Gov’t workers to ditch cars for day

| 20/09/2019 | 55 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): Hundreds of public sector workers and government employees are ditching their individual cars today in favour of car pools, buses, bicycles and their feet. The civil service is joining the globally recognised Car Free Day for the first time. Last year some 2,800 cities in 54 countries participated in the event. The commerce ministry, which is spearheading the initiative for government workers, has also asked the Legislative Assembly to take part.

“We encourage all members of the civil and public service, including those on our Sister Islands, to join with us and reduce our use of cars for just one day,” said Minister Joey Hew. “Our plan this year is for the civil and public service to lead by example, and then expand Car Free Day Cayman to the private sector and the general public in 2020.”

In addition to carpooling, bike riding or walking, the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure will provide ‘park and ride’ opportunities for employees who live in the Eastern Districts as well as ‘hop on, hop off’ buses in George Town throughout the day. 

A number of local businesses have thrown their support behind the event by providing incentives for civil servants who participate, including airline tickets, bicycles and gift cards. Several restaurants in the George Town area will offer discounts on Friday to employees of the civil and public service. 

Officials said that some of the benefits of using fewer cars by taking alternative modes of transportation include reduced traffic congestion, improved energy conservation, less of a parking problem, reduced harmful emissions, savings on time and money, and generally a greener planet.

CNS reporter Wendy Ledger will also ditch her vehicle for the day and will cover the news via pedal power. Given the release of the police figures recently regarding the dangers posed to cyclists by drivers, we are urging people who are not taking part in the Car Free Day not to knock her off. She will be reporting back on Monday about her full day on the roads.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tags: ,

Category: Local News, Science & Nature

Comments (55)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    Let’s be honest….we don’t need the whole civil service to ride to work; just Cabinet, and specifically Joey Hew and the NRA Executive Suite. I’d like them to ride just a couple miles of the roads they supervised and approved post-2015 during a rush hour. I want them to witness how the “cycling lanes”, where they exist, reduce from 5 feet to nothing (sometimes with a hard curb) at every traffic circle. WHO DESIGNED these, and are they still involved with road works?!? Why?!!

  2. Anonymous says:

    JuJu and Mac nah have to ditch because they have drivers.

  3. Anonymous says:

    A proper public transport system would give many people a sensible viable alternative, the current bus system isn’t fit for purpose, and that includes the ‘buses’, drivers or organisation.

    26
    1
  4. Anonymous says:

    If they can recognise that car pooling is a positive step in the right direction then why can’t they see that allowing Uber and the others to operate here would make a massive difference too!? Is government scared of technology or just plain corrupt?

    19
    4
  5. Anonymous says:

    Not one of the smartest ideas considering the recent stats of how many people that injured on bicycles. However, I’m just glad government is finally doing something that not hitting the public purse and not getting value for money I.e. stop light at the top of south sound.

    3
    3
    • Anonymous says:

      Oh shut up. You’re just salty that your selfish Old Crewe Road shortcut isn’t effective anymore and you still gotta wait in line like everyone else.

      1
      3
    • Anonymous says:

      Bicycle riders do not ride in their designated lanes.
      They hold up traffic whilst not looking.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Should help with the 10am and 3pm rush hour traffic,…

    12
  7. Anonymous says:

    good luck.

  8. Linda says:

    Can’t believe the negative comments. This is a fantastic idea and I fully support it. Thank you CIG. I hope my private employer follow the civil service lead.

    26
    10
  9. SSM345 says:

    Traffic from the East was officially the worst it’s been all week today.

    24
    1
  10. Anonymous says:

    Forget car-pools, motorcycles, etc! I would ride a good public transport system every day if we had one!!!

    50
    1
  11. Moi says:

    I’ll bet you the are not.

    3
    2
  12. Bertie : B says:

    Gonna be a lot of flat tires out there .

    8
    1
    • Anonymous says:

      I installed a tire liner on my road bike’s 1 cm wide tyres and have yet to get a flat. Cost $15 from Uncle Bill’s. Was buying a new tire and tube every month prior to installing the shield.

      8
      3
      • Anonymous says:

        Cool. Think ole Bertie was joking that most will claim to have a flat tyre, not actually have one. Typical dribble, just like sick days always seem to fall on a Monday.

  13. Anonymous says:

    You think they going to park all the new fords when they need them to pickup their snacks and lunch?

    20
    4
  14. Anonymous says:

    Wendy should ride her bike down to the GOAB parking lot and take a few pictures of how empty it is. Wink wink.

