World Car-Free Day Tampa returns Saturday

Tampa’s annual World Car-Free Day celebration is Saturday, September 20th, and organizer Walk Bike Tampa says more community partners are joining the ride this year. 

World Car-Free Day is an international event that takes place in 46 countries and more than 2,000 cities. Walk Bike Tampa, a grassroots, all-volunteer community nonprofit, launched the local edition in 2023.

“The whole point of World Car-Free Day is to showcase how well you can move around Tampa using options outside of the car,”Walk Bike Tampa Board Member Emily Hinsdale.

Walk Bike TampaThe bike-friendly route for Tampa's World Car-Free Day celebrationParticipants bike (walk, jog, skate, or scoot) - along tranquil neighborhood streets and protected bike lanes between activity hubs at Midtown Tampa in the Westshore District, the Encore district downtown, Centennial Park in Ybor City, and, in a new community partnership this year, Tampa General Hospital’s TampaWell Community Garden at the TGH Family Care Center Healthpark in East Tampa.  

“Those locations will showcase what a walkable community looks like,” Hinsdale says. “And they are all connected by a low-to-no-stress bike network. So we have clear paths we can ride that connect them.”

To bike from Midtown Tampa to Encore, and then on to Centennial Park, it’s a 5.5-mile ride along low-stress bike routes and the separated bike lane along Cass Street/Nuccio Parkway that is part of the city’s Green Spine cycle track. A bike-friendly, 3.5-mile route from Centennial Park to the WellTampa Community Garden has also been mapped. Each activity hub will have prizes, giveaways, games, live music, food trucks, public art installations, and other activities.

“One fun thing about this year’s event is each location has a street market going on at the same time,” Hinsdale says.

The Ybor City Saturday Market is at Centennial Park. Midtown will have the Sunshine Market. There’s a makers market at Encore. TampaWell Community Garden will have local vendors.  

World Car-Free Day runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Downtown, community nonprofit Sidewalk Stompers’ popular Kidical Mass Ride for children, families, and friends leaves Gasparilla Plaza at Poe Garage at 10 a.m. with Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak as the lead rider and takes Cass Street’s protected bike lane on the short ride to Perry Harvey Sr. Park. Sidewalk Stompers has a new community partner for Kidical Mass this year, Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s Bikes from the Heart ministry, which refurbishes donated used bikes and gives them to people in need who do not have reliable transportation. Hinsdale, Sidewalk Stompers’ President, says Bikes from the Heart will be giving away refurbished bikes to anyone participating in Kidical Mass.

“They called me and said, ‘Listen, we’re getting a bunch of kids’ bikes and we don’t have a clear avenue of where to send those out to.’ I said, ‘I’ve got it. I can tell you.’”

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital will be giving away bike helmets to Kidical Mass participants.

Transit Now Tampa Bay is another new community partner this year. They’ll be leading tours on HART’s Route 1 bus, which has gone fare-free for the year in a pilot project funded by the Tampa City Council.

 Hinsdale says promoting transportation options can have widespread community benefits. 

“It’s about access,” she says. “How do we access our community in a way that works for everybody? How do we find different options when one may not work for us? How does using a different option change your perception of your city?”

For more information and registration for the Kidical Mass Ride, go to Car Free Day Tampa