Check out this story that features companies and carpoolers in my program, the MetroWest/495 Transportation Management Association.
My job is to promote carpooling, bike commuting, taking public transit, vanpooling and walking to work.
If the Boston Globe cares about it, finally, it must be news.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/24/a_new_credo_for_commuters_more_is_less/
Thursday, July 24, 2008
"Why Won't We Carpool"
Carpooling is making it into the mainstream of American media thanks to the latest four-buck a gallon fuel-frenzy. The Boston Globe Magazine cover feature story, "Why Won't We Carpool: it's cheaper. It's greener. And nobody's doing it" by Alison Lobron, was accompanied by a photo of a crowded road and an empty HOV lane. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/07/20/anybody_want_a_ride/
Why aren't we doing it?
My carpool buddy Rick summed it up this morning, when he dropped me off. "I don't like the inconvenience of carpooling. But once I'm doing it, I enjoy it."
Like most carpools, he and John don't carpool daily. They drive together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which leaves three other days for the American luxury of going when we want, where we want, and how we want, preferably on a "free" road without congestion, in perfect condition, to "free" parking.
John and Rick are from my old carpool -- since I moved I have formed new carpools. I called them because my new carpoolers were on vacation this week. I was lonely and the thought of $8 in gas [plus wear and tear] to get to and from work seemed a waste.
Especially in Boston, there's little motivation to carpool because we have scant HOV lanes. The cover photo was of the only HOV lane I know of in Massachusetts. Route 3 to NH was widened without a HOV lane. Route 128/95 is planned to expand to five lanes, with no HOV lane.
As Lobron pointed out in the Globe story, elsewhere in the US, HOV lanes provide motivation for people to carpool because driveres get there FASTER. 90 percent of Americans own cars, and we shoulder their exorbitant cost --because they bring us status, comfort, privacy and convenient transportation. Money is not always the issue. We can earn more money. We all have the same amount of time.
Rick and John can afford to drive alone. They enjoy carpooling. The side benefits are they save a few bucks and they are doing something good for the earth.
$4 gas is motivating people with less dispensable income to drive less. As Lobron demonstrates, we have still not hit the tipping point for the majority of Americans to change their driving habits, which would influence the transportation planners and civil engineers to include HOV and bike lanes in road design.
The crew of one of the TV morning shows taped themselves carpooling to work together. It was quaint. They made a point. Carpooling is in the mainstream media, but not in the mainstream American consciousness.
Giving up our addiction to driving alone is like going on a diet -- it's easy to talk about, it's the right thing to do, but our old friends sugar-butter-chocolate are always there and so tempting, just like driving alone.
Why aren't we doing it?
My carpool buddy Rick summed it up this morning, when he dropped me off. "I don't like the inconvenience of carpooling. But once I'm doing it, I enjoy it."
Like most carpools, he and John don't carpool daily. They drive together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which leaves three other days for the American luxury of going when we want, where we want, and how we want, preferably on a "free" road without congestion, in perfect condition, to "free" parking.
John and Rick are from my old carpool -- since I moved I have formed new carpools. I called them because my new carpoolers were on vacation this week. I was lonely and the thought of $8 in gas [plus wear and tear] to get to and from work seemed a waste.
Especially in Boston, there's little motivation to carpool because we have scant HOV lanes. The cover photo was of the only HOV lane I know of in Massachusetts. Route 3 to NH was widened without a HOV lane. Route 128/95 is planned to expand to five lanes, with no HOV lane.
As Lobron pointed out in the Globe story, elsewhere in the US, HOV lanes provide motivation for people to carpool because driveres get there FASTER. 90 percent of Americans own cars, and we shoulder their exorbitant cost --because they bring us status, comfort, privacy and convenient transportation. Money is not always the issue. We can earn more money. We all have the same amount of time.
Rick and John can afford to drive alone. They enjoy carpooling. The side benefits are they save a few bucks and they are doing something good for the earth.
$4 gas is motivating people with less dispensable income to drive less. As Lobron demonstrates, we have still not hit the tipping point for the majority of Americans to change their driving habits, which would influence the transportation planners and civil engineers to include HOV and bike lanes in road design.
The crew of one of the TV morning shows taped themselves carpooling to work together. It was quaint. They made a point. Carpooling is in the mainstream media, but not in the mainstream American consciousness.
