Car Free Day is today, and this year, one of the major debates going on in BC - whether more pipelines and increased tanker traffic is a good idea - is being brought into it.

"Probably the number one question I get asked in regards to the pipeline and tanker issue is ok, but what are the alternatives?  And it just happens that Vancouver is one of the most transit-friendly, bike-friendly, walkable cities in the world, it's one of the reasons we get voted as one of the best places to live on Earth."

Ben West with the Wilderness Committee says if we're going to get serious about ending our addiction to oil, both supply and demand have to be looked at.

He says a way to do that is to move away from dependence on vehicles, which is what car-free day is about.

West says the committee is launching a petition today, called "Transit Not Tankers" as an attempt to answer peoples' questions about where fuel will come from if we don't have the pipelines being proposed for BC.

Photo: Crowds fill Commercial Drive during Car Free Day. Photo by Ben West.