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Boulder’s new way of building “a community of carlessness”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward


Go carfree on the day that
corresponds to your car color
(mine would be Tuesday).

Here’s a interesting new campaign that would feel right at home in Portland. This Saturday, the City of Boulder Colorado will launch Driven to Drive Less, a new program to get people to go one day a week without their car. What’s refreshing is that they’re going about it in a creative way, by asking people to consider going carfree on a certain day of the week depending on the color of their vehicle. Here’s a snip from the campaign website:

“Let’s make a game out of going carless at least once a week. A game that everyone who plays wins. One day a week. That’s 14.3% less congestion, pollution and road rage for Boulder and the rest of the world.

Here’s how it works: Your car’s color corresponds to an assigned car-free day of the week (see chart at right). If that day works with your schedule, then give your car a well-deserved day off, and go forth carless.”

I like how they’re also using social media to build some community around the “game.” The message is simple, the call to action is fun, and the execution is very professional (they hired a solid local creative firm). I feel like more cities should be doing this type of thing.

Read more about the campaign via the Daily Camera newspaper.

Do you think this is a good approach to getting cars off the road and/or raising awareness about how we get around?

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