Expect more fun at the Car-Free Sunday SG this Sunday, 27 November 2016. There will be activities appealing to different segments of the community, making the event a more inclusive one. Most notably, six trishaws will be making their debut this Sunday. This is a community initiative to enable those who are less mobile, in particular the elderly, to also experience and enjoy the sights of our car-free Civic District.
Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, will kick-start this initiative by ferrying an elderly person around the Civic District. The first beneficiaries of this trishaw service will be the elderly from SASCO Senior Citizens’ Home.
Making this community initiative possible is avid cyclist and founder of Jolly Riders Mr Han Jok Kwang, who is funding the provision of this fleet of trishaws. Mr Han, who has been supporting the event since its beginning, said, “The Civic District is rich in memories for the pioneer generation. I hope that the trishaws can encourage more from that generation to come and enjoy the place, and make our car-free initiative an inclusive event for everyone in Singapore.”
Mr Han’s initiative expands on an earlier effort by Ms Pernille Bussone, who has been ferrying the elderly with a specially-built trishaw at Car-Free Sunday SG to promote the Cycling Without Age movement.
Participants can register for the trishaw service between 8am and 10am on Sunday at the trishaw booth in front of National Gallery Singapore, along St Andrew’s Road. Each registration is for a 15-minute block around the Civic District Loop. Participants can choose to get a ride from volunteers to take in the sights of the city, or choose to operate the trishaw personally to ferry their elderly family members or friends. Priority will be given to those who are less mobile, in particular the elderly, and on a first-come, first-served basis.
In addition to the regular Car-Free Sunday SG activities, there will be more new community activities introduced this Sunday. Complementing Car-Free Sunday SG as a healthy and wholesome activity is the introduction of the Central Singapore CDC’s Farmers’ Market at Queen Elizabeth Walk, near Esplanade Park. Curated by the Central Singapore CDC, the Farmers’ Market will feature a variety of affordable local and organic produce such as locally-grown vegetables, mushrooms and organic honey.
Along Connaught Drive, Sport Singapore and Netball Singapore together with Deloitte, will be organising four morning netball clinics for the whole family. These clinics will be open to children, youths and adults. Participants will learn basic netball skills through fun activities coached and facilitated by Team Singapore netballers.
The public can also participate in the various arts and cultural activities, as well as explore interactive installations put together as part of the National Gallery Singapore’s Light to Night Festival, in celebration of their first anniversary. In addition, there will be music performances at National Gallery Singapore and Victoria Concert Hall for all to enjoy.
The opening up of Telok Ayer conservation area also adds to the vibrancy of Car-Free Sunday SG. This Sunday, besides enjoying breakfast in cafes which are opening earlier from 8am and exploring a tour around the historic district, the public will be able to show off their talents on the open microphone stage, or watch others perform.
Refer to Annex A [PDF, 374kb] for more details on the activities.
We are bringing the fun and vibrancy of Car-Free Sunday SG live on to Facebook starting at 7.58am this Sunday. You can catch the trishaw “ride-off” on the Car-Free Sunday SG Facebook page at fb.com/carfreesundaysg. Simply like the Facebook page!
Car-Free Sunday SG Facebook Live will bring the sights and sounds to those who are unable to join the event as well as those who are in the area to follow the event.
The new run of Car-Free Sunday SG features more fully-closed roads, creating more cycling and jogging lanes for participants to have a better car-free experience. The addition of the Telok Ayer Loop to the Civic District and CBD Loops will bring the total walking, cycling and jogging route to approximately 5.5km to offer the public a car-free experience in this integral part of our city centre.
See table below for details of road closures and Annex B [PDF, 297kb] for the road closure map.
Members of the public are encouraged to take public transport or cycle to the event venue. At the event, participants can cycle on their own bicycles or rent one before the event from Car-Free Sunday SG’s partner bicycle rental companies and collect the bicycles at Connaught Drive during the event. Refer to Annex C [PDF, 1.52MB] for cycling access points to the Padang.
Car-Free Sunday SG is a community initiative by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), National Parks Board (NParks), National Arts Council (NAC), Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Sport Singapore (SportSG), supported by a host of community and interest groups to promote the car-lite message and enliven the streets. The second series of Car-Free Sunday SG will run for at least six editions. See Annex D [PDF, 374kb] for the list of dates for upcoming editions.
Visit http://ura.sg/carfreesundaysg to find out more about the event.
#CarFreeSundaySG