Helsinki invites residents to celebrate Car-Free Day

The European Mobility Week, which starts on Tuesday, encourages people to reflect on their everyday choices in terms of mobility and the impact of these choices on the environment, society and health. The week ends on Monday 22 September with the Car-Free Day, when the City encourages people to leave their cars at home and use their own muscle power or public transport for their day-to-day trips.

The kick-off event for the Car-Free Day will take place on Friday 19 September at Kansalaistori, where the City, together with HSL and HSY, highlights the theme of sustainable mobility in a free event for the whole family.

Programme on Friday 19 September, from 1 pm to 5 pm

• Free express bicycle maintenance (15 min)
• Bicycle tuning workshop: Decorate your bike with stickers and reflectors
• Wheel of fortune: Test your knowledge and spin the wheel to bring home the prize
• Activity track by fox friends: Fun orienteering around Kansalaistori
• Meet the experts from Environmental Services and Traffic and Street Planning
• Music by Trash Heroes DJ
• Vegan hot dogs: Free hot dog and juice for the first 300 visitors
  
  

Sustainable mobility is everyone’s right

This year, the theme of the Mobility Week is Mobility for Everyone. The theme highlights everyone’s right to sustainable mobility, regardless of their income, place of residence, functional abilities, gender or other factors. The cost of mobility or lack of alternatives can limit one’s options for travelling to work, school or basic services. This is called transport poverty. The Mobility Week invites us to imagine and build a society where sustainable mobility is accessible, affordable, equal and safe.

Helsinki strives to ensure safe mobility for all by improving the traffic safety of children and young people, for example. This year, Helsinki has placed stricter speed limits in the vicinity of 60 schools. In addition to improving road safety for children and young people, this decision will have a positive impact on air quality and the sound environment, and thereby even more widely on the health of Helsinki residents. The theme of sustainable, safe and healthy mobility is also highlighted through environmental education on transport, which is offered by the Environmental Services to schools and the City's after-school activities.

Investing in public transport is key to tackling transport poverty. In Helsinki, urban development is based primarily on a transport system that relies on public transport, and public transport connections are being developed in the long term. The new Helsinki City Strategy sets out to ensure the attractiveness of public transport and other sustainable modes of transport during the new strategy term 2025–2029.

What is European Mobility Week?

The European Mobility Week is the European Commission's main campaign to promote sustainable mobility. The aim of the week is to encourage residents towards active mobility, and the use of public transport and other sustainable transport solutions. The week has been celebrated in Finland since 2003.