transportation

Tomorrow, the Raleigh City Council will hold a vote on whether or not to reopen the discussion of including bike lanes on Hillsborough St.

Those of you that know me know that I’m a committed “bike guy.” This is not because I’m an environmental activist and want to make everyone else feel terrible about not doing enough, or because I feel the strong need to “walk the walk” (“ride the bike,” in this case), but simply because bikes are cheap - I built mine at the Bike Kitchen. As of now I’ve been a bike-only commuter for upwards of 4 years while I lived in LA, Orange County, Seattle and now Raleigh. While it might surprise some of you to hear that Raleigh is by far the least safe place to ride a bike, for those of you who ride these streets daily, it probably comes as no surprise at all. While there are many factors that contribute to this, the single largest factor is lack of infrastructure on our streets. There are more and more people on bikes every week (more and more cars too) and without bike lanes, adequate signage or even the dreaded “sharrow” it just gets worse. For drivers, more bikes on unsafe roads is an inconvenience - sometimes a large one, admittedly. For bikers, it is literally a matter of life or death. Bikers die on unsafe roads.

Initially, the plan for Hillsborough Street included a space for bikes. While many of us can and will argue over the relative efficacy of 6 blocks of a bike lane that doesn’t connect to a larger system, the bottom line is that it will make it safer for the students and commuters who frequently clog that street. Unfortunately, those bike lanes were later removed from the plan. Tomorrow, the Raleigh City Council will vote on whether or not to re-open the discussion of including a bike lane for Hillsborough St tomorrow at 1PM. A group bike ride is being held to show support for this effort and will be meeting at the NCSU bell tower at noon. Join us if you’re able, or contact me - christopher[at]ncconservationnetwork.org for more details.

Over the last 80 years, North Carolina’s transportation policy has overwhelmingly focused on building roads - shortchanging funds for freight and passenger rail, bikes, and public transit. Today, while NC spends roughly $4 billion on transportation each year, less than 3% goes to transit. We need new, efficient transportation options, including rail and public transit.

H148, passed by the NC House by a wide margin earlier this year, would set up a state fund to invest in rail and public transit, and would authorize local governments to raise funds to match the state monies. Please send a message by clicking here & get public transit moving in NC!

Take action now!

I am very excited to report that I finally got a chance to try out Raleigh's new R-LINE bus system. Besides being a quick and easy way to get around downtown (while also supporting mass-transit), the buses are hybrid electric--thus, environmentally friendly!

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I tried them out--bar hopping around downtown Raleigh. The buses came frequently, and we didn't have to wait long at all at the stops. They are clean and well-lit AND they make you feel like you live in a "real" city (ha!)

I encourage any Raleigh-ites or Raleigh visitors to check out the R-LINE as soon as you can. The buses run during the day as well, so they're perfect for visiting museums, restaurants, other places of business, and, of course, the legislative complex.

I'd love to hear about other people's experiences on the R-LINE, so let us know!

Have folks heard about this whole community bikes phenomenon? They are programs that cities and universities have set up to provide environmentally-friendly urban transportation on a free or low-cost basis. Bikes are put at hubs throughout the city/campus, and members of the community bikes program can use the bikes to take them anywhere throughout the city! Repairs and general upkeep are usually done by volunteers, and bikes are protected from being stolen because they are usually painted all one color--reducing the bike's retail value. I've included some links below of similar programs in the US, and here in NC, but also be sure to check out how to start your own community bikes program.  Happy cycling!

• Carrboro (NC) The ReCYCLEry

• Greensboro (NC) Bike Me! Collective

• Raleigh (NC) 1304 Bikes

• Austin (TX) Yellow Bike Project

• Vassar College (NY) Shared Bike Program

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post asking our readers to give their thoughts on passenger rail (namely, Amtrak). I got some great responses, and as a result, decided to take a trip of my own to try it out. Thus, this past weekend my boyfriend and I took the train to visit my parents in Charlotte.

The way down to Charlotte was a bit frustrating. We rode the Carolinian (which travels from Charlotte to New York and back), and it was running 1.5 hours late! Once we boarded the train, we were surprised to find out there were no reserved seats...so we couldn't find two seats together because the train was so full (luckily, one lady offered to move so we could sit together). The train itself seemed a little worn down, but I imagine after trekking up to New York and back hundreds of time, weather and foot traffic is bound to take its toll. We loved the extra foot room (as opposed to in a plane), the snack car (hooray!), and the ability to get up and walk around a bit.

