[Announce] Day 7: take the bus, ride a bicycle, walk

[Robert Waldrop]

30 Days Towards Sustainability

Day 7: Take the bus, ride a bicycle, or walk.

Today we must ask ourselves: What am I going to do 
about transportation?

First step. Visit the website of your local mass 
transit agency, for Oklahoma City folks it is 
http://gometro.org/ . For Tulsa it is 
http://www.tulsatransit.org/ .

Next, Find your house location on the map, and 
then find the places that you go most often in a 
car, such as work, shopping, entertainment, 
school, etc. Can you get there from home by bus? 
If so, then why not take the bus to work or to 
shop just one day a week? Maybe two? I find that 
taking the bus is a refreshing change from 
driving. I am always behind on my reading, and the 
bus is a great time to catch up on my stack of 
magazines and newspapers. It's a nice brisk walk 
to the closest bus stop, and my doctor (and my 
heart) likes that a lot. My round trip commute 
costs me 2 gallons of gas, so at $2.50 round trip 
bus fare, I am saving money.

How about walking or bicycling to one errand a 
week in your neighborhood? Just one, although you 
might like it so much you might try doing two or 
three each week. I am fortunate that I live in a 
neighborhood where I can walk to shops, 
restaurants, and entertainment. Walking is also a 
refreshing change from driving. You get a totally 
different perspective on your "space" as you walk 
through your neighborhood. On my days off, I like 
to wander down NW 23rd towards Classen, maybe get 
one of those great $2 Vietnamese sandwiches at the 
"Milk Bottle Building", and then sit in the little 
park there and eat it and watch the people and 
cars go by.

Can carpooling work for you?

I found these online resources seeking to match up 
folks who want to carpool:

http://www.erideshare.com/carpool.php?city=Oklahoma%20City

http://www.carpoolworld.com/ (Scroll down and 
click on the link to Oklahoma)

What about bicycles? Oklahoma has many bicycle 
clubs, and they have online discussion groups 
where you can learn more about bicycle safety, 
bicycle commuting, and find safe routes that take 
you where you want to go. OKC and Tulsa buses are 
now fitted with bicycle racks, which is a great 
help for bicycle commuters and shoppers. The 
Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition seems to be doing some 
website work, and their old URLs aren't working 
right now, but they have a page at 
http://okbike.org/ . If you feel a bicycle isn't 
for you, how about an adult trike? A web search 
for "adult trike" turned up an amazing variety of 
3 and 4 wheeled pedal vehicles.

It may be that you just can't get to where you 
need to go from your home by bus. If so, there is 
a further assignment today, which actually applies 
to all of us concerned about local sustainability 
and economic viability. Contact the local transit 
agency, your mayor, and your city council person 
and tell them about the lack of bus service in 
your area (or in general) and ask them when the 
system is going to be expanded to serve your 
neighborhood (where you live and/or where you 
work). Tell them you support a dedicated source of 
tax revenue to support mass transit. We may also 
need to support a bond issue.

Oklahoma City needs a commuter rail system, and 
the most cost effective way to get that is to use 
the existing rail system in the metro area that 
centers on Union Station. However, the Crosstown 
Freeway relocation project continues to creep in 
that direction, and the rail interchange at Union 
Station is directly in its path ("something wicked 
this way comes"). Destroying that interchange is a 
historic and costly mistake for Oklahoma City, so 
don't forget to mention that to the mayor and your 
city councilperson too. The governor needs to hear 
about that issue, as the Crosstown Freeway project 
is an Oklahoma Department of Transportation 
boondoggle (it's costing several TENS of millions 
of dollars per mile).

Letters, emails, and phone calls are important, 
but it is equally necessary to increase bus 
ridership by actually getting on buses, paying 
fares, and riding them to destinations.

Everyone has to decide what they are going to do 
about transportation. This question is not going 
to go away. We are driving our nation right onto 
the ash heap of history as we put our solitary 
selves into inefficient motor vehicles and drive 
them anywhere we want to go. Our addiction to 
gasoline is the primary reason that with only 6% 
of the world's population, we use 25% of the world's 
oil production.

More fuel efficient vehicles would be good, but 
new vehicles embody resources and energy in their 
manufacture. I tend to think that the best 
sustainability choice is to do the best you can to 
reduce the amount you drive by either taking 
public transportation, walking, or riding a 
bicycle. The next best choice would be to reduce 
the amount of gasoline you use for your present 
driving schedule by replacing a large, inefficient 
vehicle with a smaller, more fuel efficient USED 
vehicle. The only new vehicle purchase that makes 
sense from the viewpoint of sustainability is a 
hybrid (and there are some that would debate that 
choice).

The issue of transportation also has to do with 
geography. Because of exceptionally poor land use 
planning, Oklahoma City is spread out all over the 
place. If you are planning to move, think about 
buying or renting in an area with good access to 
public transportation, and where you could 
actually ride a bicycle or walk for local errands. 
When gasoline gets above $5/gallon, you will be 
glad you made the choice to move to an area with 
better public transit access and with pedestrian 
amenities. When it gets to $10/gallon, which is 
probably going to be sooner than most of us think, 
for most of us living in a neighborhood with mass 
transit access will be an economic necessity.

The longer we delay honestly looking at these 
questions, the harder it will be to adapt to the 
realities of the future.

For a real challenge, visit 
http://www.carfree.com/ and 
http://www.worldcarfree.net/ .

Bob Waldrop

www.bettertimesinfo.org

www.oklahomafood.coop

These daily tips are archived at 
http://www.energyconservationinfo.org/30days.htm . 
They may be freely forwarded and reprinted, with 
credit.