In that brief period after the 1989 revolution when Prague's streets were still fairly free of private cars, city leaders could have looked to Amsterdam, Oxford or Aarhus to find working models of how vibrant cities could tame cars and support alternative means of transportation. Instead, Prague embraced Houston, Phoenix or any other nightmare city in America, where anything outside of a car is a moving target.

The need to restrict (if not finally abolish) cars from the center of cities has become an important issue, no more so than in Prague, where traffic is as abundant as mutt dreck on sidewalks. Over the course of one week, Praguers will get a peek of how different life would be without cars, when Smetanovo nábfieží, between Most Legií and Charles Bridge, closes to honor the Day Without Cars (Den bez Aut) program as part of European Mobility Week.

Prepared by the Auto-Mat project and the Alfred ve dvofie theater, Experience a Different Prague will be a festival of art events and workshops, all geared to get you to think differently about transportation. As Smetanovo will be cleared of cars, pedestrians will be able to stroll unmolested down one of the city's best avenues for viewing Malá Strana and Prague Castle, while taking advantage of many temporary outdoor cafés that will be springing up (there will be a "breakfast in the street" Sunday morning, Sept. 17).

Among the art exhibits, music, films and performances taking place, visitors will have a chance to see some new work by David Čern˘ and catch Howard Lotker's troupe DoMa creating a new site-specific piece on the street. There will also be a chance to see one of America's best performance groups, Goat Island, which will be on hand to construct its own street happening.

The Chicago-based Goat Island troupe is unique in that it can take anywhere between two to four years to create a piece of theater, and that dedication to its craft shows in the work. The company has always included transit activism in its philosophy, and so has participated in a number of events in the troupe's native city in support of carlessness (Chicago has become one of the best cycling cities in the States, with hundreds of miles of bike lanes). "The development of alternative means of transportation is crucial for the survival of humans," Goat Island's Bryan Saner says. "For Americans a change of lifestyle would be good. We consider the American addiction to cars to be a major disaster."

Goat Island is a highly collaborative troupe, which, as Saner admits, is a political statement in and of itself. "We hope that the small contribution we can make in our circle will help make the proper changes in arts, in education, in the environment and politics," he says.

Goat Island's participation in Experience a Different Prague is part of an ongoing collaboration with Alfred ve dvofie, which is backing a four-part residency project that will carry on into 2007. Having seen the mesmerizing physicality of Goat Island's theater, I was shocked to learn that the piece the company is developing here will be its last. "After making this performance and touring it, we will not make another," Saner states.

For its piece in the center of Smetanovo nábfieží, the troupe will be working with 15 Prague performers. Also, one of its Chicago collaborators will be on hand, Randy Neufeld, who is the current Healthy Streets Campaign Coordinator for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. Another Goat Islander, costume designer, Cynthia Ashby, will be contributing 20 original reflective vests for night riders.

If Goat Island and the other activities convince you to throw your Škoda keys into the Čertovka, the rest of the week offers much more inspiration. A roundtable discussion on Prague's future transportation infrastructure at Alfred ve dvofie Theater on Wednesday, Sept. 20, will feature urban planners, architects and community activists. And, on Friday, a major Critical Mass ride will be embarking from Náměstí Jifiího z Poděbrad at 6 p.m.