Ulaanbaatar City has observed Car-Free Day since 2009. The initiative was introduced to give residents a single day free from vehicle emissions and traffic noise, allowing them to walk freely along central roads, spend time outdoors with their children and take a break from the stresses of city life.
This year, however, newly appointed Mayor B.Purevdagva decided to combine a “Night Marathon” with Car-Free Day, presenting it as an initiative aimed at promoting public health. Under the usual Car-Free Day arrangements, major roads along Peace Avenue, from the western side toward the East Four Intersection, are closed to traffic from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Seoul Street, Baga Toiruu and areas around the Government Palace and the National University of Mongolia are also designated as car-free zones.
Having been held for the 14th year, Car-Free Day has become familiar to residents. Many have learned to tolerate the temporary restrictions, choose alternative routes and adjust their daily schedules accordingly. The decision to hold the “Night Marathon”, however, appears to have created a different situation, particularly because of its timing and location. To accommodate the marathon, certain roads remained closed until 11:00 p.m., resulting in severe congestion and, in some areas, complete traffic standstills on alternative routes. Some residents reportedly spent three to five hours stuck in traffic, losing valuable time and spending additional money on fuel while enduring considerable stress. Many businesses also lost a day’s worth of revenue as a result.
An average of approximately 150,000 vehicles travel through the affected area each day. By comparison, around 9,000 people participated in the Night Marathon, accounting for less than one percent of Ulaanbaatar’s population of 1.6 million. Participants competed in five-kilometre, 10-kilometre and 21-kilometre categories, paying registration fees ranging from 29,000 to 100,000 MNT. Around 60 percent reportedly chose the 21-kilometre distance.
Based on these figures, the organisers including the Ulaanbaatar City Governor’s Office, “Night Marathon” LLC and portal.mn, which sold the tickets, collected at least 720 million MNT from registration fees alone, according to the article’s calculations. “Night Marathon” LLC was recently established on August 31. Its name itself indicates the purpose for which it was created, the article argues. It also claims that the two companies involved in cooperation with the city administration have the same owner. Such information raises questions about whether the event effectively turned a small segment of the population into a basis for conducting a business activity.
B.Semjidmaa, coordinator responsible for the quality of public services at the city administration, said that not a single tugrug from the city budget had been allocated to the specially established company. However, there is still the question how many people would find the explanation convincing.
Meanwhile, no one appears to have calculated or taken responsibility for the losses incurred by businesses or for residents’ additional expenditure of fuel and time while stuck in traffic. Telling residents to simply adjust their schedules because the event had been announced in advance and additional public transport had been provided is not sufficient, the article argues. A city does not stop functioning simply because a marathon has been organised. Residents may also face unexpected circumstances, from needing to reach a hospital urgently to dealing with other unplanned matters in their daily lives.
The criticism is not directed at those who participated in the marathon but at the way the event was organised. If the organisers are genuinely seeking to promote residents’ health, the marathon could instead be held during actual nighttime hours or moved to the outskirts of the city or another location where it would cause less disruption to the wider public.
