NewVA Moves

RIDE Solutions Beats the Devil

Here is our new commercial on YouTube.  It was a lot of fun to shoot - thanks to Ross Laguza and Robb Rouse of Big Lick Conspiracy, who conceived of and starred in the spot.  Particularly Robb, who had to wear the devil suit for much of the shooting, which kept the employees of the City's fuel station entertained, as well as the prison work detail who were there that day.  It was a lot of fun to shoot.

If you want to see more high comedy like this, go see the Big Lick Conspiracy.

Thoughts on the Statewide Rail Plan meeting

I attended the Statewide Rail Plan Public Information Meeting last night.  Thanks to those of you who found it through Facebook and showed up to make a comment or simple show your support through your presence.

On the whole, the comments were positive.  It would have been nice to see some younger people speak - there was a lot of nostalgia-driven support for passenger rail expressed, and while there's nothing wrong with that it would have been helpful to hear some folks discuss rail as a 21st century transportation option, rather than hearkening back to the rail of the 1970s.  That said, I think that DRPT got the message and I hope they take our comments seriously.

Going Low-Car

From the AdvanceChristiansburg blog comes good thoughts about alternative transportation and kind words for RIDE Solutions:


I like his "food pyramid" analogy, placing bicycle/pedestrian mobility on the bottom, with public transit and carpooling rising to the pinnacle.  Prioritizing pedestrian mobility not only creates safe transportation options on foot and by bike, it radically changes how development occurs:  shorter trips between home and shopping/employment/recreation centers, more green space, tighter communities, more mixed-use development.  In short, more sustainable.

Regarding transit and ridesharing, it's interesting to note that the single largest contingent of commuter in the RIDE Solutions database is that of Roanoke to NRV (and the reverse) drivers, highlighting the connections between these two regions.  The SmartWay is already providing a transit option between the two that allows better use of that commuting time, though as its popularity grows the need for additional buses - and funding for buses and operating costs - will grow, putting additional pressure on Valley Metro.  Of course, we have commuters coming and going all over the Roanoke and New River Valleys, but no single commute path is shared by more people than the segment of I-81 between the Salem Park and Ride and the Falling Branch Park and Ride in Christiansburg.

All Aboard?

The Roanoke Times has a couple of pieces on the possible return of passenger rail to the Roanoke region.  Jeff Sturgeon's news piece looking at the existing plan and the cost gives a good overview of the challenges facing the implementation of passenger, not the least of which is the cost. 

I always find it interesting that, in the language of public transportation, we refer to the public funds that go into operating costs as "subsidy" - something of a negative connotation - and yet the public money that goes into highway construction and maintenance, not to mention the mitigation of externalities like air quality and congestion, is not labeled as such.  This recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute, examining Texas highways, concludes that no road pays for itself - they are all subsidized:


There's also an opinion piece offering sound reasons for passenger rail.

See Where Everybody's Coming From

One of the most commonly-heard objections I get when encouraging someone to register for a carpool match is, "Oh, I live way out in XYZ.  No one is carpooling from there."  This despite the fact that I've probably talked to a dozen other people from XYZ in the past couple of months who have also said the same thing.  If every one of them registered instead of assuming it wouldn't work, that would be one heck of a carpool.

To help show people there chances of finding a match, I just put up a new map on the RIDE Solutions site.  It shows the origin point of all our existing members, so you can see if you've got someone close to your origin address. If you're an existing member, don't worry; there's no personal or address information tied to this; it's completely anonymous, but it does show how extensive our membership is.

Its How we Drive, not What we Drive

Check out my Letter to the Editor in today's Roanoke Times (first letter on the page).  It's in response to an earlier writer defending her SUV ownership against a critic complaining of the gas-guzzling vehicle.  The defense is correct - a vehicle is a major investment, and people can't just swap them out whenever they feel like it.  My own family drives a minivan that gets OK gas mileage, and as much as I would like something more efficienct we're just not in a position to trade out for a Prius at the moment.

This gets back to an earlier op-ed I published in the Roanoke Times, "The Miles Not Drive," as well as blogged about:  technology is part, but not all of the solution; behavior plays as important a role, if not more important.  Most everyone has the capacity to change some aspect of their driving behavior now, while not anyone can afford a new car or Energy Star appliance.  That's why RIDE Solutions puts emphasis on behavior change and mode-shift; it's not about talking up hybrids, but how to use your existing options more wisely.

Sharebike at Roanoke Public Libraries Health and Safety Fair

Sharebike will be offering free bicycle inspections at the upcoming Roanoke Public Libraries Health and Safety Fair.

Where:  Main Library, Downtown Roanoke, and surrounding Elmwood Park

When:  Saturday July 26th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Contact Sharebike for more information.

Statewide Rail Plan Public information meeting

DRPT is taking a grand tour of the state, looking for public input on the statewide rail plan.  This plan will, to a large extent, determine how and where money is spent on providing rail service - both freight and passenger.  So, if getting passenger rail service to Roanoke is important to you, the next public meeting in Salem is someplace you'll want to be.  The meeting will be held July 24th at 6:00 pm at the Salem Civic Center.

The official press release:

Lament for the Hummer

Many folks have encountered, and rightly criticized, this recent piece in the Washington Post bewailing the potential sale of the Hummer by GM.  Generally, I'm skeptical that many people really need to own a Hummer, though I can envision some scenarios when it makes sense.  And even though I feel the Hummer is ridiculously wasteful, I also tend to side with allowing people to choose what vehicle they want.  Still, the author does Hummer drivers no favors when he characterizes them thus:


He continues on in this hyper-macho vein for most of the piece, reminding the reader of the worst impulses that can drive a car-buying decision, and leave you hoping that this whole thing is really parody (its not, or if it is, it's so subtle that no one has yet gotten it).  If this is really deBord's attitude, it gives credence to the caricature that most crunchy types like to draw of Hummer owners in specific and SUV drivers in general, one I would normally classify as unfair, but in this case is justly earned.  To deBord's comment that the Hummer is necessary to make Americans feel like we have access to unlimited abundance and resources, my friend Dan Larison responds with characteristic common sense:


Nonetheless, In the midst of deBord's verbal swagger there is a nugget of truth:


This is clearly true.  The auto industry is probably America's signature industry, and the automobile holds an almost holy place in our society, symbolizing those qualities we most like to associate with ourselves:  Freedom, self-sufficiency, power.  deBord's lament, though obnoxious, illustrates that love affair well.

Currently, I'm in the midst of reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.  Set during the late 17th century, the novels are science-fiction/punk/pirate/historical novels dealing primarily with the economics of war and the intricacies of the aristocracy.  Over the course of the 1,200 pages or so I've read so far, much attention has been paid to wigs.  The French and English aristocrats put enormous effort and expense into their wigs, which symbolized, for them, their power and position in society.  They could be made so elaborate that by wearing them the nobility could prove that they had so much money that they didn't need to worry about how they spent it.  They were enormous, they were ostentatious, they were impractical.

Sound familiar?

Perhaps its time to stop investing so much of our national image in a piece of machinery.  I don't really hear many people complaining about the disappearance of powdered wigs from society parties.

Great Experience on the Smartway

From  Blue Ridge IT News, a revelatory experience:


The blogger goes on to relate how much more productive he/she was on the 1.5 hours trip on the bus rather than driving alone, particularly with the recent addition of Wi-Fi on all Smartway buses.  I appreciate the effort of the converted to proselytize the benefits of public transit.