Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Ann Arbor, MI

Wear Green to Support Green Commuting

On Monday, May 3rd, kick off the Commuter Challenge in style and show your support for Green Commuting by wearing green.  For a super-easy way to support Green Commuting, pick up a Green “I participate in the Challenge” button from the getDowntown Offices (518 E. Washington, across from the First United Methodist Church).

Win Prizes During Green Commute Day

Submit a photo of yourself and/or your friends, neighbors or co-workers on Green Commute Day to info@getdowntown.org by 5pm on Monday, May 3rd and you could win a prize.

We will post all of the eligible photos on Tuesday, May 4th on the getDowntown Facebook Page as well as AnnArbor.Com and have you vote for your favorite.

Eligible Photos have the names of the people pictured in the photo.   The people in the photo must be wearing green.  Photos must be submitted to info@getdowntown.org by 5pm on May 3rd.

Winners get the following prizes:

First Place: A $5 Coffee gift cards from the downtown coffee shop of your choice, a free Commuting Ambassador T-shirt and an eco-friendly getDowntown Pen for everyone pictured in the photo.

Second Place: A getDowntown Chico bag, a free Commuting Ambassador T-shirt and an eco-friendly getDowntown Pen for everyone pictured in the photo.

Third Place: A free Commuting Ambassador T-shirt and an eco-friendly getDowntown Pen for everyone pictured in the photo.

Old way: Driving to work, hunting for parking, paying for parking, whew. . .
New way: Relaxing on the bus, free parking, whoohoo!

Try something new: become a Zipcar Ann Arbor member today.

Special new member promotion: Free Water Bottle

Become a Zipcar Ann Arbor Member between now and March 2010 and you’ll get a free Zipcar water bottle! These are large metal water bottles that will have you sipping in style. Offer only valid if you become a member of Zipcar Ann Arbor at zipcar.com/annarbor.

To get your free water bottle, become a Zipcar member at www.zipcar.com/annarbor and email us at info@getdowntown.org to let us know why you signed up.

Our first interview is with Bonnie Valentine, Business Lead, the Whole Brain Group.  The Whole Brain Group is a small women-owned business that provides custom web-based software for a variety of clients from academic institutions to hospitals.  The Whole Brain Group is based in downtown Ann Arbor.

Now, on with the interview . . .

Leading by Example: Bonnie Valentine, Business Lead, the Whole Brain Group.

getDowntown (gDt): Do you try to walk, bike, bus, carpool etc to work?
Bonnie Valentine (BV): My primary methods of transportation are a combination of walking and  the bus.  However, once I reach my downtown office I’ll carpool with  co-workers to meetings or events outside of downtown limits.

gDt: Why is  sustainable commuting important to you?
BV: My reasons for walking and using the bus to commute are many.  Most important to me is reducing my carbon footprint and setting an example to others that an automobile isn’t necessarily the answer for
transportation.

gDt:  What do you do to encourage others at your workplace to try biking, busing, walking, etc?
BV: Continue talking about my personal experiences from meeting other’s  during my commute.  Remind them of my dollar savings from reducing the  need of a second family car, insurance, gas, less parking tickets and  monthly parking expense.  Lead by example in working from home -  telecommuting – a couple days of week.

gDt:  Have all of the different transportation options there are to get to downtown benefited your employees and/or your business?  If so, how so?  If not, why not?
BV: The bus has assisted our employees getting to and from the Ann Arbor Office  on 5th Avenue/Washington.  In the past we had an employee that  commuted from Chelsea using the Chelsea Express Bus.  Many employees
telecommute – one employee from New York – and we use conference  phone, online tools (documents, chat, presentation) not only with employees, but clients on our national roster saving cost on air transportation.

gDt: What would be the single best thing that downtown Ann Arbor could do to make it easier for people to get downtown by biking, walking, busing, etc.?
BV: It would be great if the downtown A2 would create a partnership with a  local gym facility for biking commuters requiring a shower and  clothing change.  Possibly a discount or flash your pass to gain
access to showers and lockers at YMCA, UM, or other gyms.  My co-workers and I have biked in the past.  Our main hang up for not  continuing via bike transportation is due to our offices not having  showers.  It is hard to sit across from a client after an aerobic work- out.

gDt: What do you hear from your employees about what they would like to see related to commuting to work in downtown Ann Arbor?
BV: The Zipcar fleet was a nice addition, but the main issue continues to be parking downtown.  We can walk to a meeting location faster than signing up for Zipcar and then finding and paying for parking for
shuttling between client meetings.

gDt: What is the best thing about having your business downtown?
BV: The best thing about having a downtown office is the close proximity  to clients and networking events.  In addition, our office is the central meeting point for all employees.  We have employees from Yspilanti, Ann Arbor, and Dexter.

gDt: What would you like to see happen downtown in the next 10 years?
In the next ten years, I’d like to see a mass transit plan implemented with connections from downtown to access outside the City Limits of  Ann Arbor.  Including transportation hooks to move people across the townships of Ann Arbor into the current bus routes of downtown Ann Arbor.  Increase bus access moving across town on the edges of city limits via bus services without going downtown through the bus depot i.e. North Campus Plymouth Road to Arborland.

