More than 150 Chinese cities observed World Car-Free Day on September 22 to fight air pollution. Zhangjiagang of Jiangsu province set an area of about 5.1 square meters in its western part as a car-free zone from 7 am to 7 pm.

The city’s bus company adjusted 19 bus routes and sent out more buses to support the event. More bicycles were also provided for rent. At 8:30 am, an employee of the bicycle renting department said the number of bicycles rented was almost double average numbers.

There were still many cars during the morning rush hour outside the car-free zone. But car owners showed understanding and support after they saw exhibition boards. Ms Cao said it was necessary to hold such an event as there are more and more vehicles in the city, and air pollution has become serious. “I’ll choose public transportation such as buses and bicycles as long as time is allowed.”

Mr Zhang also showed his support, saying that though it is impossible to solve transportation and pollution problems by such a simple event, at least it will remind people to choose low carbon transportation and enhance the concept of environmental protection.

However, some people had opposite opinions. Mr Wan said he didn’t think it was useful to hold a car-free event as it couldn’t solve transportation problems, and the car-free zone makes transportation more chaotic.

Some people said the main reason for them not choosing public transportation was inconvenience. A car owner who declined to tell his name said the key factor for car-free day should be improvement of public transportation instead of abandoning private cars.