Four brave souls put their money where their mouth is
Councillor Jonathon Cote's car-free commitment makes this weekend's front page in New West
July 19, 2009 (Vancouver, BC) There is a lot of talk from Metro Vancouver’s civic leaders about the importance of transit and alternate modes of transportation, and now four brave civic politicians are willing to hand in their car keys as part of a week-long "car-free challenge."
“With over 100 civic politicians in Metro Vancouver, we thought more than four of them would be willing to try out life without a car,” says Mike Klassen, co-editor of CityCaucus.com, a popular blog focused on urban affairs in Canada. “I give full credit to the four politicians who are willing to put their money where there mouth is and live car free for a week. It won’t be easy.”
CityCaucus.com declared July 19-25 as Civic Leaders Car Free Week in Metro Vancouver to determine how many local politicians were willing to ditch their cars and check out life using alternate transportation. Abbotsford Mayor George Peary was the first politician to accept the challenge followed by New Westminster Councillor Johnathon Cote, Port Coquitlam Councillor Brad West and Vancouver Councillor Suzanne Anton.
Each of the elected officials are expected to hand over their car keys to the city manager for a week. They will also be writing a series of blog entries to be published on CityCaucus.com as part of the challenge. Only politicians who use their vehicle as their primary source of transportation were eligible to participate.
