Where to ride out a gas crisis

CNN named 10 places in America to "ride out a gas crisis"
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0807/gallery.bplive_gas_crunch.moneymag/index.html.

Four of them are small towns, and the average commute is 8-10 minutes in Marquette, Mich.; Hays, Kan.; Laramie, Wyo.; and Aberdeen, S.D. I'm not sure where people work in these small towns, except as close as the local quick-stop, school or post office.

In three places, 11-12 percent of people tele-commute from home -- Naples, Fla., Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Westport, Conn. Commuters there live in a beautiful place and are too remote, too educated and too wealthy to drive to work daily.

In a university town, State College, Penn., 42 percent bike or walk to work. That's cool. It's part of the culture. Biking and walking are the high-status ways to get around. Footpower is friendlier than car-power. Being a university town, it's also fashionable to live frugally, with fewer cars.

Outside of New York City in Hoboken, N.J., a majority of commuters take advantage of one of the nation's finest public transit systems to get to work. Only 25 percent of commuters drive alone to work in Hoboken. I'd take the bus, too, if it ran every 15 minutes, within a stone's throw of my house.

My favorite place is the Santa Paula, Call, where 29 percent of commuters carpool to work. Want to know why? They're migrant workers in the Citrus Capital of the World. The farm workers share vehicles to commute to the orange, lemon, avocado and strawberry fields.

The message here? The most devoted carpoolers in America are migrant workers. It explains why carpooling is such a tough sell, especially if you can afford the luxury of your own car. We aspire to do what the wealthy in our society do, not the poorest.

Finding a carpool partner is a bit like a dating service

While speaking about the dozen people with whom I've carpooled in the past three years -- the good, the great, the too loud, the too late and the long-winded -- someone in the audience said, "Finding a carpool sounds like a dating service."

He nailed it. That's why carpooling is so tricky. Our cars are personal spaces, and our commutes are potentially long.

In a two-person carpool, compatibility is a MUST, not an option. For carpools with three or more, even the most odious, loud-mouthed person can hopefully be diluted by the other people in the carpool.

Most carpools have two people for maximum simplicity and flexibility. So your match must meet three standards:

1. You must work near each other. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of time driving. You DON'T have to live near each other, just on the way to work or near a meeting place.

2. You must work the same hours -- or be willing to compromise on the days you carpool. The compromise must be made FREELY, or else it will not work out for long. One person will start resenting it.

3. You must be compatible -- especially in a two-person carpool. Then the carpool will be enjoyable. You'll be willing to do small favors for each other and will look forward to your time together. Even if that time is spent in silence. Talking machines can be very annoying.

I am not able to drive to work with people who have loud voices, talk too much, have not mastered the art of listening, or are unreliable or uncommunicative. We don't have to agree on everything. I can stand carpooling with Republicans -- as long as they listen to my perspective, too. Or maybe we avoid the topic of politics altogether.

My carpool partners and I are not dating or getting married, but we sort of are -- because we do drive together plenty. It's just that the destination is work and not a date.

Carpooling is HOT in the media

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/

"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.

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.

Transient nature of carpoolers

My best carpool partner and I haven't carpooled together in at least a month. She's my "best" because given the choice, we work exactly the same hours. Neither of us needs to accommodate the other by going in early or coming home later than we normally would.

We don't work at the same company [desirable in a carpool], or live near each other [Pam drives 15 minutes to pick me up, then we drive the remaining 45 minutes to our office park].

Those are immaterial, because we work the same hours.
Pam is also my "best" carpool partner because we have become friends.
Trust me, if you don't like your carpool partner[s], the carpool will fade away.

Unfortunately, it's easy for a carpool to fade away. Take Pam and me. Summer vacations and schedule changes -- when I have to come in early for bike to work events and off-site meetings, have interfered with our Wednesday carpool.

Pam saves even more by tele-commuting the other three days a week that she works, so her carbon footprint is light. I'm afraid I'm going to lose her altogether if she receives permission to work from home every day.

