Cities Around the Globe Go Carfree… Well, Almost
From Budapest to Beijing, and from Bangkok to Buenos Aires, city dwellers across the globe hoped to enjoy an entire day without of the habitual pollution and hassle of automobile traffic.
Towns and cities signed up to participate in the annual car-free day held last Saturday. Since 2000 the World Carfree Network, an international association dedicated to advancing alternatives to automobile dependence, has called for the celebration of cities and public life "free from
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The most recent episode in the ongoing dispute over the London congestion charge, once again pits the Mayor against the American Embassy. A congestion charge of £8, around $16, is levied on private vehicles entering a central zone of the vast capital city of Great Britain during working hours from Monday through Friday. The American Embassy, among others, is located in the central zone but refuses to pay the charge for its fleet of vehicles. 
Feeling the price at the gas pump yet? The reason that gas prices are so high may not be immediately obvious, though most of us are familiar with the concept of Peak Oil. Whether or not we've reached the inevitable tipping point of the free-energy parade we've been having for so long, we haven't actually run out of oil — yet. 
Now you can save $1,000 per year, reduce stress and improve your health. How? Never face rush hour alone. Increasingly people are using one or more approaches to avoiding lost hours in gridlock: participating in flexible work, using the HOV lane, riding public transit, and walking. AAA determined that many drivers spend about $8,000 driving their vehicle. Save a $1,000 of that by using one of these strategies.
Editor's note: In today's Red, Green and Blue, our political commentators 