Strive Not To Drive – Day One
ByHowdy Hooligans. It’s time to park your cars and utilize some of the other modes of transportation available to you during Strive Not to Drive Week. If you’re one of those who can’t park your cars due to far-flung work sites or some other reasons, then you can do your level best to create a car pool. Getting out of cars lowers air pollution, reduces traffic, makes for healthier people, and saves money like little else.
Today I cruised on my bike to the bus stop at the corner of Haywood Road and Riverview Drive. I would have just biked into town, but I was feeling lazy. The dollar I spent to get me to the corner of Otis and Patton was well worth it. Then it was a quick pedal to my meeting at the Grove Arcade. I’m waiting for the other attendees right now while banging out a quick blog post. From here, I’ll ride to my office on Charlotte Street. If the skies open up, then I’ll just hop the bus over there.
Are you participating in SNtD week? If so, how?
The Mayor’s bike ride takes place today at 4pm. I believe it leaves from City Hall and lasts about an hour.
23 Comments
May 17th, 2010 at 10:01 am
A few years ago a “friend” gave me a bunch of guff over my not participating in this exercise in holier-than-thou piousness. At the time I worked 30 miles away from Asheville, and my shift started at 7:00 am. Even though public transportation could, in theory, get me from point A to B, the earliest it could possibly get me there was approximately 10:30 am. My “friend” said “well, you could just get another job closer to home.”
Progressivism, Asheville style.
Well, now I do have a job closer to home, but guess what? It’s in Weaverville. Guess what the City of Asheville did to the Weaverville line? I guess I should just apply for a job at the gas station down the street if I’m gonna stay in your good graces. Or I can just drive to work like I normally do and let the rest of you compare the stars on your bellies.
May 17th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I wont be driving tomorrow, but that is because my car is getting fixed.
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May 17th, 2010 at 10:15 am
No worries, Deus. Until there’s a good enough countywide transit system or more jobs closer to home, there will be some who simply have to drive.
I live only about a mile from where I work, so it really works for me to walk, bike, or bus.
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May 17th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Bncmb Cnty — bck n th ffts nd sxts — HD grt cnty wd bs lns. lk Mntn’s bss wnt ll th wy t Lcstr nd bck. cld rd thm nt twn fr twnty cnts. Thngs dn’t lwys gt bttr.
Tdy, th vst mjrty f ppl n Wstrn Nrth Crln d nt hv ny srt f pblc trnsprt. S w drv. Lt th Prgrssvs lk dwn n s f thy wll bt w gt thr frst, gt r stff dn, nd lft n cmfrt whl thy wt frlrnly fr th bs n th rn (nd wtng n th rn, my frnd, s hrdly prgrss).
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May 17th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
n wrs cs, spps y cld tk th rbt (my mst rcnt nmtn):
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May 17th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
ctlly, lt m gt srs fr mmnt.
Wht hv gnst “Strv Nt t Drv,” tc., s th bsc phlsphy.
Th nswr n ll ths thngs s NT t ct bck bt t fnd mr ffcnt wys f gng frwrd. t’s nt t gv p tchnlgy bt t mk t bttr, clnr, mr ffcnt, mr sstnbl.
Th nswr s NT t wt n th rn. ftr ll, tht’s why r mst ncnt ncstrs fnd cvs nd blt th frst fr gnrtr (Flnt Rcks 1.0).
“Strv Nt t Drv” s wmpng t.
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May 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Um, Ralph, how is riding a bicycle less efficient than driving a car? Sure, if you’ve got additional reasons to drive a car – it’s raining, or it’s really too far to bike, or you’ve got to transport someone who can’t move under their own power – it makes sense, and “Strive Not to Drive” isn’t about shaming people who need to drive. (And I should have thought the idea that “nobody can make you feel inferior except yourself” would have a bit more resonance in this discussion.)
But seriously, given all the resources required to put those gallons of fuel into your tank, biking is a hell of a lot more efficient than just sitting yourself down in the driver’s seat to move you and your car and the gas in your tank a couple of miles and back. There’s an opportunity cost – you’ve got to be in decent shape – but once you’ve passed that hurdle, why not bike it?
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May 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Dg, f y wnt t bk fr xrcs r fn, tht’s fn. Rlbl r cnvnnt trnsprttn fr th mjrty f s hr n th mntns, t s nt.
nd “pttng ll ths gllns n fl n yr tnk” msss th pnt. WHY shld w stll b sng nffcnt ntrnl cmbstn ngns vr 100 yrs ftr thy frst cm nt wd s? W’r bttr ngnrs thn THT!
Fssl fls s nt lngtrm sltn.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Don’t get me wrong – I can appreciate the spirit of the thing, as well as at the very least raising awareness about the benefits of driving less. And I don’t have anything against anyone else participating in it. But when someone starts to talk trash about another’s circumstances – I have a big problem with that. I’m not saying that all progressives are of the “Star Belly” variety – far from it – but I’m sure we all know one or two that we want to slap upside the head for being stupid about it.
I forgot to mention that my car gets between 35 and 45 mpg, depending on how overinflated the tires are, how much downhill coasting and “drafting” I do, and how little in-town errands I have to run. Easily three times more efficient than your average
penile compensatorysport utility vehicle.Rate this comment:
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May 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Ralph,
I know it’s going to come as a shock to you, but some people actually live within convenient biking/walking/bus distance of places they want to go. Right here in the mountains!
