Comments on Cranky Fitness: Screaming lobsters living the car-free life

Most car trips are 10 miles or less!!! Lots of gre...

2008-06-16T02:01:00.000-04:00

Most car trips are 10 miles or less!!! Lots of great stuff here, however, seems like there are a lot of great excuses also. If there is a will there is a way to bike. Its not all that hard to ride almost anywhere and once your fitness level is up it really doesnt take that much longer!

Is this nessary?
For better or worse, America is a nation on wheels. To get where they need to go, 90 percent of Americans say they usually drive, reporting an average of 87 minutes a day behind the wheel. For car commuters, it's an average of 100 minutes; for parents with children at home, an average of 104 minutes (compared with 77 minutes for people without kids at home). The average household owns two cars, trucks or sport utility vehicles -- and one in four owns three or more.

Drive or bike?
Life for commuters can be heaven or hell. They report an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles). But the variance is huge: On the best days, the average commute is 19 minutes; on the worst days, 46 minutes. That means traffic, at its worst, can double the average commute time, adding 27 minutes each way.

And on average -- not at its worst, but just on average -- workers estimate that traffic congestion adds a half-hour a day to their drive, 15 minutes each way. That's an impressive time suck.

Solution, ride a bike!

I recently made a job change that will allow me to...

2008-06-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

I recently made a job change that will allow me to replace a 40-mile commute that rises 2,000 feet in elevation to a 2-mile commute that rises maybe 2 feet in elevation. I got an old bike tuned up and ready to go, and I'm excited to start. I'm lucky that my neighborhood apparently caters to active people, so most of the drivers have biked/jogged on the same streets we drive everyday; thus, they're very considerate.

Those of you who wonder about grocery shopping, check out options like the Xtracycle: http://www.xtracycle.com/ It carries four bags of groceries and, optionally, a passenger. :) I have a single grocery bag sized pannier on my bike that is fine for my grocery shopping (as I shop for me and my boyfriend, and the grocery store is only 2 miles away from home).

I do wish my city had better bike infrastructure, though. The awesome downtown area is only 10 miles away, but to get there by bike, I would have to navigate past several scary freeway arteries that go through town. I've seen more and more bikers pedaling through these areas, but I've heard too many horror stories about bike accidents to feel totally comfortable trying that.

I live by the sea in Australia and it is a very po...

2008-06-12T18:48:00.000-04:00

I live by the sea in Australia and it is a very popular way to travel to work. Petrol prices over here are getting out of control and our roads to the city (Melbourne & Sydney) are being heavily tolled. Many people are riding to work now. We have very good bike tracks. I use my car to go from client to client which could be all over the city. My friend rides 50km to and from work every day and it is his training for races! It has actually caused him to be competitive in a new sport. Plus he lost a tonne of weight!

A car-free day around here would NEVER wash. Not w...

2008-06-11T11:07:00.000-04:00

A car-free day around here would NEVER wash. Not with the status-SUV people around me.

I'm one of those people who complain about it being unsafe -- to get to the stores. But I ride as much as I can on other roads. Every study I've seen or heard quoted says the same thing: the more bikers and walkers/runners who share the road with cars, the smaller the incidence of accidents and fatalities becomes.

We may be able to let unsafe roads stop us from shopping on our bikes, but that doesn't mean we should park our bikes entirely.

I'm with ya on this one. Will be looking for a sm...

2008-06-11T09:58:00.000-04:00

I'm with ya on this one. Will be looking for a small home (rent first, move into eventually). The requirements are walk to public transit and the grocery store.

Unfortunately, retro-fitting all the suburbs that have sprung up in the past 25 years won't be easy. And many people will fight it.

At the moment, I live on the top of 450' hill. When I walk to the grocery store at the bottom, I have to weigh my purchases (figuratively and literally) because of the steep walk back up. Not happening as often as it should.

HiGreat post. I live in the UK and petrol prices a...

2008-06-11T03:33:00.000-04:00

Hi
Great post. I live in the UK and petrol prices are horrendous. I drive the smallest car I could find (Smart roadster, 700cc engine) and it still costs me a fortune.

For those of you in the US, if my math is correct, we are paying between $10.50 and $12.00 a gallon at the moment.

I wish I could use my car less, but at least I have just negotiated to work from home for two days each week.

I'm car-less after 30 + years, and have adjusted w...

2008-06-11T03:01:00.000-04:00

I'm car-less after 30 + years, and have adjusted well because I still have the use of my Mom's for heavy groceries and trips to other towns (a few specialist drs.)I've saved a ton in Insurance and maintenance, and I give my Mom gas money and help by keeping up on checking the oil, and I take it in for servicing and washes (we're not allowed to wash our own cars anymore, we have to go to car washes that recycle their water!).