Giving up our addiction to driving alone is like going on a diet -- it's easy to talk about, it's the right thing to do, but our old friends sugar-butter-chocolate are always there and so tempting, just like driving alone.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Look Ma, No Car!
"I'm here to say that the [bike] ride's almost always the best part of my day. If you're willing to make some minor lifestyle changes, it can be for you as well."
That is my favorite line in Ty Burr's column "Ditch the Auto, Saddle Up and Reduce your Commuting Costs to Zero" in Sidekick, July 21, 2008 Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2008/07/21/look_ma_no_car/ He's the Boston Globe's film critic.
People laughed at me yesterday at the lunchroom of a multi-national company when I suggested bike commuting when they told me they live less than 10 miles from work.
It's my job to work a table at big companies in MetroWest Boston to promote carpooling, bike commuting and taking public transit to work. Commuters often laugh out loud when I say, "Why don't you bike to work?"
The idea is so crazy, so far outside of their paradigm, they think it's ludicrous. They're missing out on Ty Burr's secret: Biking to work is almost the best part of the day.
I call bike commuting the TRIPLE GOOD commute: you look good, you feel good, and you're doing good for the earth.
For three summers, I bike commuted 8 miles between Westford and Concord, MA, about twice a week, in those glory days when gas was less than $2/gallon.
Battling the hills, inhaling the sweet odors of wild grapes and freshly mowed hay, and getting lost in the scenery, made me forget everything else. The ride home was particularly sweet and unpedaled me from the stress of work.
Yet people can't even entertain the notion of abandoning their car for a bike commute.
1/3 of the problem: biking is low-status (unless you get a high status bike and the gear to accompany). For the most part, biking is for people with few options, the young, or the fitness-crazed.
1/3 of the problem: biking is physical. We Americans are lazy slugs who would rather drive to the gym rather than plan to bike commute. And bike commuting requires planning ahead.
1/3 of the problem: we lack the infrastructure -- streets wide enough to accomodate bikes, bike lanes and paths, bike storage areas, showers at work, bike racks on buses, bike safety awareness by drivers. People feel unsafe and vulnerable when biking on many roads.
Contact me and I'll come talk to your group about getting started bike commuting. I tell a funny and informative story about "my first day of bike commuting." It gets you laughing, thinking and planning for your first day of bike commuting.
Once you start bike commuting, you'll be laughing, too, because it's so much fun, and the mental and physical benefits far exceed sitting in a car.
That is my favorite line in Ty Burr's column "Ditch the Auto, Saddle Up and Reduce your Commuting Costs to Zero" in Sidekick, July 21, 2008 Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2008/07/21/look_ma_no_car/ He's the Boston Globe's film critic.
People laughed at me yesterday at the lunchroom of a multi-national company when I suggested bike commuting when they told me they live less than 10 miles from work.
It's my job to work a table at big companies in MetroWest Boston to promote carpooling, bike commuting and taking public transit to work. Commuters often laugh out loud when I say, "Why don't you bike to work?"
The idea is so crazy, so far outside of their paradigm, they think it's ludicrous. They're missing out on Ty Burr's secret: Biking to work is almost the best part of the day.
I call bike commuting the TRIPLE GOOD commute: you look good, you feel good, and you're doing good for the earth.
For three summers, I bike commuted 8 miles between Westford and Concord, MA, about twice a week, in those glory days when gas was less than $2/gallon.
Battling the hills, inhaling the sweet odors of wild grapes and freshly mowed hay, and getting lost in the scenery, made me forget everything else. The ride home was particularly sweet and unpedaled me from the stress of work.
Yet people can't even entertain the notion of abandoning their car for a bike commute.
1/3 of the problem: biking is low-status (unless you get a high status bike and the gear to accompany). For the most part, biking is for people with few options, the young, or the fitness-crazed.
1/3 of the problem: biking is physical. We Americans are lazy slugs who would rather drive to the gym rather than plan to bike commute. And bike commuting requires planning ahead.
1/3 of the problem: we lack the infrastructure -- streets wide enough to accomodate bikes, bike lanes and paths, bike storage areas, showers at work, bike racks on buses, bike safety awareness by drivers. People feel unsafe and vulnerable when biking on many roads.
Contact me and I'll come talk to your group about getting started bike commuting. I tell a funny and informative story about "my first day of bike commuting." It gets you laughing, thinking and planning for your first day of bike commuting.
Once you start bike commuting, you'll be laughing, too, because it's so much fun, and the mental and physical benefits far exceed sitting in a car.
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