One of my previous carpools -- with four guys who worked for Bose -- is struggling to survive after I moved away two years ago. John and I were the most regular commuting duo. The other three knew when and where we met, and they were always welcome to join us, schedule permitting.

One of the three guys moved, and the other two frequently travel for business or have to work late regularly. They don't make good carpool partners. John could leave anytime, and pick up his work at home, by tele-commuting. Like Pam, John and I enjoyed each other's company, worked similar hours, and didn't live very close to each other.

I was sad to leave that carpool. I thought I left it in good hands, but apparently not. Carpools are fleeting things. A committed carpooler must always be on the prowl for her next driving buddy.

Some carpools last a long time. Take the case of Jack and John, two Raytheon engineers who live near each other in Holliston and have commuted together for 22 years.
They're two regular guys who see the value of driving less, saving more. They're quiet, understated and regular about their carpooling.

Elaine and I are a pretty good carpool. She just got a promotion, so her workday could go longer than I prefer. However, I think we'll survive the tumult, because we enjoy our drive together, she lives on my way to work, and she is mostly punctual -- except when she gets too involved in work! Because we like each other, we can forgive shortcomings and occasional slip ups.

We'll see how long this carpool continues. So far, we manage one or two days a week, mostly because of irregularities in my schedule. If everyone carpooled one or two days a week, the air would be a lot less polluted and most traffic jams would dissipate.

It's not that hard to carpool.

Bustin's Island -- a car-free summer colony

This story in The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_kolbert?printable=true about a Danish island that decided to lower its carbon footprint, reminds me of Bustin's Island in the Casco Bay, on the Maine Coast, east of Freeport and Portland.

In the 1990s, my husband and I were like the Beverly Hillbillies: we would load up our four kids and dog on our full-size conversion van [8 cylnders, that is].

On the roof and back, we tied on canoes, a wind surfer, and six bikes. Inside, we crammed food, tennis rackets and games, stuffed animals, books, linens and clothing for two car-free weeks on an 80-acre paradise surrounded by ocean.

We visited the island four different summers, taking 2-week vacations on this idyllic place. We put the brakes on our frenetic pace of life, and s-l-o-w-e-d down to the 19th century way of life -- without the internal combustion engine, flush toilet, telephone or computer.

The first task was to load everything up on Archie's Ferry [a converted lobster boat] in Freeport, and transport it to the island. At the dock, we had the option of hiring one of the island's two trucks to help, but we used our built-in labor and handcarts, of course --low-carbon and low-cost all the way.

Conjuring up the memories of our last visit a decade ago, I feel my blood pressure go down, and a sense of calm wash over me. I have memories of reading books all afternoon, exploring the island, canoeing out to see the wild seals, letting the kids roam free all over the island, and relaxing.

Every day at 2 pm, all of the kids on the island played baseball. The younger you were, the bigger the bat. Everyone got a hit. No adults interfered. They managed.

At night, we read more books, played Charades, cards and other games. Occasionally, community events were held for amusement -- like a talent show. Early on, we made fools of ourselves singing "Rueben, Rueben, I've been Thinking," and acted out a simple story line on stage. This foolishness broke down barriers between us and the islanders whose families have been coming to Bustin's Island for generations. They began including us in their culture.

What is the lure of car-free vacationing, with outhouses, sun-showers, propane stoves, fridges and lights?

Peace of mind. Peace of soul. Calm. Connection to the earth and the people and the place where we were. No agenda. No where to go. I can smell the sea breeze, taste the frigid salt water, fresh blackberries picked by the kids [who are now all 20-somethings] and feel the sun warming my skin. All by walking, paddling or pedaling.

Marty Saves a Mint

Marty Dutton, a senior quality analyst at a high tech corporation, lives 55 miles from work. Two days a week, she cushions the expense of her commute by carpooling. One day a week, she works from home. She works a four-day workweek, so her solo commute is reduced to one day a week.

"We have been carpooling for two years. It has cut down on my gas bills and my oil changes. I used to get oil changes as often as fillups," Marty said.

Marty drives 15 miles to meet her carpool partner, and they drive the last 40 miles together.

