"The fight against climate change and the improvement of air quality are essential for our future wellbeing. The European Mobility Week helps make our citizens breathe better". Stavros Dimas, environment commissioner, presented in Brussels today the Special Week devoted to transport alternatives to cars and polluting vehicles, due from 16th to 22nd September. This year the Week will offer events in 1,324 cities (with a population of 133 million), both in the 27 member states and in China, Canada, Brazil, Thailand and other countries. The intention is to promote forms of mobility that "produce less or no smog", such as bicycles, "collective transport" (several people going to work in the same car), public transport, especially trains. Dimas recalled that cars produce 10% of greenhouse gases. The title of the 2007 Week is "Let’s reinvent the street": in particular, 22nd September will be the "car-free day" which for the first time has been extended to quite a few non-EU countries, especially China, where over one hundred cities and urban centres have joined in. For information on the events, visit the official website, www.mobilityweek-europe.org.
