Modern people have many problems but perhaps the biggest and the most important one is the lack of movement. We work in front of our computers, handle all our work on our smart phones and there is simply no need to move our legs. To encourage people to move more, European countries teamed up and initiated European Mobility Week, which is celebrated between Sept. 16 and Sept. 22 this year.
Launched for the 17th time, the event aims to improve quality of life by promoting clean mobility and sustainable urban transport. Over 2,400 towns and cities from 50 countries will hold events to mark this year's celebration, giving people the opportunity to explore the role of mobility in their daily lives and to experiment with clean transport modes.
EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc has declared 2018 the "Year of Multimodality," which has defined the theme of this year's European Mobility Week: "Mix and Move!" It encourages people to see how their daily travel needs can be met more efficiently, more cost-effectively, and more enjoyably by mixing transport modes.
Turkey, one of the participants of the event, has already started to encourage its citizens to pedal instead of riding everywhere with their cars. As a part of the activity, people of Edirne, left their cars and hopped on their bicycles. Also in Karabük, people are riding their bikes to create awareness about cyclists and for drivers to be more careful about cyclists on the roads.
Turkey's one and only "Active city," İzmir's Karşıyaka, gives great importance to this year's event. Yesterday, the district held the Amateur Cyclists event and announced Sept. 22 as "Carless Day." Between Sept. 22 and Sept. 28, the municipality will also hold numerous events to encourage people to be more active with yoga, fitness, cycling and Pilates classes offered for free.
