Tag Archives: alternative transportation

October is International Walk to School Month

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Anne | 5 comments

Lots of Bikes at School - Bike to School Day 2008

October is International Walk to School Month. Walk and Wheel Month is part of an international movement to encourage active transportation to school. Kids are encouraged to use any type of human–powered mode of transport (feet, scooters, bikes) to get to school.

My friend, Leslie and I are leading the effort at our local elementary school. We were so inspired by the success of Bike to School Month last spring, we thought we’d encourage more kids to join us this fall. Cascade Bicycle Club sponsors the program locally, giving prizes to kids who make at least seven car-less trips to school in October.

Is any one out there leading a walk, bike or scooter–to–school effort this October? It’s not too late to get something organized.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing to promote it.

– Anne

5 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, kids, neighborhoods, sustainability

Tagged alternative transportation, bike, bike-to-school, kids, scooter, walk

World Carfree Day is Monday, September 22

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Anne | Leave a comment

Leave your car at home on Monday in honor of World Carfree Day. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, and co–workers to do the same.

World Carfree Day is an annual celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars. Each year on September 22, people around the world organize events of all sizes to showcase alternatives to the automobile.

Check out the World Carfree Day events page to find a gathering in your part of the world.

Seattle has an event in Ballard: Get your Undriver License in honor of World Carfree Day. Just pedal, walk or bus it over to the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center, NW 56th St and 22nd Ave NW on Monday, September 22, 2008 from 1-4pm to get your undriver license.

We got Undriver licenses last year at the Sustainable Ballard Festival – hopefully they aren’t expired yet.

Have a good weekend.

– Anne

Has it been a year already? (our year of Car Free Days)

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Anne | 12 comments

Life and summer and perfect weather and kids going to bed late and too much work for Tim have gotten in the way of bike blogging these past few weeks. We figure it’s summer and the kids are out of school and we’re free and easy to go where we want, when we want and we’d much rather be outside riding than sitting in front of the computer prattling on about riding. A long winded explanation excuse for why we’ve been lame bloggers these past few weeks.

We have a lot of experiences stacked up to share with you–they will most likely trickle in this fall when the weather turns and we’re hunkered down inside. There you go, all the excuses we could muster for now. Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, kids, sustainability, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, xtracycle

Is America Turning into Europe Right Before Our Eyes?

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Anne | 15 comments

That headline from the Freakonomics blog caught my eye this morning. While Americans are slowly changing their evil, car–loving ways (mostly because of skyrocketing gas prices), we certainly have a long way to go before we get close to European transportation standards. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, news

Tagged alternative transportation, America, cycling, europe, news, Shift

Fixing our Roads? Check out this Sightline Video

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Anne | 3 comments

This Sightline video is worth a 44 second watch. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, seattle

Tagged alternative transportation, cars, seattle, SR 520, traffic

Big Loads, the Friendly Competition

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Anne | 5 comments

Tim and I are engaging in a friendly “big load” competition. We both know Tim is bigger and stronger and can carry more but it’s still fun for me to pretend I’m in the running. (Ah it’s the little things that keep marriage interesting).

The loads are really hard to gauge since we don’t have a scale that will register that much weight. So our method for determining who is the burliest Xtracycle grocery shopper is how much we spent at Trader Joe’s. I hauled $205.68 back in January. Tim’s latest load was $209. I’m pretty sure he bought more wine and cheese and other expensive stuff than me so I know I’m winning. ; – ) Maybe we need to bring in a neutral third party to be the judge?

Happy Friday! It’s a beautiful day in Seattle – I hope it’s nice where you are.

– Anne

5 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, shopping, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, BIG Loads, grocery shopping, xtracycle

Have any Car-Free Vacation Ideas?

Posted on June 23, 2008 by Anne | 3 comments

The Sightline Institute is looking for car-free vacation ideas. In celebration of their 15 year anniversary, they are giving away a car-free vacation in the Pacific Northwest and they want your ideas. Details here. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes

Tagged alternative transportation, carfree vacation, ferry, train

Getting a Ride

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Anne | 2 comments

Tim picked me up from an appointment on his Xtracycle last week. It sure was nice to be the passenger for once. We rode a little under two miles like this–not a bad way to travel.

I kept asking Tim if he wanted me to get off and walk and he repeatedly said, “No”. So I sat back, savored the view and the experience and enjoyed the ride. I have to say it was quite nice. Good thing Tim is a safe rider, you really have to trust your captain when you’re the passenger.

– Anne

2 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, longbikes, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, passenger, snapdeck, xtracycle

Pedaling for Food

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Anne | 3 comments

The question I get asked most often about our “biking lifestyle” is: How do you grocery shop on your bike? Do you shop every day? Can you really carry enough for a family of four? I think people can wrap their brains around getting from here to there, but dealing with the stuff is a whole ‘nother thing. It just seems too daunting. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, seattle

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, grocery stores, seattle, shopping

Seattle, Take the One Less Car Challenge, We’ll Give You Some Gas, a Car Wash, and Highway Map

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Anne | 5 comments

AAA Image As we’ve said, we took the One Less Car Challenge last fall. We sold our newish Saab, and got $600 in Zipcar benefits (among other things) in exchange.

It seemed like a pretty good trade. We didn’t drive very much, but wanted to keep the car around because, well, you know: “just in case.” The Zipcar benefits handled the just in case part and it was a lot easier to let go of the car, it’s sunk costs, and associated negative externalities.

We’ve yet to use the Zipcar benefits, as we drive even more rarely since giving up the Saab (funny how that works), but having the benefit made it easy to let it go. Continue reading →