The city of New Haven is spending the third Friday in September promoting public space and car-free travel across the Elm City through Parking Day.
That means free parking spots for anything but a car and the event celebrates different ways to commute, such as biking.
"It's a way to shift the way we think about our streets and how we use them. So right now we only think about using them for driving and parking, but in the future, we could use them for --- for all kinds of different things," said Krysia Solheim, a sustainability consultant who had a table set up in a parking spot with Elm City Cycling.
On Friday, organizations including Elm City Cycling took over parking spots, transforming them into “parklets” such as lemonade stands and seating areas to increase the use of public space.
“There's the environmental reason, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality and reducing local air pollution. There's also the health reason, it's obviously healthy to ride your bike to work,” Solheim said.