Since we got off to such a late start, it was almost dark outside by the time we left the station, so I couldn't see much of scenic North Carolina from the window. However, it was great being able to use time on the train to do whatever I wanted. We were supposed to arrive in Charlotte at 8:15pm, but because of the train delay and of the various stops along the way, we didn't arrive until 10:45pm. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed, but we managed to find my parents, load up, and drive back to their place. [As a side note, I was originally hoping that Charlotte's new Lynx would be connected to the Amtrak station so that we could get even closer to my parent's house without having them drive clear uptown, but the Lynx hasn't expanded that far yet—hopefully they will soon as it has been very popular.]

After a great weekend, we headed back to Raleigh on Sunday. In contrast, the trip home was way better than the trip out on Friday. We rode the Piedmont route, which just goes from Raleigh to Charlotte and back. The train was right on time, had very quick stops, and still had a snack car (hooray again!) Because we left early enough, we were able to look out the window at the small towns of North Carolina as we rode by. We arrived on-time back in Raleigh (Cary, actually), and marveled at how great everything was.

So, in response to my questions posed originally in the post a few weeks ago, here are my thoughts (which are very similar to those responses from the previous post):

• Are train schedules fairly reliable? Seems like some are more than others. You can check online before leaving for the station to see if the train has been delayed. The bottom line is that public transit still needs some improvement as far as efficiency is concerned, but the more folks that ride, the more money will be invested to improve things.

• Is the extra time worth it, compared to driving or flying? Well, considering driving often puts you in frustrating traffic, and flying is getting more and more time consuming with security and runway delays, I think the extra time of riding a train would often be worth it—especially since it's free time to work, read, knit, talk (you can use cell phones), meet new people, watch a movie on your laptop, etc.

• As far as getting motion-sick, which is least offensive: flying or riding the train? We took Dramamine on the way down, just in case. But we really didn't need it (we didn't take anything on the way back and were fine). There's not really a whole lot of jerking around, and no "belly flops" like in an airplane, so it worked out very well.

• Is there a high cost to park your car at the station? Is it safe there? We parked in the Cary lot; my car was safe and parking was free.

• Are the trains clean and comfortable? I would say they were "clean enough." The bathrooms weren't so great, but I'm sure it's very hard to keep tiny bathrooms on a train clean! The seats seemed just fine.

• How much room does each person have? More room than on an airplane! Plus, you can walk up to the snack car and sit at tables if you want. You have much more freedom to move around.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience, and definitely plan to do it again sometime. The price was certainly right, and I really enjoyed not having to stop for gas, or deal with traffic, or not get sleepy...all the things I worry about when driving. The Amtrak staff were very friendly and helpful. Plus, I felt good about taking a step to reduce my carbon footprint. Many other people must be thinking the same thing because there were definitely more people on the train than I would have guessed.

So try it for yourself—take the train and let us know what you think!

With more and more of my money going to fuel, I've been trying to get a bit more creative when traveling to nearby states. Riding with folks and splitting costs is a great option--but not always practical (I'm not sure how many of my friends would actually want to join me on a 3-day trip to western Pennsylvania to visit my relatives, although my family is great!)

Air travel is ok, but, again, you've got rising fuel costs causing inflated ticket prices, and a backed-up system that seems to always include flight delays, long wait times on the runway, and, of course, an eternity just to get through security.

Recently, I've started seriously looking into traveling by train--it seems cheaper, it's better for the environment, and the extra time that it takes to travel that way seems worth it, just to reduce my traveling frustrations.

Amtrak offers some great routes to major cities in the US, and their prices are quite good. In the next few months, I'm going to schedule a train trip and report back here on my experience. For now, I'd love to hear some feedback on other people's experiences with train travel. Here are some of my questions (related to Amtrak trains specifically):

• Are train schedules fairly reliable?
• Is the extra time worth it, compared to driving or flying?
• As far as getting motion-sick, which is least offensive: flying or riding the train?
• Is there a high cost to park your car at the station? Is it safe there?
• Are the trains clean and comfortable?
• How much room does each person have?
• What are some good resources for information about trains' impact on the environment?
  

No, seriously.

Some of you may remember this - as Jack Nicholson was a big time promoter.

On a CBC Marketplace airing in 1978, Jack Nicholson made news by advertising a potentially pollution-free fuel for cars. The fuel: hydrogen produced by solar power. The automobile: a standard Chevy with a standard engine. The emissions: steam (Jack suggests using the emissions for a steam bath). Pollutants are negligible and there's no risk of explosion. And, check it out - Jack made the car go in drive and reverse.

There are definitely other stories of oil-free cars out there. Anyone see the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?

Help us educate ourselves and share your fun and truth-telling links, by commenting to this blog.

