World car-free day
Posted by Yankee on September 22, 2005 - 12:18pm
Hey everyone! It's World Car-Free Day! I know it's probably too late for most of you to make alternate arrangements, but if you can avoid getting into your car, you can help celebrate this special day!
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I made a lifestyle choice 13 years ago to live in town where the taxes are higher and property is more expensive, but I would be able to ride my bike and walk downtown.
I certainly am not regretting that decision now. I've used two to three gallons of gasoline in my car since I fueled up prior to Katrina (which was when I switched to my bike for work). Just cutting back enough to save ONE fill-up each month (at $3/gal) saves me $45/month (15 gal tank). That's $540/year. I'm not giving up on my car -- I'm just not using it as much. It's still a huge difference. It also means I'm using about 180 gal/yr less gasoline.
I also find that by biking to work I don't run as many frivolous errands (like a mid-morning run to Open Eye Cafe for a mocha or lunch out from the office). That saves me another $30-$50 each week. Suddenly, I feel flush with cash!
The biggest thing that strikes me is the response. Gas doubles over night, so people run out to buy. After all, it could double (or worse) again. Post Katrina there was a 40% increase over night, and I thought that was big. So here's a great reminder that yes, in the short term gas price is very inelastic. Very. With all the people in lines to get a fill up, I wonder 1) how long the prices stay low locally, and 2) just how much of a failure is car-free day? Well, I'm going to be biking to the library to get some books on hold, however the books were delivered from a different library, and I'd wager not by bike, but there's little one can get/do which doesn't involve fossils of some sort.
Cool idea. Wish I had known about it beforehand, but it is too late now.
BTW, those of you who missed today could do tomorrow as an alternate ;-)
It is early fall in the northern hemisphere, but already the days are getting short and the temperatures often cool. Isn't the USA bike to work week in early spring, when it's rainy and cool? Even if you pick a better season, you can't predict the weather more than a day in advance. "Hey eveybody, today's the day! Today is....well, if it wasn't for the storms it would be a good day to leave the car at home...." Or do the people who organize these things live in places like Phoenix, Arizona, where in fall the temperatures finally drop into the lower 30s C and it never rains?
I bike->train->bike to work each morning insted of buying a car are doing a 42 mile round trip. When i have gotten lifts from work mates ive always felt like i have not properly woken up.
I agree with Beige about peak oil being serious when people have to bike in to work be good fun to have more people joining me in the morning :) assuming they still have a job :(
Rain on a hot summer day can be nice. On a cold, dark, fall night, not as much fun, but, yes, certainly doable. Chance of light rain or even actual drizzle don't deter me, but I'm not motivated enough yet to set out into a downpour with continued rain and storms forecast. And yet people here think I'm some sort of cycling nut. (I see studded tires in the bike shop, so there is plenty of room for me to became a real nut someday.)
I do combine the rainy day drives with running the errands that are far easier to do with the car. Most of the places I want to go to are much closer to work than home, most of them in between work and home, so it's a reasonable trip combination.
This has really made me think a little about just in time delveries and our reliance on petrol for transport, oh, and also that hybrids are probably really good for stop start traffic in first gear.