Meinhardts in Colombia: A Day Without Cars. Bogota beats the rat race.

Bogota's population grew crazy fast and with it the cars, motorcycles and buses that move everyday.
Q: How fast is 'crazy fast'?

Typical view from my car.

A: 26% from 2010 to 2016. An increase of 2.1 million people.
And that's just the official population (~10M). The real population is about 14 million.

The cars at rush hour downtown are insane. They take turns using the roads...even and odd numbered days. (We don't live downtown.) Pretty much a similar story as many world cities.

But Bogota takes surprising and novel steps to change.

The coolest one is "The Day Without Cars." Once a year, private autos and motorcycles are banned from the entire city. Very simple.

This I gotta see. So, I drove into town. No! Just kidding!

I tossed my bike in my car, drove to the outskirts of the city and off I went looking for tranquility.

First I headed for the famed intersection of 100th St and 15th Avenue. Luke and I have been here before and at times have spent more than an hour in the total gridlock that extends for many blocks around this famed hell hole.

But here's what I saw. Nada. Empty.

It wasn't unique.

I was in a Twilight Zone episode...The post-Apocalypse just before the zombies come out.

Taxis were still allowed out.

I'm totally chilled riding on the street.

Bogota is noted for trying creative solutions. It's a great story and I encourage you to read of their success. Bogota had (and still does have) big problems, but they are wrestling with them.

One mayor hired clowns and mimes to direct traffic in an effort to get every one to chill out.

Another mayor painted the crosswalks.

But today, The Day Without Cars, was dedicated to learning that we can live without them.

I rode along Bogota's famed ciclovias...Roadways dedicated to bikes and pedestrians. Bogota's got more of them than anywhere else. And on Sundays, main arteries are closed to cars...Bike's only.

The ciclistas were well-mannered. They all stopped for traffic lights, even when no cross traffic was there. Incredible. Many other cities around the globe are following Bogota's example. Each day Rolos (the people of Bogota) make as many bicycle trips as they do car rides (700, 000 trips per day).

Below are examples of the dedicated bike paths. Birthing this bike-friendly city must have been hard (See the history here). And judging from the other 364 days of the year, the birthing is still going on. But today was great.