The “basic philosophy” of Strive Not to Drive is to encourage those folks – the folks who can – to use alternate means of transportation, or at least to consider using them. I’d imagine that a side benefit would be to open people’s eyes to how little public transportation we have so that maybe the political will would develop to improve the situation.
And postponing our use of the alternatives at our disposal until some magic bullet is found to eliminate the internal combustion engine – some solution that’s at once affordable, widely available, and likely to be adopted by the people in control of capital – that’s what misses the point. If the ICE weren’t requiring us to foul the planet in the present and if its use in the present weren’t undermining our future, there’d be no point in seeking alternatives, technological or otherwise.
The point, Ralph, is that every gallon we burn right now adds CO2 to an ecology already overloaded with the stuff. Every gallon we don’t burn doesn’t. I hope we find that silver bullet, and I understand we’ve got some of our best people working on it. But I’m not sure why conservation is so wrong-headed as to deserve your scorn.
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May 17th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
For our household, we’ve been sharing our car for ninety weeks on Wednesday, and we’ll park it for the two days during Strive Not to Drive that it is possible. Hopefully next year the bus will have longer hours, and we’ll be able to celebrate with a dinner downtown and catch the bus back home.
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May 17th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Dg, m nt gnst cnsrvtn. m gnst ppl wh thnk cnsrvtn s th nd gl.
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May 18th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Should I have carried 2x4s 16 foot long on my bike, on the bus that no longer comes here, or maybe on foot (with no sidewalks) to work today?
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May 18th, 2010 at 1:12 am
Is this part of the “Transportation Demand Management” strategies to “encourage” people to abandon their evil “single occupancy vehicle” in favor of alternative transportation they currently have no interest in using (@ $99,979 fiscal year 10/11 budget cost to the Asheville taxpayer in this time of budget shortfalls). I guess “progressive” agenda propagandizing is a priority over the city’s responsible fiscal management.
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May 18th, 2010 at 7:32 am
What I think Jim is saying is that riding the bus is for effete liberal snobs.
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May 18th, 2010 at 7:36 am
It’s patently absurd to assume that because one encourages alternative modes of transportation that one is commanding others to abandon their automobiles. I have mine parked right out front in case I need to carry lumber or get to Ralph Roberts’ house.
I’m surprised that so many feel under attack because some people want to ride the bus, walk, and ride bikes. A multi-modal transportation network accommodates all modes and doesn’t bias itself exclusively towards one. The USDOT, EPA, and HUD are also seeking to fund projects with multi-modal features as they recognize that not all Americans want to be in automobiles, that the environment suffers from exhaust pollution, and that life is less expensive for urban dwellers when they don’t have to deal with an automobile. Transportation Demand Strategies are a vital part of ensuring that our federal and state tax dollars find their way back to us while also working to improve air quality and decrease traffic.
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May 18th, 2010 at 8:10 am
“I’m surprised that so many feel under attack because some people want to ride the bus, walk, and ride bikes. A multi-modal transportation network accommodates all modes and doesn’t bias itself exclusively towards one.”
Some folks just have a big need to whine. Makes ‘em feel momentarily superior.
May 18th, 2010 at 8:23 am
Ralph,
I should have thought that frugality would be one of those mountain values – the kind that seem to have disappeared from Buncombe County. In what way is it a virtue to spend $3 a gallon on gas if you can – without any real loss of convenience – walk or bike where you want to go?
Shad,
That’s funny. When I was growing up (in North Carolina, no less), the bus was for working people who couldn’t afford cars. Apparently, though, if you see someone waiting in the rain at a bus stop these days, it’s a safe bet the person is just making a political statement.
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May 18th, 2010 at 8:34 am
and putting aside, for the moment, all of the obvious reasons why motorized transport is still necessary at times, I wonder how many people in our area couldn’t get up the slightest hill either on a bike or walking. With the rate of obesity at a pretty high level in WNC, there must be a lot of people, including even some commentators on this blog, for whom anything other than four wheels and a powered-up drive train is beyond their reach.
I agree with Ralph that finding alternative and more efficient ways to power our vehicles should be a focus, but I also agree that biking, walking, riding public transportation, and carpooling are viable and necessary components of a city’s transportation plan.
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May 18th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
“I wonder how many people in our area couldn’t get up the slightest hill either on a bike or walking. With the rate of obesity at a pretty high level in WNC, there must be a lot of people, including even some commentators on this blog, for whom anything other than four wheels and a powered-up drive train is beyond their reach.”
BINGO!!! Over reaction, suggests a much deeper fear or motive, than evil liberal weenies eventually gaining the power to ban automobiles. The fear that one couldn’t possibly make it up a hill under their own power, is pretty pathetic, but true.
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May 18th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Davyne,
What makes you so mean-spirited? So, you don’t like Ralph. Get over it already. You don’t like fat people.
Disabled people disgust you too? Not everyone in the world sees it as you do, can be what you like, or shares the mores you hold dear. Being judgmental as you so often are also ‘Makes ‘em feel momentarily superior.
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May 18th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
I’ve been biking for the last few months because my car was repossessed. But hey, now I have me some awesome calves.
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May 18th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
I have ridden the bus on many occasions, when getting where I wanted to go as quickly as possible was not was not an issue. Didn’t see any snobs, mostly poor people trying to get somewhere without a car.
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