We’ve often wondered where the religious types were on intelligent transport. You’d think there would be enough inspiration in their books - Bible/Torah/Koran to support healthy, modern living. Yet it’s not often you see churches and religious organistations coming out in support of liveable cities.
So then our friend Paul in Vienna sent us a link to an intiative by the Catholic and Protestant churches of Austria.
Car Fasting - or Autofasten, in German. A brilliant intiative to encourage people to go on a car fast and seek alternatives.
Here's what I lamely translated from their website:
Car Fasting is ...
You can support car fasting by:
- Not driving or driving significantly less - Walk your children to school - Walk to church and encourage others to do so - Attaching a Car Fasting sign to your bicycle- Supporting the bicycle advocacy group ARGUS
- Encouraging car-free alternatives in your company - Forming a car pool - Planning a car-free holiday - Transforming parking spots into green spaces - Taking public transport frequently- Switching your motorist club memberships and instead support soft mobility, like www.vcoe.at
- Supporting alternatives: www.fairkehr.net - Distributing Car Fasting material: newsletters, stickers, flyers - spreading the word by talking about it - Demanding that politicians improve public transport
- Using private car sharing or trying car sharing systems like www.carsharing.at
Great stuff. Let's hope that relgions get their game face on about modernising our cities and encouraging more sustainable transport solutions.
