Whether or not you utilize it as a mode of commuting, pretty much everyone walks around during winter.* When the roads are covered with fresh precipitation, my money’s on walking as the safest mode of transport. If I wipe out, I may end up with a few bruises, but I find each and every one of them far preferable to the fallout of a car accident.

A walk in the park isn’t always just that, however, especially when the temperature is well below freezing and the sidewalks are iced over, as is wont to happen around here. The key to dressing for success in cold weather is using layers. You’re going to want three basic layers on your trunk:

1. The Base Layer is right up against your skin. It’s hopefully something that can wick away moisture, so you don’t get all clammy when you inevitably sweat a little.
2. The Insulating Layer is something like wool or polar fleece that keeps your body heat close to you. Vests are good for this. This is probably the layer you’re going to ditch if you start getting overheated.
3. The Delicious Candy Shell is the outside layer that is wind- and water-resistant, keeping the two inner layers free from all of the sneaky snow and rain that try to get close to you. No means no, weather water.

Don’t be afraid to wear two pairs of pants if you need to, even if it makes Tim Gunn do this:

As for learning about hats and gloves and socks and shoes and the like, this site is chock full of great information. I’m just going to say that wool socks are one of my true loves in this life, and if I could, I would buy the world a pair.

There are many great local shops for your wintery needs, and I’m going to mention two of them. First, Sam’s on Liberty, because they have an amazing selection of wool socks (it’s incredible!) and also because they have a great stock of mittens and hats and all other sorts of winter accessories.

Second, there’s Footprints on S. Main St, and I’m mentioning them for two reasons. One, you can buy waterproofing spray for your shoes, which is always useful, and even better, they carry YAKTRAX, which are one of the greatest inventions known to winter walkers. Yaktrax are little rubbery web-like thingies that you slip right over your shoes. They mostly go over the soles, and presto! instant added traction. They come in two models, the “walker” and the “pro,” and Footprints carries both, retailing for around $26.

Finally, here’s a little bit of bonus information. From wikihow, How to Stay Warm at Home Without a Heater. 17 tips that will help you keep your house warm for cheaper, a tiny gift from us to you.

*For the purposes of this blog post, I’m using walking as a general verb meaning “going out and about, traveling from one point to another,” and not specifically invoking using one’s legs. If anyone knows less exclusionary language, please let me know.

When I say bicycling, I bet you think of blue skies and endless fields full of daffodils and Kermit in The Muppet Movie. If I were to say “bicycling” and “winter” in the same sentence, however, many of you would say to me, “Courtney, my soul has just shriveled up and fallen off, and now I am a soulless, soulless, blog reader who does not even want to think of bicycling past the month of September.”

Why do you feel this way? Let us review.

• Misconception #1: Biking in winter weather is dangerous
  It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. The key to biking in winter is realizing that you do not, in fact, have to bike every day. Your first mental image may be of you pedaling away in 30 mph winds that are insouciantly tossing flecks of hail up your nose. But most days of winter aren’t actually this bad. There may be snow on the ground, but the snow has been plowed off of the places where you are biking. There may be wind, but not blizzard conditions. Try to get out as many days as you can, and you may surprise yourself. Set a small goal, like biking just five days a month this winter, and next winter you may actually look forward to it! Or at least not cry at the thought. Really, most of the trick is just dressing in a manner that fends off the lower temperatures but still allows you to exert yourself. Which brings me to our second point,
• #2: Biking in winter is coooooooold
  If you’re not dressed properly, then yes, it is very cold. Think of it like a job interview—it’s only terribly awkward and uncomfortable if you’re unprepared and wearing too little clothing.One of the biggest and best winter bike websites around is Chicago Bike Winter, and they have two great pages about this subject: Get Layered! Dressing for Winter Cycling, and Thrifty Bike Clothing, which will help you do it on a budget. The main trick, as you may have guessed, is wearing lots of layers, with light and moisture-wicking undergarments and wind- and water-resistant outer layers. Especially mind your hands and feet, as they’re far away from your heart and difficult for your circulatory system to heat, and your face, as it’s how you make a living.
• #3: You need lots of special gear to bike in winter
  Not really. The salt from the roads and the wetness of winter weather isn’t the greatest for your bike, but with a little maintenance, you can keep things running smoothly. Especially if you have a steel frame, be sure to towel it down after each ride, and keep up with oiling your chain and any other parts that may need it. For more specifics, Chicago Bike Winter again has a great page full of helpful information. You can always swing by a local bike shop and get a winter tune up, too, just like many folks do with their cars.

Really, I do not think it is necessary that you feel apprehensive about biking in winter. It can be just as enjoyable and fulfilling as bicycling in summer. Do you go sledding in winter? Then you can bike in winter. Just be sure to bookend either experience with lots of hot cocoa.

I don’t know about you, but my biggest fear during winter isn’t frostbite, or hypothermia, or meeting an abominable snowman in the supermarket, but rather driving! through! snow! Before I lived in Michigan, I lived in the sunny land of Texas, where I once got three consecutive paid days off work because there was ICE. Not even a lot of ice, but enough ice that the roads were a little slippery, and there were no ploughs to be had in the Lonestar State. That was a-okay with me. Then I moved to Michigan, where coasting around on top of snow is practically the state sport. I still don’t like driving on snow, but miraculously, bus drivers are more than happy enough to do it for me.

The salt and slush on roads isn’t the greatest for your car, and like me, you may have a moderately-to-deep-seated fear of driving around in inclement conditions. Additionally, it’s not always fun to tromp around in the winter wonderland, and the warm inside of a bus can be its own cozy little Valhalla.

One catch is that occasionally ploughed snow is piled up right on your bus stop. Here are a few tips from the AATA itself for catching and riding the bus in winter weather:

During these difficult weather situations, contact AATA using RideTrak from your web-enabled phone or PDA at mobile.TheRide.org, visit www.TheRide.org, or call 734.973.6500 to find out whether your bus is running on schedule.

Winter snow storms can also result in large piles of snow at our bus stops. The AATA maintenance crew clears snow from stops with shelters and other stops where 50 or more passengers board daily, but must rely on property owners to clear snow from the remainder of the 1,500 bus stops throughout our transit system area.

Because AATA has the utmost concern for your safety, we ask that you wait at the nearest cleared area, such as a driveway, if the bus stop is unsafe due to snow or ice. Wave at the driver when you wish to board.

If you find that snow has not been cleared from required areas, you may call the city’s Transportation Division at 734.994.2818.

Additionally, here are the routes that are typically detoured during bad weather:

Route 4 Washtenaw
No Service to Medford/Manchester

Route 13 Newport
No Service North of M-14

Route 14 Geddes-E. Stadium
No Service on Geddes, Arlington, Devonshire or Overridge

Did you know that driving is one of the great American pastimes? If not, then perhaps you are completely removed from popular culture (Are you familiar with the device known as a television? Have you ever used the internet before? No? Welcome to the internet! You can do anything on the internet! Like immerse yourself in popular culture. You might want to get a helmet).

We residents of the USA love driving, and we sure love the good ol’ morning commute. Especially during a Michigan winter. Many of us love it as much as we love food poisoning, or getting kicked in the stomach.

(You there! This is called sarcasm. Again with the getting a helmet.)

Where was I? Oh yes. The morning commute. During winter it is especially not fun, but there are precautions you can take to make it safer and easier, if not enjoyable.

First, I’m going to mention carpooling, because, in the spirit of transparency, we’re getDowntown and we want you to commute in the most sustainable, pleasant way possible. If you live in Michigan, you should click on over to MIRideshare.org. It’s like match.com for your commute. You can find someone that lives near and works near you, and instead of driving to work five days a week, you’re down to driving one or two and spending more time gazing sedately out the window and thinking about all of the money you’re saving on gas. Doesn’t that sound lovely? The answer is yes.

Whether or not carpooling is an option for you, there are important car-related tasks that are a good idea for someone planning on driving around Michigan during this season we call winter. I think we may need bullet points to discuss them.

• First, be sure to keep a few good men blankets in the trunk of your car, in case (goodness forbid) something happens and you’re stranded somewhere cold. A single candle lit (with the help of some waterproof matches) inside of a car can also keep you warm for a good long time, but be sure to leave a window cracked.
• Get your car serviced for winter. The Weather Channel’s weather.com has some great tips on what this involves.
• Finally, here and here are some good tips on the actual practice of driving during winter conditions.

