Shed Your Car Day - Fremantle : Thursday 9th May 2002

By taking on the challenge to host the Shed Your Car Day - the first car-free day to be held in Australia - the City of Fremantle has taken the opportunity to serve as a model for other Australian towns and cities.

The inaugural event on 23 November 2000 established Fremantle as a community which has a real commitment to creating a more socially and environmentally sustainable place to live, work and play.

The 2001 Shed Your Car Day was bigger and better, involving a swag of new partners in the movement to a car-depleted world!

In 2002 Shed Your Car joined a global network of Car Free Days by partnering with the United Nations Car Free Days initiative.

Global Background

The car-free concept is already an annual event in many countries around the world. On 21 and 22 September every year, cities and towns throughout Europe hold an In Town Without My Car day.

Last year 150 cities participated and an estimated 22 million people took part in the event. More than 85% of people involved said they would like the event to be repeated on a regular basis. Many other cities, including Boulder, Colorado USA and Tokyo, Japan, have also hosted successful car-free days.