Tomorrow, Saturday, is car-free day around the world and in the DC region. Most jurisdictions in the region have official events of some sort, including DC, the inner suburbs, and even some of the outer suburbs like Loudoun and Frederick.

But why do it on a Saturday?

Car-free day is a world-wide event, so DC-organizers didn’t pick the day. It happens every year, and it’s always on September 22. So 2 out every 7 years, it happens to fall on a weekend instead of a weekday.

In any given year when it falls on a weekend, it might seem like the event isn’t getting the traction that it could, if it were held on a commuting day. But taking the long view, 2 weekend events mixed in for every 5 weekday events gives participants the chance to think about car-free (or car-light) living in a variety of circumstances, instead of just commuting. That’s a good thing.

So there you go.