Too long without a post! I just returned from a trip (via Amtrak, my favorite travel-mode) to Olympia, Washington, where I was researching that state’s outstanding transportation options program. I am so itching to do in Oregon the kinds of trip-reduction programs they are doing in Washington (I work in transportation).
On a separate but very related note, my husband Thor, whose favorite magazine is The Economist, looks up from his reading to report that the U.S. reduced its driving in the last nine months by 52 billion miles. The assumption is that this is due to high gas prices.
The context, for those of us wanting to address global warming, is that this translates to about 57.2 billion pounds of carbon dioxide not emitted into the atmosphere. (Carbon dioxide is the primary gas that triggers global warming.)
“Fifty-two billion miles!” Thor rants. (Passionate ranting is fairly common in my household.) “Those were miles that people could have done without driving in the first place! What if people were actually trying to drive less!”
Well, yes and no. Lots of driving is discretionary, like the 40% of trips in the U.S. that are two miles or less, and could largely be done on foot or bike. On the other hand, economist David Kavanaugh states that VMT (vehicle miles traveled) has five times more to do with whether people are fully employed, than it does with the price of gas. I would hate for VMT reduction (which causes carbon emissions reduction) to be on account of people not having jobs to travel to.
I want us all to have jobs — and to drive as little as possible, using our feet, bikes, trains, public transit and carpooling for most travel, to slow global warming. See The Real Cost of Gas: $15/Gallon for more on this topic.
This post — especially the part about unnecessary car trips — gets me to thinking about the Hood to Coast race, which you wrote about awhile back and is going on right now.
Your post begs the question: How can we modify things we already love? In the case of HTC, does every team need its own support vehicle?
What if HTC could be modified and restructured with a bus service that shuttled runners (lots at a time) to designated relay-exchange points set up with tents, food, or maybe even a few picnic blankets? Some runners might have to wait longer than others for their team member to arrive, but that’s what magazines, conversation, and even napping is for! The just-ran runner would have time to rest as well until the next shuttle. Maybe this gets away from the competive nature of a big race like HTC, but, as we all know when it comes to the greater green good, sometimes we have to let go of our own immediate wants to make it happen.
Colleen, I like your idea a lot and I especially agree with your last sentence.