As ever, the words and concepts present some people with difficulties. Streets are not 'closed' because driving cars is not allowed there for the day; nobody could possibly want 'traffic-free' city centres, because the essence of city centres is that there is a lot of traffic from people coming together. Instead, we obviously want lots of traffic on foot and on bikes. Things are only ever 'closed to all traffic' in the event of a police investigation or a similar reason for imposing an exclusion zone. And so on. Traffic is people, not machines.
Across Europe, Car-free Day events are well-established, and in many cities they include the whole city centre, where driving is strictly limited. In London, the event has usually involved just a couple of streets in a couple of boroughs, with the initiative often spearheaded by volunteers. It's good that it's getting bigger.
This is getting rather big this year, a long way away from its humble beginnings (in London) in 2001:
https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/londons-biggest-ever-car-free-day
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-car-free-day-2019-what-will-this-years-event-involve-everything-you-need-to-know-a4174536.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/20/sadiq-khan-announces-car-free-day-in-london-to-tackle-air-pollution
As ever, the words and concepts present some people with difficulties. Streets are not 'closed' because driving cars is not allowed there for the day; nobody could possibly want 'traffic-free' city centres, because the essence of city centres is that there is a lot of traffic from people coming together. Instead, we obviously want lots of traffic on foot and on bikes. Things are only ever 'closed to all traffic' in the event of a police investigation or a similar reason for imposing an exclusion zone. And so on. Traffic is people, not machines.
Across Europe, Car-free Day events are well-established, and in many cities they include the whole city centre, where driving is strictly limited. In London, the event has usually involved just a couple of streets in a couple of boroughs, with the initiative often spearheaded by volunteers. It's good that it's getting bigger.