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 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.
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:
RICHMOND, Va., July 14, 2008- The public is invited to comment on the draft Statewide Rail Plan during five public meetings to be held throughout Virginia in July. The meetings, hosted by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), will provide a time for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to brief the public on the draft plan and receive comments.
DRPT is developing the Statewide Rail Plan to provide a clear vision and strategy to address rail needs in the Commonwealth. The proposed projects are designed to meet the Commonwealth’s goals for the efficient and effective movement of people and goods through passenger and freight rail transportation.
The draft Statewide Rail Plan is now available on DRPT’s Web site at www.drpt.virginia.gov and at DRPT’s Richmond headquarters located at 1313 East Main St, Suite 300, Richmond, VA. A reference copy will also be available at each public meeting.
Meeting dates and locations are as follows:
Richmond Region, July 16, 5:30 p.m.
Virginia Department of Transportation Auditorium
1221 East Broad Street., Richmond, VA 23219
Staunton Region, July 23, 6:00 p.m.
Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center Auditorium
One College Lane, Weyers Cave, VA 24486
Roanoke Region, July 24, 6:00 p.m.
Salem Civic Center
1001 Boulevard, Salem VA 24153
Northern Virginia Region, July 29, 7:00 p.m.
Fairfax County Government Center Board Auditorium
12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax VA 22035
Hampton Roads Region, July 30, 6:00 p.m.
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
723 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake, VA 23320
During the public meetings, individuals may comment verbally or in writing. Individuals may speak for up to three minutes. Groups and organizations should designate one member to speak on their behalf. Those who cannot attend may send comments on the draft Statewide Rail Plan to:
Public Information Office
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
1313 E. Main St., Suite 300
Richmond, VA 23219
DRPTPR@DRPT.Virginia.gov
Comments will be accepted until August 25, 2008. For more information, visit www.drpt.virginia.gov
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:
The Hummer appeals to large men of even larger ego, men who aren't worried about their carbon footprint and believe that obstacles in life
are meant not just to be surmounted but squashed flat.... Every once in while, you see a little guy clambering out of a Hummer, painfully in need of a
ladder, and you realize that it can also be viewed as a $57,000 ticket to enlarged self-esteem.
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:
As an icon of the fantasy of “endless abundance,” the Hummer fulfills far more than the fantasies of insecure men–it perpetuates the myth that technology and progress will triumph over all things, there are no limits, resources are practically infinite, and a standard of living that has now become prohibitively expensive is within the reach of all. In other words, it is an invitation to insanity.
Nonetheless, In the midst of deBord's verbal swagger there is a nugget of truth:
Americans don't just drive their cars -- they proclaim something about themselves by driving them.
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.
From
Blue Ridge IT News, a
revelatory experience:
Living in SW Virignia one doesn't think of public transportation as a means of efficient travel between Blacksburg and Roanoke. Well, consider me converted. The new (to me) Smart Way Commuter Bus transportation between my home in Blacksburg to my office in downtown Roanoke is awesome.
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.
Of course,
this is the ideal:
With gas prices so high, Ferrum College is allowing some employees to telecommute one day a week.
...[Natalie] Faunce [Director of Public Relations for Ferrum] said it was easy for Ferrum to switch to the telecommute plan because the college is on a flex work schedule for employees.
In a flex schedule, employees adjust their arrival and departure time to suit their individual needs rather than working a traditional 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. day, or a 5-day week.
There is an extent to which our congestion and consumption rates are driven by adherence to an outmoded idea of a work schedule, where "being in the office" is equivalent to "getting work done." For a number of employees and jobs, technology has made the need for an office almost obsolete, and with advances in speed and image quality of teleconferencing software, even important meetings can be held without getting in the car.
Virginia's Telework!VA program is, in the targeted areas of Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond, trying to help employers implement telework programs not only by subsidizing equipment, but also training managers how to manage teleworkers. It is this last part that I think scares many traditional supervisors, but I don't think it should. Training teleworkers tends to create measures that focus much more on outcomes than on work hours; this can both invigorate employees who thrive in outcome-based work, as well as identify low-producing workers who have gotten by on face-time alone. It's certainly not perfect - there is a lot to be said for the ideas generated in a vital, social workplace - but there is no reason that the traditional 9-5 can't be modified, as it has to great success in Ferrum.
RIDE Solutions now has a
photostream on Flickr. Right now, I've posted some historical images - propaganda posters from WWII (including the infamous, "When you drive alone, you drive with Hitler!" poster) but I'll be working to get Clean Commute Day and other photos up as well.
I'm experimenting with a bicycle wiki in the hopes that we can use this collaborative technology to help unite some of the various bicycle factions in the region - local governments, bike clubs, advocates, and commuter assistance. I've taken the current
Bicycle Commuter Guide from the RIDE Solutions website (authored by one of our regional planners, Shane Sawyer, with slight edits from myself) and transfered it to a
Wikispaces page.
I'm hoping that real bicycle commuter experts will use the space to make their own comments and suggestions and provide their own insights to the challenge of bicycling in the NewVa region (both for transportation as well as recreation), particularly in regards to defining commute routes and commenting on those the Regional Commission/RIDE Solutions
have already identified.