Biking around here is seriously dangerous, I crashed just a week ago. 3 hours in the ER waiting for stitches, a half hour to stitch. And can't park any kind of decent bike around here even chained, it will be stripped while one is in the store. So the good bikes are recreation only.

I have taken the local bus system, so far it's almost a wash, once was to the Staples Center to see Garth Brooks and save $20. on parking, but it cost me the $20 I saved to replace the small umbrella I borrowed from my Mom that the old geezer who sat next to me managed to finesse out from under my thigh w/o me noticing, I just thought he was crowding me, the little slime bucket. Plus a few trips with crazy people, they always seem to sit next to me. It's about the same cost as paying for the metered parking to take the car, it's slower, but count the gas saved and it's viable. I'll be doing more bus riding. Can't wait to get the Metro Link train out here, it's really nice to ride, except it crashes a lot.

Excellent post!

Wow! This has struck a nerve. And a positive nerve...

2008-06-10T23:51:00.000-04:00

Wow! This has struck a nerve.
And a positive nerve at that.

I was expecting a lot more rancorous comments from the drive-or-die crowd, but thankfully they've taken the day off -- thankfully because that left room for a lot of positive comments that I really enjoyed reading!

I wish I could respond to each comment, because everyone had an insightful remark (more proof that this is an intelligent group, if proof were needed).

Two things I should say:
1 - I really think this is the time to make your voice heard about more and better public transportation -- because this is the time that the people holding the purse strings are listening. Not only is everyone hyper-sensitive about gas prices, in America it's an election year, so they're nervous about gas prices /and/ keeping their jobs. If we bitch/moan/complain about increasing trams and lightrail, they'll be inclined to listen!

2 - A lot of people mentioned that their neighborhoods are too scary to walk/bike/yada in. Seems to me that these are the places that would most benefit from a 'car-free' day. I don't know how /likely/ this is, depending on the area, but if you could get a local bigwig or major corporation to sponsor it and make it a local street fair, then a car-free stretch of blocks is more likely. Anything that gets people out of their cars and walking around is a step in the right direction.

Dang it, what am I doing up on this soap box? Crabby, you /promised/ to hide the soap box so I wouldn't be tempted to climb up on it!!!

no rocks from me! I wish I lived somewhere where I...

2008-06-10T21:40:00.000-04:00

no rocks from me! I wish I lived somewhere where I could go car free! The grocery store is not that far away, but the road I would have to ride/walk on is a death trap. I wish my area would focus more on building quality roads (and bike paths) instead of putting in a kazillion houses everywhere.

(I'm living in Japan right now..)The transportatio...

2008-06-10T20:52:00.000-04:00

(I'm living in Japan right now..)

The transportation system here is ridiculous - in a great way. You can get to within a short walking distance of anywhere - by bus, subway, tram, train....infinite ways! It's cheaper and there's no traffic, and you can use the train time productively (reading, studying, etc).

Consequently (factor in high insurance rates and licencing costs, too) - way less people drive, here! Don't quote me on that, I don't have stats. But it's true.

Crabby said, "I'd go even further and suggest that people actually make walkability/bikability a priority when deciding where to rent or purchase a home..."

Real estate is priced in large part by how close it is to a train station!

I'm all for less cars and more bikes / walking!

How funny that I read this on the exact day that I...

2008-06-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

How funny that I read this on the exact day that I came home from work and announced that the traffic has become so ridiculous that I am going to try cycling to work in future. I'm spending too much of my precious time sitting in stationary traffic!

So tomorrow I'm going to cycle to work even though I'm not working, so I can see how long it will take, and find where I can leave my bike safely. And the bonus is I will get fitter. If I don't get mown down by a passing car that is.

Well, I took steps this summer to use my car less....

2008-06-10T18:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I took steps this summer to use my car less. I bought a bike and started riding to my workouts, and planned to ride on local errands such as post office/drug store ... then I fell and broke my wrist, so I'm grounded for the next five months! But even before that, I was surprised to find that there aren't that many safe routes available to me. Many of the roads don't have enough shoulder to be really safe to ride on, and there's so much vehicle traffic. I'm not giving up, though ... five months from now, I'm back on that sucker!

p.s. crabby and merry, i completely agree. commun...

2008-06-10T17:13:00.000-04:00

p.s. crabby and merry, i completely agree. communities are so poorly designed!! but what can we do?

if i didn't live 20 miles from school, 12 miles fr...

