The city of Kunming in China (the home town of our analyst Sunny Huang) held its first ever ‘no car day’ recently, with private cars not allowed in the city centre.
The event was the climax of Kunming’s ‘Urban Public Transport Week’, promoting the city’s bus system and other alternatives to driving private automobiles around town.
According to GoKunming.com, only buses, taxis and bicycles were allowed on the road, with private cars attempting to enter the city centre stopped and fined by police.
The Kunming government estimated that the 12-hour ban affected 200,000 private automobiles, or one-fourth of the city’s total number of registered cars.