A few months ago, I read a fascinating (and troubling) report from a panel of American transportation professionals who visited China in September 2007.   While there, they met with Chinese national, regional, and local officials and business leaders, and toured a number of ports and other facilities to see how goods are being transported (and exported) in the Chinese economy.  The report is available from the Transportation Research Board. 

Some of the American panel’s conclusions include: that China expects to continue growing rapidly; that China has a national strategy for the transportation, including freight; and that China’s highly centralized state power has made it easier for the nation to build projects rapidly, without getting derailed by such concerns as environmental impacts. 

Travel can broaden the mind; it can also reinforce what one was predisposed to believe.  In that regard, one of the panel’s most telling comments is this statement:

"There was a strong perception that the United States lacks the political will to invest in infrastructure and could not deliver needed investments in infrastructure in a timely manner even if desired. China is viewed as being very proactive with respect to infrastructure provision by building for the future and clearly stating in their strategic plans what will be built and when; the United States is perceived as being very reactive."

The panel report also offers some practical insights – the US has a strong advantage in our rail network; US port capacity, rather than foreign port capacity, is the key drag on volume of imports into the US; widening of the Panama Canal is likely to increase pressure on already strained East Coast ports. 

Largely overlooked by the panel is the enormous price China is paying – in ecological and human health and social instability – for prioritizing engagement in global markets above sustainability.  The report omits any discussion of the likely impacts of climate change regulation.  That’s a striking gap, since the massive increases in truck, rail, and shipping imagined by the panel aren’t reconcilable with the reality of massive carbon reductions.  It seems to us that there’s a strong argument for United States to adopt a coherent national freight transportation strategy – it will take a proactive strategy to keep the current level of goods moving at much lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions – but the vision of rapidly ever-expanding volumes of freight, with bigger cargo ships, busier ports, more diesel trucks, and many more roads, is nuts.

Last week, WakeUP Wake County (an affiliate of the NC Conservation Network) hosted a public forum on transit titled, Transit: Is Wake County Ready for It? The event was a huge success: 300 folks in attendance including many elected officials and top-level Raleigh city planners and tons of media coverage, both before and after the event.

The overall tone of the event was clear - Wake County is ready for transit. To see for yourself, click here to watch the entire event. But, there are some hang ups - specifically funding a large-scale transit project and getting the project up and running in a timely fashion (on average, it could take seven years from start to finish).

Charlotte passed a 1/2 cent sales tax in the late 1990's to begin its light-rail project (thanks to special authority granted to the city by the state legislature). Now that it's up and running, the only complaints Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials are hearing are that individuals want more trains and more rail lines.

Meanwhile, Raleigh is waiting its turn for the state legislature to grant it special authority to pass a 1/2 cent sales tax for public transportation projects. However, the bill is on shaky ground and may not pass in the 2008 short session.

My concern is this: at the rate at which it is taking us to approve a comprehensive transit plan coupled with how fast the Triangle is expected to grow (an additional 1,000,000 people in the next 20-30 years) we could end up doing too little, too late.

So, what do you think? Is Wake County ready for transit? And, if so, how do we go about funding the project?

With the completion of I-540 westward, NC will likely get its first toll road, in large part due to the lobbying force of the NC Turnpike Authority – a division of the NC Department of Transportation (NC DOT). It seems that the “good roads state” continues to be committed to building new roads, even in the face of skyrocketing construction (see #4 here) and fuel costs (over $4/gallon).

To get our first toll road, it will take an act of the NC Legislature (because toll roads, contrary to what you might assume, don’t pay for themselves). And, last week the NC House gave the green light for funding of the construction of a new six-lane toll road: the Triangle Expressway. In the face of a budget crunch, you might ask yourself ‘where are they going to get this money?’ In short, the House has proposed transferring $25 million from the General Fund to the NC Turnpike Authority, so it can quickly build the Triangle Expressway. In recent years, this $25 million has funded education, crime prevention, human services, and more. In the face of rising transportation and fuel costs, this appropriated money will still not cover the costs of building this toll road. Compile this fact with the new knowledge that data used to base cost estimates for the Triangle Expressway are out-of-date, and you inevitably create a black (pot) hole for taxpayer dollars.

While many have been frustrated by how I-540 dead-ends (including those of us who vow to stay inside the beltline), one has to wonder if it makes sense for the completion of this loop to be made into a toll road. And, does it make sense for NC to continue funneling money into new road projects, rather then maintaining the current infrastructure we have? Especially in light of the recurring problems and criticism the DOT has faced.

For all of the problems toll roads (and new roads in general) bring, it seems like a good idea for North Carolina leaders to take some time to think about how we can continue to travel sustainably, without wasting tax payer money and killing our small towns.