Car-Free Sunday returns to Singapore after four-year absence

The streets were filled with cyclists, joggers, skaters and rollerbladers, as well as families that had come to enjoy the car-free experience. - ST

SINGAPORE: More than 1,000 people took to the roads around the city centre on March 17, which were closed off to vehicles in the morning for Car-Free Sunday.

Returning after a hiatus of more than four years, the event breathed life into the Civic District, with music, food and activities aplenty for visitors.

The streets were filled with cyclists, joggers and in-line skaters, as well as families that had come to enjoy the experience.

At St Andrew’s Road between the National Gallery Singapore and the Padang, there were tents and booths that featured an immersive installation about reimagining public spaces, educational games on active mobility and even a mass piloxing workout near Anderson Bridge.

Along Esplanade Drive, visitors could try their hand at sports such as korfball and parkour, while staff from OCBC Bank gave out curry puffs and drinks to all OCBC Cycle participants and members of the public who followed its social media channels.

Mahendra Adhinata, 29, was taking in the sights and sounds with his wife and child.

The IT engineer, who is originally from Indonesia, said this is the first time he has participated in the event in Singapore.

“We have a car-free weekend every week back home in Indonesia, on our main street. It’s different, though, as in Indonesia, the streets would be lined with food stalls. Here, more people are exercising.”

Mahendra, who saw the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) event announcement on its Instagram page, said he wants to participate in the exercises if there are future editions. “I hope Singapore can do this more often, maybe every week or every month,” he added.

Erica Lim, who works in human resources, was walking along St Andrews Road with her husband and two children, who were in prams. She said she used to take part in previous editions of Car-Free Sunday with her husband, and would get her children to participate when they are older.

“This is much bigger than before, and it also looks a lot more crowded. Usually the crowd would pretty much be gone by 9am or 10am,” the 38-year-old said.

Organised by LTA, Car-Free Sunday 2024 aims to create greater public awareness of the benefits of walking, cycling and taking public transport as sustainable ways to travel.

The last edition was held in October 2019, when a 5.5km-long stretch of road from the Civic District to the Central Business District (CBD) across the Esplanade Bridge was closed off.

Car-Free Sunday was piloted in 2016 over a six-month period, with the last Sunday of each month designated as a car-free day.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng said the event shows how people can utilise and enjoy the spaces normally reserved for vehicles.

Speaking to reporters, he cited the upcoming 21.5km North-South Corridor from Woodlands to the city that will be completed in phases from 2027.

“Traffic will be diverted through either the viaduct or underground tunnels. On street level, a lot more spaces can be reimagined to become community spaces for activities,” he said.

Many visitors to Car-Free Sunday said they were glad the event had returned.

David Lim, 62, said that compared with previous years’ editions, this was the best one yet as it had many different activities for visitors to try.

The retiree, who was with 30 members of his cycling group, added: “I feel very happy to be here. It’s been a while since we had a Car-Free Sunday. I hope this will continue to return.”

Engineer Nicole Austria, 40, said she and her friends try not to ride on the roads on regular days, as all of them use foldable bicycles.

“This event allows us to experience cycling on roads in the CBD safely,” she added. “I hope this can be something that happens more regularly, maybe once every quarter.”

Some passers-by like project manager Bernice Lee, 30, were intrigued by the festivities. She was in the area with her friend and decided to have a look.

“I would definitely have come and participated if I had known about this event, although I would probably bring a lot more sunblock,” she said. - The Straits Times/ANN