You can find the Wikispaces page by clicking
here.
This just came from the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition. Roanoke City wants to get home-brew biodiesel makers connected up with restaurants who will supply you with waste grease:
Roanoke City has been using biodiesel in its own fleet for over a year. They buy from commercial distributers.
But we all know that you can make biodiesel from leftover restuarant oils - as in the movie "French Fries to Go." A number of restaurants in downtown Roanoke are willing to share their leftovers with you, and city government can help you find them.
If you or someone you know is making their own biodiesel and would like a local supply of grease, please contact Ken Cronin, Roanoke's Director of General Services, at kenneth.cronin@roanokeva.gov, (540) 853-1805.
We are currently in the midst of a public input window regarding some new regulations that VDOT may put into place. These regulations have the potential to drastically alter the kinds of roads that VDOT will take into the public system, which, in turn, will shape the kinds of neighborhoods that developers create. The new regulations put emphasis on connectivity (no more cul-de-sacs), pedestrian and bicycle accommodations. This represents a sea-change in thinking, and VDOT deserves your comments of support for the proposed rules.
Go tell them what you think.According to a VDOT representative this morning, they have received a lot of input from developers, who see the connectivity requirements as burdensome and reducing the value of their developments. VDOT needs to hear from citizens to think that shortening vehicle trips (and vehicle emissions) through enhanced connectivity is a
good thing; that narrowing lanes to reduce travel speeds through neighboorhoods is a
good thing; and that making sure all transportation options are represented is a
good thing.
So, read the regs and send them your comments. RIDE Solutions and the Regional Commission's Bicycle Advisory Committee (of which RIDE Solutions is part) will be sending in our letters of support. So should you.
Through the power that is the internet, I was contacted by a researcher for People Magazine who is looking for someone who has responded to the recent increase in gas prices by undertaking an uncoventional commute. They're looking beyond carpooling, biking, etc. to something very different - so if there's anyone out there who commutes down the river by canoe, rollerblades to work, saddles up, or anything along those lines, please
email me and let me know.
A colleague of mine here at the Regional Commission often refers to the "I" word as the main objection he hears to alternative transportation options, the "I" word being "Inconvenience." I find it remarkable that people think that being stuck driving yourself when you could be doing something else equates to inconvenience; personally, I find it very convenient to hop on the bus and read a book, and much more inconvenient to worry about other drivers on the road.
The "I" word comes up in
this blog post as well (it's Canadian, so don't freak out when you read her complaining about gas prices at $1.35):
Let me guess, you think I live too far out, right? Out in the back
woods, or as my step-dad says "We have to come out to hunt" we live so
far out in the sticks. But this isn't the case. I found someone who works in the same vicinity as me and lives a mere five minutes away.
This
person travels to downtown Moncton Monday to Friday and works almost
the exact same hours. Well guess what. They changed their mind and
don't want to carpool. Too inconvenient. Bullocks.
The root of the problem is what drivers perceive as freedom. At the moment, freedom (and convenience) is being able to jump in your car whenever you want and go wherever you want. This idea of freedom ignores the fact that, once you're in your car, you're stuck. You're beholden to the whims of traffic, your time is dedicated to the act of driving, you're stuck looking at the same scenery over and over again. Its pretty amazing, when you think about it, that we consider "freedom" to be sitting in what is essentially a really, really tiny room, moving a wheel around, only to end up exactly where we left. And unlike other tiny rooms, this one has the potential to kill you if someone else isn't paying attention to what their tiny room is doing. Oh, and we gladly pay thousands of dollars a year for the priveledge. The freedom of going and coming whenever you want completely ignores how trapped you are in between.
Bullocks, indeed.
Thank you to everyone who participated in Clean Commute Day, and particularly to those intrepid cycles who biked to work that morning and were able to stop by our downtown hospitality tents. We'll have some video and photos up soon, so keep watching this space.
We received 207 Clean Commute Pledges, with cycling being by far the most popular clean commute mode. All told, we took 4,406 miles off the road that day. I hope those of you trying this for the first time enjoyed it and will make carpooling, cycling, walking, taking the bus or telecomutting a regular part of your commute.
Thanks again, and see you next year!
We're up to
140 pledges going in to the final week leading up to Clean Commute Day. The rankings remain unchanged, with the City's margin growing as the libraries get energized. We're looking at a inter-departmental battle now between
Planning, Building & Development and
Booking it at the Library. The libraries need 3 pledges to tie, 4 to beat out the planners. Perhaps this will serve to the settle the ongoing battle between librarians and planners.
Roanoke City and Roanoke County remain neck and neck in terms of total residents pledging, with the top City zip code holding a slim 2 point advantage over the County.
Watch this week for news stories and tomorrow's big bicycle piece in The Roanoke Times. You can catch Dutchie Mirolli's story on
WVTF's website if you haven't already heard it on the radio.
Every day sets a new record. We're only filling up half a tank, now, trying to eek out a few more MPG by weighing the car down less. This is probably more psychological than anything else. I am doing more shopping trips on my bicycle. If it wasn't for daycare, I'd be riding into work most days.