A Car-free week was launched in Shenzhen and 107 other Chinese cities on September 16, urging urban residents to take public transport, ride bicycles or walk instead of driving.

The week aims to increase public awareness about energy saving and environmental protection.

The last day of the week is Sept. 22, World Car Free Day, when private cars will be banned from entering Shenzhen’s six busiest areas between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. including Dongmen and Huaqiangbei.

Shenzhen’s transport bureau plans to introduce more buses to handle a large number of commuters during the week.

Shenzhen is one of 108 cities which agreed to observe an urban public transport week proposed by the Ministry of Construction earlier this month. Five other cities in Guangdong are also observing the same, namely Foshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Zhanjiang and Shantou.

The number of vehicles on Shenzhen’s roads hit 1 million in March. Car emissions have replaced industrial gases as the city’s main source of air pollution since 2004, accounting for 70 percent of the total. The amount of hazardous pollutants emitted by vehicles in the city has reached 200,000 tons in the city and is increasing at 20 percent a year.

By June this year, China had registered more than 53 million vehicles, and more than 60 percent were for private use. And the number of private cars continues to increase by about 20 percent each year, much faster than the economic growth.

In China, less than 10 percent of commuters use public transport and buses only run at 10 kilometers per hour on average due to jams, according to the ministry.

Urbanites in 35 French cities initiated World Car Free Day in 1998, and the move has been followed by many European cities since.

The car-free week will be an annual event in China. 

Editor: Donald