2008-06-10T17:12:00.000-04:00

if i didn't live 20 miles from school, 12 miles from work, and 15 miles from my parents, i would ride a bike as often as possible. even where i do live, it would be extremely inconvenient to walk pretty much anywhere. i hate where i live.

Screaming lobsters... oh my:)Love the car-freeness...

2008-06-10T16:59:00.000-04:00

Screaming lobsters... oh my:)

Love the car-freeness. When I lived in Holland we didn't have a car; we got around everywhere by tram or bike or train and thats the way most people do it over there. I think its a lot less stressful than driving and being caught in traffic as the driver, too.

We live smack-dab in downtown Santa Rosa, CA, and ...

2008-06-10T16:49:00.000-04:00

We live smack-dab in downtown Santa Rosa, CA, and I go days without touching my car. I'm in bike riding distance of grocery stores, video stores, my gym, etc.

But there are some streets that are pretty hairy to navigate; no way would I do it with little kids.

oops- I guess people did bring up weather. Add my...

2008-06-10T16:48:00.000-04:00

oops- I guess people did bring up weather. Add my cranky comment to the other weather comments.

No one has brought up weather concerns. Actually,...

2008-06-10T16:46:00.000-04:00

No one has brought up weather concerns. Actually, I'd rather ride a bike or walk in the dead of a winter blizzard than in the weather we're having right now in D.C. (105 with humidity index). I can barely breathe out there. It's horrible. But I did notice the other day in DC that they are building (at least one?) bike rental place in the city. https://smartbikedc.com/program_information.asp

But other than that, I agree. I lived in Europe for a while, too, and it was awesome to be able to bike and walk and not get hit by cars.

I love the idea of making cities more cycle and wa...

2008-06-10T16:06:00.000-04:00

I love the idea of making cities more cycle and walker friendly! Besides saving money and resource, you get a workout too!

I think in America cars are more of a necessity than in Europe due to the way our transportation system is, as well as the size of the country! So, while I believe we can all do little things to cut down on the amount of driving we do, I still feel that having a car is necessary, at least in my situation! (But I'd love to be able to bike to and from work if it weren't for the traffic!)

I live with my boyfriend and we work 3 miles apart...

2008-06-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

I live with my boyfriend and we work 3 miles apart from each other. We started carpooling, mainly to conserve on gas and to preserve my ailing jetta...it is a bit inconvienent and I have to stay at work later..but I figure it is a change for the better in all ways!

I liked this post and really think we need to be f...

2008-06-10T15:49:00.000-04:00

I liked this post and really think we need to be forced into a bit more screaming where non-renewable resources go. I mean really, where people are concerned it is usually tough to get people to make a really change until it starts to hit them where it hurts and the pocketbook is a good place to go if you want to get someone's attention.

OK, my boyfriend lives in North Portland (no the g...

2008-06-10T15:23:00.000-04:00

OK, my boyfriend lives in North Portland (no the good part, but only for three more weeks, Thank God!!) and I will probably be over there on the 22nd...Now you tell me that I will have to deal with road closures and more people on bikes than normal around there???
It better at least be sunny that day, and then maybe I'll partake in the festivities, otherwise get the hell outta my way, the Bimmer is coming through and there is nothing you can do to sto...oh, why hello Officer. Do you know my father??

Cars will always be needed in cities...For handica...

2008-06-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

Cars will always be needed in cities...

For handicapped people.

The rest of us can walk, bike, skate, or take transit.

I lived in NY for a little over a year and I have ...

2008-06-10T14:48:00.000-04:00

I lived in NY for a little over a year and I have never walked so much in my life. I easily walked an hour and a half every day - to/from home to subway, to/from subway to office. Then more on the weekends. Unfortunately I then moved to FL, NJ and TX over the next 6 yrs and spent all the time driving to/from work/grocery store etc. Outside of NY I have yet to find a reliable, extensive transport service.

I am totally puzzled by why Merry seems to think t...

2008-06-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

I am totally puzzled by why Merry seems to think this is a controversial post.

I work in NYC and USUALLY take mass transit (unless I know a rehearsal or concert is going to run late, when I would have trouble getting a bus from the GWB terminal), but my poor husband had to take a job 30 miles away in NJ. So he has to drive. We just bought a car that gets better gas mileage, but that's about all we can do at this point. He would love to have a job in NYC, or at least closer.

I have to go along with Crabby about the foolish and wasteful things we now think are necessities. There was a great column in the NYTimes today by David Brooks (who normally inspires me to make raspberry noises when I read him) about frugality. Whatever happened to the values of Benjamin Franklin? How did we get to this "save the world by shopping" place?