New Year's Eve and New Ideas (in road safety)

(Note: an unexpected turn of my own life-altering events this summer kept me away for awhile.  But there's nothing like the new year for a new start.  I did scribble lots of notes at various happenings I was able to attend over the past several months, so keep an eye out for reflections on those shortly).

New Year's Eve.  It's a holiday that's easy for everyone to love.  Embraced world-wide, it makes for a period of time when there are likely more events and celebrations in 24 hours across the globe than on any other day of the year.  The coming of the New Year offers endless reasons to celebrate and there are countless ways to do so.  As we all know, cities around the world get in on the action by offering fireworks, public concerts, and of course, in New York City, the iconic "Ball Drop" in Times Square.

The 2008 Centennial Ball

What you may not know, is that cities around the world have also embraced an additional initiative, called "International Free Transit Day," which coincides with New Year's Eve.  In an effort to reduce traffic accidents and related deaths caused by drunk drivers, cities such as Chicago, Austin, Vancouver, and London offered free rides to passengers on a wide range of transportation alternatives this past New Year's Eve.  While New York City's MTA service wasn't free for all passengers, the agency did pass out free subway cards at various stations around the city.  Perhaps next year New York will take after Toronto, and make the whole transit system free for a certain period.  After all, less drivers on the road on a night of pure celebration (and often debauchery) means a safer evening for us all. What a great way to ring in the New Year.

[Special thanks to The Atlantic Cities' staff writer Nate Berg, who covered the subject in more detail here.]