DC Mayor Adrian Fenty. Photo via Flickr courtesy Oblivious Dude

While we Chicagoans fret over the future of our transit system and dread our growing traffic problems, over in DC, residents are enjoying their clean, carpeted trains and celebrating their first official Car Free Day. DC City Council has declared Sept. 18 Car Free Day. Council members found means to work without automobiles, and even the mayor advocated for walking, biking and transit, posing for the press while riding the bus. One of the council members is even hosting a weeklong CarFree Challenge on his website. The weeklong challenge will culminate with a street festival on Saturday. The DC event is actually part of a World Car Free Day. Kind of makes you jealous, doesn't it? The event has been getting great Press Coverage, much of which indicates really positive attitudes about alternative transportation. Learn more about it at CarFree DC.

Reading about DC's success and other events around the world makes me think "I want that." I'd like to start planning now for next year. Advocacy groups in Chicago like Chicagoland Bicycle Federation have already done a tremendous job at changing attitudes about biking, but we still have a long way to go on transit and walking. While a one-day event in and of itself may not make any significant change, I think the press and attention it gets can be a great way to raise awareness and change attitudes about transportation. A few things I'd like to see happen next year on Chicago Car-Free Day:

• City Council and Mayor Daley riding trains and buses
• Music in Transit -- saturating train and bus stops with street musicians and local bands to make the commute a little more special
• Walking Tours to work from various neighborhoods to downtown -- both with personal guides and iPod tours
• Morning coffees with the neighbors near train stops
• PARK(ing) Day projects across the city

Email me if you can help make it happen!