PARKING METER PARTY!

Transportation for Liveable Communities presents a  

Parking Meter Party
Monday July 16, 2001
11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Meet at King Street just west of James Street (across from Jackson Square by the CIBC bank tower)
Bring some grass (the kind you sit on), a lawnchair, food, drums, soap bubbles, boombox ,sidewalk chalk, and your sense of adventure as we reclaim some prime downtown street space in smoggy, noisy, car-infested Hamilton.

We will supply the quarters for parking spaces, which will magically transform into liberated car-free spaces.

There will be a free bike repair clinic, free lemonade and most importantly, some car-free space as we confront out of control auto-culture.

Bring your musical instruments, gas masks (for the smog), banners, signs, bikes, roller blades, wheelchairs, kitchen sinks and help de-pave the way to a car free future.

CALL YOUR CITY COUNCILLOR

 
Contact your city councillor and demand bike lanes on King and Main; ask them to support World Car Free Day by closing streets in Hamilton to cars, September 20, 2001.

Hamilton City Councillors can be reached by phoning (905) 546-2489, or fax (905) 546-2535, or write them at City Hall, 2nd Floor, 71 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario, L8P 4Y5. Click here to find council contact info on the web

THE FRIGHTENING FACTS ABOUT CARS:

• Cars are the leading killer of children under 14 years of age in North America.
• Vehicles are the number one source of smog producing pollutants in North America (Ontario Ministry of Transportation.)
• There are currently no safe, direct bike routes (marked bike lanes) on downtown Hamilton streets (King and Main)
• According to the Canadian Automobile Association, there are now more than 2.78 million vehicles on highways per day in the Hamilton and Toronto areas.
• More than 40 pedestrians have died in traffic accidents in Hamilton in the past six years. Last year alone, 470 people were hit by cars. (Hamilton Spectator, March 15, 2001).
• Between 1990 and 1998, a total of 289 people were killed in motor-vehicle crashers, 77 of whom were pedestrians or cyclists. (Spectator, March 26th, 2001).
• Between 1986 and 1998, 6760 pedestrians and cyclists were injured by cars. (Spectator, Jan 30th, 2001).
• A single bus can take up to 40 vehicles off the road, save as much as 70,000 litres of fuel and keep 9 tonnes of air pollutants out of the air per year (Pollution Probe).
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average person who cycles instead of driving alone saves (per mile) at least 24 pounds of smog-causing pollutants and 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide.
• In Denmark, 20% of all trips are by bike. One third of all trips are made by bike in the Netherlands.
• Buenos Aires has a complete ban on private vehicles in the downtown district on weekdays.
• Bordeaux, France will shortly have 50% of its streets reserved for pedestrians and cyclists (Steve Nadis and James Mackenzie, "Car Trouble" 1993).
• Driving downtown in Oslo, Norway, costs $2 per trip (Environment Views p. 12 spring 1993)

To get involved in bringing about a breathable, liveable future of sustainable transportation, contact Transportation for Liveable Communities c/o The Ontario Public Interest Research Group, (OPIRG) McMaster: (905) 525-9140 ext. 27289 or e-mail opirg@mcmaster.ca