Major cities across Albania kicked off on Sunday a new initiative to go car-free every first Sunday of the month, a national plan decided by the government, in a bid to improve air quality and reduce the use of cars amid an ongoing energy crisis, APA reports citing Xinhua.
The Albanian government last month decided to make every first Sunday of the month a car-free day, starting first in major cities and then expanding throughout the country.
On Sunday, the movement of vehicles was banned on several parts of streets between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time in 12 main cities across the country, including the capital city Tirana.
Lindita, 43, a middle school teacher from Elbasan, a city some 30 kilometers away from Tirana, told Xinhua: "I would agree with the car-free initiative if cities in Albania would have alternative means of public transport such as subway, train and tram."
Shaban, a retired man, told Xinhua that he was happy to see Elbasan is holding a car-free day like other major cities.
"I am an aged man and today reminds me of older times when we used to have less cars and use more bicycles," Shaban said.
Meanwhile, Liljana, 56, who worked for over 25 years in the metallurgic factory of the city, expressed her hope that this initiative "would help improve the air quality of the city."
"This is a very good step towards cleaner cities," she added.
The national car-free day initiative comes amid the energy crisis that has hit Albania hard as fuel prices reached some of the highest in the Balkan region. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, fuel and gas prices in Albania have increased significantly.
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