    Oh, go before 3:30, it is Friday after all…

    33
    1
  15. Anonymous says:

    Totalitarian government makes headlines by carpooling like it’s an earth shattering thing – in the process carbon footprint actually increases due to airline tickets for the contest, t-shirts being made all for self promotion in media to ensure everyone knows that on this day, September 20, 2019, a few people hitched a ride in an attempt to be green. Oops. But hey, still better than nothing! I applaud the effort. Now designate a carpool day, (preferably Friday because everyone is happy), ditch the insane promotions and t-shirts, and start being recognized as a green government. Incentives? Imagine a day without traffic in the Cayman Islands. I know right? You’re welcome!

    23
    5
    • J|) says:

      We contribute 0.00000001% of global CO2 emissions. Instead of finding something to complain about, understand this was to help inspire behavior that reduces traffic congestion.

      17
      5
  16. Anonymous says:

    Giving away airline tickets to celebrate environmental action related to transportation is a little ironic, don’t you think?

    51
    1
    • Anonymous says:

      Ha! Only in Cayman! LOL

      28
      2
    • Anon. says:

      Considering we are an island, how else would you propose getting to the rest of the world in a timely manner? Boat? Train? Bicycle?

      At least give them credit for trying something. Now let’s sit back and see if it catches on or if this was just a one-day event to never be repeated.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Can we do this like.. every day and get the private sector involved?

    Also.. everyone realizes traffic na as bad when school is out.. Parents need to stop being helicopters and send their snowflakes on the bus.

    37
    10
    • Anonymous says:

      Stop sending the damn children to school in the first place!

      10
      17
      • Anonymous says:

        Errr….I think that’s been the case for years. But you don’t need a high school diploma to run a country someone once said.

    • Anon. says:

      If the private schoolols organize bus pickups and a offs I am for it but so far I think they are only for the public schools so it is not our choice to take our children to school.
      I guess your next complaint will be us sending our children to private school in the first place. Again not our choice if the Government says the public school is for Caymanian children first (which it should be).

  18. Anonymous says:

    So you think everyone in government is going to finally understand how dangerous is it to ride a bike here?

    23
  19. Anonymous says:

    Why does it cost practically the same amount to license and ride a motorcycle as a car? There should be incentives for riding two wheels to work be it leg or engine powered.

    Bicyclists should get a rebate on their next licensing renewal and Motorcycle licensing should be discounted. I’m seeing more and more scooters recently.

    16
    2
  20. Anonymous says:

    Motorcycles should be counted in this. Studies have shown that when motorcyclists safely split lanes during congested traffic, the commute time significantly decreases for everyone.

    10
    2
    • Anonymous says:

      Two stroke engines are the dirtiest on the planet.

      • Anonymous says:

        That’s what she said.

      • Anonymous says:

        Two strokes are the illegal dirt bikes. Try walking into Automotive Art and find a Yamaha 2 stroke or any motorcycle dealership at that.

        Spoiler: all the motorcycles I’ve owned on island are 4 stroke.

        7
        1
      • Anonymous says:

        So what? Every bike I’ve owned was 4 stroke. Cleaner than half the crappy old hondas, diesel buses and CUC!

        5
        1
      • wd515 says:

        Nevermind the two strokes, just look at all the old diesel busses spewing black smoke and cars with rotten catalytic convertors (pretty much every car). No emissions control here – could drive a cruise ship down the street if ya want.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Idiots, fix the damn dump!

    25
    5
    • Anonymous says:

      If you built your house next to it, and throw crap away, you have no right to complain. It was certainly there before you, and is in the logical place. What alternative do you suggest?

      2
      5
  22. Anonymous says:

    Thank you for your leadership! A world class civil service .

    6
    25
  23. Anonymous says:

    Would have been good if this initiative had been promoted more well in advance. 1 day is not advance notice. First I am seeing anything about this.

    31
    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      Same here. I would have geared up my family, friends and business and made an adventure of it.

      Can’t really call it a success or a failure; maybe next time a bit of notice would benefit the event. Also, it shouldn’t be on a Thursday or Friday as I believe the barge goes to the Sister Islands then, and, well, there are no pedal-powered flatbeds that I know of.

  24. Anonymous says:

    Tomorrow is Saturday, a Gov’t holiday.

    CNS Editor: Sorry, my fault. Now corrected.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Who is responsible for the farce that is public transport Joey?

    23
  26. Anonymous says:

    Sure they did. Then subsequently negated the potential carbon offset by printing single use t-shirts.

    26
    1

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.