Every year on or around 22nd September, cities across the globe celebrate International Car Free day, encouraging motorist to give up their cars for a day. The event highlights the numerous benefits of going car free citizens including reduced air pollution and the promotion of walking and cycling in a safer environment.

This year’s Car Free Day, falls on a Sunday (22nd of September 2024). This is a perfect opportunity to make it to a busy and well visited event, as most people enjoy their work-free weekend and are available for community activities. Join us in celebrating Car Free Day in Jinja Uganda on a car-free Main Street.

This year’s theme is: “Jinja Bicycle City: Dutch inspiration for a people-centred city”

The goals of the Jinja Car Free Day 2024 are to:

  • assign road space which is normally mostly used by motorised traffic to be only for non-motorised transport for one day, to enable the Jinja community to enjoy their main street in town without motorised traffic and for recreation, sports and leisure.
  • to promote mindset change towards embracing non-motorised transport
  • to create a platform for the community to share the need for increased road safety for non-motorised transport users, the need for improved accessibility for all road users (including pedestrians, children, people with disabilities, etc), and the need for improved air quality.

The location is Main Street, from Bell Avenue, to Naranbhai Road. This will be closed for motorised traffic by traffic police from 8am to 2pm. From 2pm activities activities will continue at City Hall.

The Jinja Car Free Day is a free event. The confirmed programme includes:

  • kids bike course: an obstacle course is set up on Main Street where children can enjoy riding their bicycle. Bikeventures is having a number of children’s bicycles available, free of charge, for those children who do not have a bicycle of their own.
  • street chalking contest: from 9am and throughout the day children can sign up for the street chalking contest at CooP-Uganda stand opposite the Post Office, and can draw the Jinja they dream of on a designated space of the road. At 1.30pm a jury will select the best drawing and award a prize to the winner.
  • bike test area: Green Hub is having various models of bicycles available for display and testing. From 9am-2pm at Innovation Village.
  • living room: CooP-UG is making living room furniture available on the street to enable the audience to use the road as an extention of their living room, from 9am-2pm at Tropical Bank.
  • road safety feedback sessions: CooP-UG is collecting feedback from road users what can be improved in Jinja City to make it a safer place for walking and cycling.
  • bicycle servicing: Green Hub is offering free bicycle servicing at Airtell office from 9am-2pm.
  • critical mass bike ride: The Cricital Mass Bicycle Ride starts from Igar tower at 10.30am, and cyclists will ride a 8-10km route in a gentle pace, enjoying the roads riding safely in a group, while at the same time showcasing that Jinja has plenty of cyclists and that it therefore is worth planning for safe cycling facilities. Critical Mass rides is a form of direct action in which people travel as group on bicycles at a set location and time. The purpose of Critical Mass is a call to action to councils, governments, and road planners to design in the safety of all road users including properly and thoughtfully those who prefer to walk and cycle, instead of prioritising motor traffic above all else. A distance of 8-10 km is covered during the ride, in a slow pace, guided by Bikeventures guides, and supported by traffic police. Cyclists from all ages, gender, background and social status are invited to join in the ride. For this bike ride a delegation of the Dutch embassy, including the Dutch ambassador, as well as a delegation of Jinja City Council, including the mayor are invited to ride along.
  • screening of documentary “Together we cycle”, at City Hall at 2.30pm, by the Royal Dutch embassy. The film “Together we cycle” investigates the critical events that led to the revival of the Dutch cycling culture, and key players tell the story of the bumpy road which led to the current state.
  • world café setting discussions after the documentary, hosted by the Dutch embassy, at City Hall.

In Jinja City, the Car Free Day was initiated by Cycling Out of Poverty Foundation (CooP-Uganda), and has been organized each year since 2018. CooP-Uganda advocates for a city where cyclists are included in the designs and plans, and bicycles are respected. Over time, other partners became involved in making the Jinja Car Free Day on 22nd September successful, including the Red Cross, the Rolex Joint, BSPW, Fabio, BCC, One More Child, Tjeko, Jinja Scouts and Critical Mass Jinja. Jinja City Council is embracing the event and acknowledges the importance of planning for non-motorised transport, and therefore is fully on board.

As CooP-Uganda we hope Jinja City Council will move forward to adopt the annual event as hosts and organisers. That way, the event will be embedded in the community even more, and even more community organisations will join in the activities. In future, the ambition could even be to organise a monthly or bi-weekly car free day, as is organised by many city councils in Latin America, and also for example in Kigali Rwanda.

Photo impression of previous Jinja Car Free Days: