Korina

October 2 - 8, one week, no driving. https://www.disabilityrightswa.org/p...ymobility/wwd/

Our local transportation advocacy group is going to get something going in our area, especially with our local government officials. How about you?

FBinNY 

Be careful here.

Roughly 20 years ago, I came home from overseas landing on July 4th. Given the timing, and wanting to celebrate I decided to declare independence from OPEC. The plan was to do it for a month, including commuting 6+ miles each way. That went so well, that I extended it through the summer, than until Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then until weather made miserable. That year we had a mile winter, and soon it was March, and having made it through winter, I saw no reason to stop. Ultimately it lasted 9 years until I retired.

Korina

Good for you! (I've never owned a car; 95% of my transport needs are supplied by boots, bike, and bus pass. Hubby's econobox covers the rest.)

The rules of the challenge are basically that you can get around any way you want, including ride hail and rides from friends, but:

Roughstuff

Yes, it it is easier to be car free, and bike about or walk about, than it is to try and wean yourself off a car while you have one. I lived almost exclusively in small towns, especially small college towns, and never needed a car.

I-Like-To-Bike

It is also easier to be "car-free", when a spouse, partner, roommate or friend can be counted on to use their motor vehicle to cover whatever chores, shopping or transportation requirements that cannot be supplied conveniently by the "car-free" person's boots, bike, and bus pass.

indyfabz

My average mileage/year since 2016 is going to be right around 3,000, up from mid-2000s, thanks to the bikeable office being closed and me driving about 34 miles round trip to work. I have also had to do more shopping by car since my illness, but that is changing. Maybe I'll be able to go on your again by the week of 10/2. That would certainly be something to shoot for.

Milton Keynes

I live in a small rural town about 20 miles from anywhere, so not able to go car free. There is zero public transportation and the nearest Uber is 30 miles away.

work4bike

I usually go well over a month between filling my gas tank and many times it's still about 3/4 full. I do wonder if it's worth keeping, because of the other expenses, especially insurance.

Roughstuff

I still think of them as “car free-er,” since they are pooling car use and making better use of their shopping habits etc. The inherent inefficiency of public transit makes it impractical, if not impossible, as an alternative to automobile use for shopping/chores etc.

bikemig 

It's time for me to start riding to work again. Winters can be a challenge but doable. Grocery shopping is also a challenge but again doable.

Roughstuff

I found that bike shopping for groceries made me have a healthier diet as well. Bulky junk food gave way to vegetables and fruit. It is tricky and things like milk are heavy and ice cream is out if the question. Or is it? 🤣

work4bike

That is true, but it's also still a good thing. I was car-free, while my wife had a car and of course I used it from time-to-time, so I never claimed to be "car-free". However, we were abnormal for the typical American family by only having one car for a household of two adults and 3 children. If more people did that, imagine the amount of fuel saved, as just one example. From the mid-80's to 2018 we were a one-car family.

BTW, all the kids are gone now, but we do have two cars, because I had to get an old pick-up truck to haul stuff; however, I hardly use that truck and I'm thinking of ways to rent a vehicle so I can dump the truck.



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Korina

The challenge is for a week, and it's not supposed to be easy, it's supposed to make you think.

I-Like-To-Bike

If more people owned only one vehicle, rather than multiple vehicles, but still used that vehicle to drive the same annual mileage there would be zero fuel saved, especially if the single vehicle had to fulfill multiple transportation roles for a family such as towing, hauling stuff, transporting family for trips, commuting,etc.

I-Like-To-Bike

I think this type of challenge is similar to previous one week boycots of gas stations to protest the price of gasoline. Innefective and unlikely to change anybody's behavior in the long run.

DonkeyShow

I guess I could just stay home for a week.

Roughstuff

It reminds me more of the Great American Smokeout. I think the point is to get folks to give thoughts about cycling/walking vs short car trips a fair shake. The destruction of neighborhoods/communities in recent decades makes this a much greater challenge than it would have been, say in the 1950s. But it is a good start.

work4bike

That's true. I meant to imply that it would force many to seek an alternative form of transportation....but I guess that's just a pipe dream. People do love those steel boxes on wheels.

Roughstuff

The key word in your post is "force." I don't think Americans---the rest of the world, either, but there are countries that insist---should be "forced" to do anything with regards to transportation. For a country the size of the US, our multi-modal transportation system is one reason why our economy provides many goods (and services, for that matter) at lower cost than just about any other place. Germany, France, and Italy spend close to twice as much as a % of their income on food than the US does. As a % of GDP, we spend less on energy than Europe as well.




I just wish people would realize that INDIVIDUALLY, they can use multimodal as well. Walking, biking, ride sharing, and busses make sense of in a lot of places. If consciousness raising was focused on health and wealth benefits, it would be far more effective.

FBinNY 

I have a bit of an issue with challenges like this and the implied virtue signalling. Everyone has his own unique situation, and circumstances. It might relate to geography, ie. distance and terrain, schedule, family responsibilities, health or physical condition, economic considerations, and so on. We arrange our lives as best we can based on that and that may or may not include going car free (even for a day).

As I posted earlier I went car free spanning 10 years, but it wasn't especially difficult. I'd been a lifelong recreational cyclist since I was 16, live in an area where the riding is pretty decent, owned my own business, so getting to work wet or sweaty wasn't an issue, have no children to ferry around, and where I live is not far off from what approximates a 15 minute city.

Over the years, people would congratulate me for how I take care of my health, or while car free for doing so. I always clarify that I don't ride for health, or out of some sense of social awareness. I RIDE BECAUSE I ENJOY RIDING and everything else is an unintended benefit. I say this because I feel that people should have maximum freedom to arrange their lives as nest suits them, without pressure to be "good". Hopefully they will, but it should come from within, not from a sense of obligation.

Korina

@FBinNY, did you notice that it's sponsored by Disability Rights Washington?

FBinNY 

Yes, but I focused on the message rather than the messenger. And, since this is a cycling forum, I focused on that aspect.

FWIW I find the attempt to connect folks who can't afford cars and those physically unable to drive kind of forced.

retswerb

In my experience it can play out in a variety of ways. Sometimes the same amount of trips are taken, just in one car instead of two. Sometimes fewer trips are taken, because coordinating various people's needs necessitates some shared trips and alternate means of transportation. Sometimes more trips are taken, in situations where one person has to get dropped off, then the car is driven back home and used for other errands, followed by another round trip to pick up the first person.

Even if the miles are a wash, though, there's no doubt that when we've been in this situation it has caused us to be *much* more conscious of our trips in terms of optimizing them as much as possible. Plus reducing the demand for production of another vehicle is a net positive.

indyfabz

I think people who are quick to criticize things that are designed to make them think about their current habits feel threatened. In reality, there is nothing threatening because there is nothing mandatory. Don't want to participate? Don't. No one is making you. Or, as you suggest, it can make one more conscious of one's own habits and at least think about possible alternatives.

Thanks to a change in my work location and an illness from which I am still recovering, I have become much more car dependent. What I have done in response is to figure out how to combine trips, often during lunch. Just today I combined a trip to a nearby big box grocery store for some things and picked up a bag of mulch at a Home Depot located in the same shopping center. Those are errand that I would have normally made on a weekend via a totally separate car trip.

Korina

Thanks, @indyfabz. I hope you recover completely. The challenge is also about getting drivers to think about how other people who, for whatever reason, don't drive, get around their community. What's good, what's bad, and how it can be improved. And if they discover that occasionally leaving the car at home isn't the horrifying nightmare they imagine, all the better!