It's more important to work near each other and work the same hours than to live near each other. It's possible to drive to a meeting place at a major road, and carpool from there, but most people don't want to go out of their way at the work end. Ideally, you work at the same company, but that's not necessary for a carpool to work.

Marty has the simplest, most flexible carpool: one other person, with whom she is friends. Without compatibility, a carpool will fail. With genuine friendship, it will thrive.

With a carpool friend, you can say, "Let's leave 15 minutes early on July 3," or, "Next week, I need my car worked on. Can you pick me up at the repair station?" or "Can you drive? I have to make a few phone calls."

By driving less, Marty pollutes less, gets to spend time with a friend, and saves a mint on her car expenses.

When my backyard is impacted, I'll change

Unabated, our contagious love affair with the car will congest us -- our roadways and our airways -- and heat up the global mercury.

Do we have to wait until the target of our infatuation floods our backyard?
Washes away the levies in our city?
Do we have to wait until the fields growing corn and soybeans for our next meal are struck by flood, drought, pestilence, pollution or lack of pollination?

Unfortunately, the answer to those questions is YES. We humans are so slow to change our habits, to believe the science of global warming, that we must have tangible evidence or shocking energy bills before we change.

The canary in the coal mine -- the elegant polar bear and their shrinking habitat -- are a long way off from our backyard.

There are potential extinctions in my own backyard that will impact my life.

1. Honey Bees. Have you heard of the Colony Collapse Disorder in which millions of bees simply fly away from their hives and the super-fields they are consigned to pollinate?

I don't have the skills or time to pollinate my next meal, and I appreciate bees for doing that work, thanklessly.

Without bees in my backyard, we could all be pretty hungry. Google Colony Collapse Disorder and learn more. It's even on the radar of the US Dept. of Agriculture, so it must be real.
Einstein said that without bees, humankind will last about four years.

2. Bats. Have you heard about a fungus that is threatening the extinction of bats? Again, I could never do for the earth what bats do -- consume 500 to 1500 mosquitoes an hour, quietly, mostly unseen.

I prefer bats to pesticides, which could be contributing toe the Colony Collapse disorder.

We're all interconnected in the web of life-- that should be a song or a book or a website. :-0

A few weeks ago, while researching material for a speech and interactive presentation on carpooling and bike commuting, I Googled "Species Loss."

The results, solid and unmovable at the top of the organic search, caused me to stop my normal multi-task attack of my daily to-do list.

http://www.well.com/~davidu/extinction.html, gave me cubicle paralysis.

Posted on the website are more than 100 scholarly articles proving climate change is impacting the Earth's biodiversity.

Read it and feel the fear, as I did. The following simple statement precedes the list of links to the articles:

"Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue, one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change."

For a decade, Prof. David Ulansey, a Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, has diligently posted articles that prove climate change is creating the greatest mass extinction of species since the dinosaurs.

This sounds like the canary in the coal mine. If half of all species on Earth are doomed, who's to say humans won't fall with everything else.

Will we read the writing on the website and change our foolish ways?

Not In My Back Yard [NIMBY]

As long as Americans treat our autos like one of the family, we have little hope to reduce congestion and lower our carbon footprint.

At age 16 or thereabouts, we adopt or marry autos that reflect our personality, income and education. We name them, care for them and sometimes spend more per hour on parking them than we do on day care for children or old people.

We clean them, feed them with gas and take them to the mechanic more often than some of us visit our physicians for check-ups. The special rooms cars occupy in our homes are usually bigger than our bedrooms and living rooms. If we park them on the street, we worry about their safety and long for a garage.

After housing, most of us spend more on transportation than we do on any other line item in our household budget. The only category that can exceed transportation could be daycare for young children.

We view cars as essential, and build our societies around them. In the same way car ownership blossomed in the 20th century, pollution from cars may cause the demise of our society in the 21st century.

Car ownership in China is now 6 cars per 100 people -- the same rate as in the USA in 1920. Today, American car ownership is 90 percent. China is 20 percent of the world's population. They emulate America.

You do the math, while we can still see through the smog and congestion.

We are doomed if the people of Chindia fall in love with autos the way we Americans have.