ZAGREB, September 22, 2018 - European Car Free Day, which is celebrated on September 22 and ends European Mobility Week, was marked in Zagreb on Saturday with the downtown being closed to motor vehicles and the main celebrations taking place on European Square with a parade of pedestrians, bicyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders as well as disabled people in mobile wheelchairs.
The parade was followed by a traditional bicycle ride through Zagreb streets. European Car Free Day was organised by the European Commission Representation in Croatia and the parade through downtown Zagreb was headed by the Head of the Representation, Branko Baričević.
Baričević underscored that the aim of European Mobility Week, which has been organised by the EC since 2002 and was held from September 16 to 22, is to promote alternative transport. He underlined that Zagreb has participated in this event from the very start and is one of the most active cities in that regard, for which it has been awarded. In addition to Zagreb, 14 other towns around Croatia participate in Car Free Day along with 2,500 cities in the EU.
He explained that alternative transport means, instead of taking the car, riding on public transport, by bike, on roller blades, scooters etc.
Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, together with the head of the city's strategic planning and development office Sanja Jerković, presented a pilot project to extend the pedestrian zone in the centre of the city.
"The project has a threefold role - to promote ecology, extend pedestrian zones and to reduce the concentration of CO2," Bandić said.
