Chapel Hill issued a press release in an effort to promote the event, Litchfield said.

Still, not much happened.

Chapel Hill resident Christopher Harris said he uses the bus system daily and he did not notice an increase in riders at noon.

“Around this time there are not many people on the bus, so there haven’t been any more people that I have noticed,” Harris said.

“I don’t have a car, so the bus is the only form of transportation that I have.”

Harris said life without a car works just fine for him. He is satisfied with Chapel Hill public transportation, although he said sometimes things can get interesting.

“It’s rather unusual. Sometimes it’s late, sometimes it’s on time,” Harris said.

“It’s beneficial for those who don’t have any transportation at all.”

Walking instead of driving an average car for a day will remove 31.4 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to the town of Chapel Hill’s press release.

 
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