Athens is marking World Carfree Day today by offering commuters free travel on public transport, but experts are warning that more measures are needed to cope with the almost 3 million cars in the city, as the inner circulation ring introduced 25 years ago is totally outdated.

Authorities introduced a system in 1982 whereby cars with license plates that ended with odd numbers could only enter the city center on odd days and those with even numbers on even days.

The scheme was designed to restrict the number of cars on the roads and reduce pollution. When it was introduced, there were 430,000 cars in Athens. Now, there are 2.8 million in the city and the system has a minimal impact. To make matters worse, 43 percent of Athenian families now have two cars and thousands of permits are issued every year allowing politicians and members of various professions to enter the inner ring on any day.

“After 10 p.m., there are more than 100,000 cars parked in the inner ring,” Yiannis Handanos, the head of the Greek Transport Engineers Association, told Kathimerini. “Of those, 35,000 are parked illegally and impede pedestrians and other vehicles, especially buses.”

Research conducted by the association indicates that 55 percent of the main roads running through Athens are operating at capacity and by 2011 this figure will reach 95 percent.

Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis has revived talks of congestion charges but transport experts say that this alone would not solve Athens’s problems.

“We have to exhaust all other measures first,” said engineer Panos Papadakos. “If we don’t do the basics, there is no point in talking about congestion charges.”