Nairobi joins World Car Free Day

Nairobi will participate for the first time in this year's World Car Free Day on 22 September.
The Kenyan capital becomes one of only a handful of African cities to celebrate the annual event which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, traffic pollution and noise, and promotes alternative means of environmentally-friendly transport such as cycling.
The inaugural event in Nairobi will be centred around several sections of the Central Business District (CBD) including City Hall Way, Kenyatta Avenue, Moi Avenue, Kimathi Street and Haile Selassie Avenue.

The Sunken Car Park, located in the CBD, will host activities such as skating, cycling, live music, art and crafts markets and dance classes.
Ahead of the event in Nairobi, Ben Ndegwa of the Wheels of Africa cycling advocacy group said it should not just be about leaving the car behind for one day. "Its about understanding the short and long term effects of the continual use of the car and looking at alternatives like public transit, cycling, car-pooling, walking and telecommuting," he said.
The car-free day is adhered to in over 2,000 of the world's cities whose motorists swap their cars for cycling, walking, skating or jogging for one day.
Established in 2000 to coincide with European Mobility Week, the initiative has its roots in 1950s America before being championed in France and Italy in the 1990s.