TEHRAN – Ambassadors of four European countries to Tehran along with the city mayor Pirooz Hanachi hit the streets on Tuesday on the occasion of the World Car-Free Day.

Hanachi accompanied the ambassadors of France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany riding bicycles on the route from Laleh Park to Shahr Park.

Then they visited Tehran Peace Museum to mark the International Day of Peace on September 21.

World Car-Free Day is an international event celebrated every September 22 in which people are encouraged to use public or non-motorized transport to get around. 

It has come a long way since its beginnings in 1956 when Dutch and Belgians abandoned their cars every Sunday to curb the effects of the Suez Crisis.

Iran also kicked off the ‘Car-Free Tuesdays’ campaign in 2016 by NGOs aiming to decrease the number of private cars in cities, hence mitigate air pollution, but lost momentum after almost a year probably because of the inefficient infrastructure in the country.

Such movements towards cleaner transport options entail appropriate infrastructure such as bike lanes to ensure safety improvements and higher ridership numbers, as well as efficient, low emission public transport.

Iran ranked 71st in the world in terms of per capita vehicle, in Tehran alone there are four cars per person.

According to a report by the World Bank published in April 2018, air pollution in Tehran incurs an annual loss of $2.6 million and over 4,000 premature deaths from exposure to fine particles ambient concentrations.

FB/MG