Please be safe and careful! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of not crashing your car.

On their Long Range Transportation Plan Blog, the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study is asking citizens to post comments on congested roads in Washtenaw County.  So if you find yourself stuck in traffic . . . again on a particular road please take some time to provide some feedback to WATS so perhaps they can make the sitatuation better.

You can learn more about making a comment about congested roads here: Congestion Deficiencies

As part of the construction of the new Ann Arbor Municiple Center (the Courts/Police Building), Ann Street is going to become a one way street with angled parking with back-in spaces and a bike lane.

To read more about this project, you can check out this press release from the City of Ann Arbor.

I’ve been working on summarizing some of the getDowntown Program’s Accomplishments in the last year.  In case you are interested in what we’ve been up to, you can check it out here.

With titles like “Public transit users save money . . . but deal with more crap” you know it has to be good.

It’s the College Commuter Blog, written by Lisa, who goes to school in Pittsburgh, PA.

The blog might be a little more down on Public Transit than I would like, but at least it’s real.

This just in,

The AATA is going to be the authority for the WALLY (North-South) Commuter Rail Project.  This is a project that could actually happen in the near future.

My opinion, in case you are wondering, is that this is definitely a good step forward in creating a comprehensive transportation system for Washtenaw County.  It helps if you think of WALLY as a piece of a larger puzzle rather than just a stand alone project.  For an idea of how WALLY fits in with other transportation projects, check out the Ann Arbor Transportation Plan.

Basically, the idea is that WALLY will help connect people to Ann Arbor from the North and South while the proposed East West Line will connect people to Detroit and hopefully Metro Airport.  Then, while people are in Ann Arbor (and Washtenaw County) there will be express buses and possibly a streetcar or light rail to get people around.  For more on the Washtenaw County Plan, check out the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study website.

Here’s what the AATA has to say about the whole WALLY thing:

AATA agrees to become the authority for the WALLY commuter rail project

ANN ARBOR, MI –Responding to requests from local and county officials, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) board of directors has approved a resolution agreeing to serve as the designated authority for the WALLY commuter rail project.

The proposed commuter rail service is expected to operate between Ann Arbor and Howell along the Great Lakes Central Railroad lines.

According to Board Chair David Nacht, “AATA is committed to putting forward a serious effort to obtain federal funds to make this idea a reality.  We handle over 5 million trips per year.  We are honored to be entrusted with establishing the first commuter train service in Ann Arbor in decades.”

U.S. Congressman John Dingell previously told members of the coalition that a designated authority eligible to receive state and federal funding is needed in order to request funds for the project.

The resolution authorizes AATA to serve as the designated authority for the WALLY project, and it will also allow AATA to complete the necessary environmental assessments to fulfill federal and state regulations.

Ted Annis, chair of the board’s Planning and Development Committee, said, “A considerable amount of work will need to be done before this rail service can begin, including negotiation of agreements and funding for equipment purchase, capital improvements to tracks and equipment, station construction and the operation of service.

Various sources of grant funding for capital expenses are potentially available; however, the service will require operating funds, some or all of which will need to come from local sources, in addition to passenger fares.”

Insurance and regulatory compliance are other areas that will need to be addressed.

In terms of a timeline for the project, an evaluation study conducted by R.L. Banks and Associates, a leading passenger rail consulting firm, concluded that, under optimistic circumstances, service on the commuter rail system might be initiated within a 16-month period, but that the course of the timeline is “highly subject to change, depending upon priorities, ease/difficulty in obtaining funding and in decisions by other parties beyond WALLY’s control.”

The WALLY Coalition, which has been working on the project for more than two years, includes representatives from the cities of Ann Arbor and Howell, Washtenaw and Livingston counties, the University of Michigan, WATS, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Northfield and Hamburg townships, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, Washtenaw Community College, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, local Chambers of Commerce, AATA and other interested groups and individuals from throughout the WALLY proposed service area.

Just in time for Halloween, Wired has this story on Mutant Bikes.  Creepy, huh?