TAMPA, Fla. — Saturday is World Car Free Day. To mark the day, Tampa and St. Pete will join 2,000 cities worldwide to celebrate car-free transportation.
Walk-Bike Tampa is one organization spearheading the effort to promote fewer cars in Tampa Bay.
Christine Acosta with Walk-Bike Tampa says there are three “activation zones” between Midtown, Downtown, and Ybor City where people can gather and travel the route together.
She is hopeful more people will embrace other modes of transportation like bikes, e-bikes, and scooters.
While Tampa does have a car-centric community, she says Walk-Bike Tampa is encouraging this to help alleviate traffic congestion, among other things.
“What people will experience, they will be surprised how convenient, how comfortable, how beautiful it is to travel without your car between these spaces; it’s actually quite close, the distance between the activation zones is only 15-20 minutes each, it’s the same amount and sometimes less than if you were to drive,” explained Acosta.
The World Car Free Day event starts at 9:30 on Saturday morning. There will be raffles, including REI giving away a $1200 e-bike, food trucks, farmers markets, and live music. You can learn more about the event and meet-up spots here.