Possibly, have the AATA and AAPS work together to provide adequate transportation services to middle and high school (not elementary school) students access to school via public transportation methods.  Finally, I’d like delivery
vehicles which idle in the downtown streets and alleys be electric or a form of non-petro fuel to further reduce pollution and carbon.

gDt: What is one thing the getDowntown Program could do to help your employees with getting to work by busing, biking, walking etc?
BV: The getDowntown May Commuter Challenge is a great motivator to get employees using different methods of transportation.  Usually habits are formed after the 30 days that create lasting effects.  Maybe add
another Commuter Challenge against another town similar in size.

gDt: Any advice or words of wisdom for new businesses moving into downtown Ann Arbor?
BV: Words of advice for new businesses moving into downtown A2 are to consider incentives for employees to commute.  New employees generally look to receive compensation for having to pay for their parking downtown.  The employer can offer an incentive to employees who commute to by providing them a stipend for curbing their car.   Employers can offer telecommuting on certain days of the week.

I just attended a session on the relationship between land use and transportation demand management.

While a lot of the information in the presentation is probably old hat to many planners out there, it was new to me.

First thing discussed were the three D’s of Good Land Use:

1. Density (height of buildings, closeness of buildings, etc)
2. Diversity (of uses)
3. Design

Of those 3, it’s Density that is most contentious in our community.  A contingent of people in Ann Arbor (and in many places) equate density with what could be called the 3 C’s: Cars (or Congestion), Crime and Crud.

But here’s the thing, if you look at the relative impact of density it’s often the case that as density increases, private auto use decreases.  In other words, the closer that people are to where they want to go, the less people will drive.  And the more density we have, the better the potential for robust public transit.

This makes a lot of sense and why I would say I am an advocate for density.

But again, here’s the thing.  Density does not have to mean 50 story buildings or high crime or any of that stuff.  Density can create a walkable community where people don’t have to spend time in traffic, and look good and have buildings that are high, but not insane.  And I think for most people, that’s a good thing.

And yet, there are people in our community that do not trust developers and believe that if we allow our community to grow and allow density it will contribute to the deterioration of what we love about Ann Arbor.  I don;t blame them for being wary.  We’ve have some unfortunate developments proposed of late.

From my perspective, it’s obvious we have to understand that density is just a piece of the puzzle and diversity and design must also factor into the picture.  But I also can’t deny that if we had more density in our community that would mean less people would have to drive, which has great implications for the environment and for our quality of life.  And the work that I do to encourage people to try sustainable options instead of driving goes hand in hand with land use.  If there was someone at the front door of an office building on the day new workers filed it, there is a much greater likelihood that many of those workers will try other ways to get to work (especially if they get a free transit pass and don’t get their parking subsidized).   More density can certainly mean less cars if there is a conceited effort to incorporate transportation demand management into the development.  It’s worked in other communities.  It can work in our community.

While I don’t think cars are ever going to go away, I also don’t think that cars are always the best way for us to get around.  I want us to find ways to create a community where we can have more and better options and enough affordable housing so that people can live close to where they work.

And perhaps this is the most mystifying part of this debate.  Does anyone really just want to create high-rise buildings that will destroy our community?  I don’t think so.  Does anyone want to stamp out any effort to make our community for transit and walk/bike friendly?  Probably not.  While developers obviously want to make money on a project, they are not inherently evil and I would like to give them a chance to invigorate some parts of our community that are currently very suburban.

So let’s try to see density as just one way to get to a larger goal.  If we want to attract talent.  If we want to allow people to live close to where they work.  If we want to cut down on congestion and make environmental gains we must use the tools that will get us there.  Density might be one of them.  Design and Diversity are two others.  Transportation Demand Management plays a role.  As does public input.

Maybe we need to focus on creating (or enhancing) our community to make it more livable rather than get into the density vs. no-density debate.  Because I think we all want the same thing.  It’s just the words that can get in the way.

I admit it.  I’m a bit of a zealot.  I haven’t driven a car since 2002, so the Commuter Challenge isn’t really a challenge for me.  Instead it’s a chance for me to keep on doing what I normally do, and get points for it, and to tell people why they should be doing this great thing!

I love my commute!  How many people can say that?  I have a two part commute.  First I take the bus downtown, about a 25 minute ride, and then I walk the rest of the way, about a 15 minute walk.  I could take the bus all the way to work, but I like walking.  In the evening I just walk downtown and catch the bus home.

It’s perfect.  The walk gives me time to clear my head and get some exercise, and see things up close.  I can look at gardens and watch animals and look at all the great public art around town.  (One day I’ll take photos of all my favorite Ann Arbor public art to put on my blog, but so far I’ve been procrastinating…)

I love the bus for a lot of reasons, but the best thing about it for me is that it gives me time to knit.  There’s never enough time to do everything I want.  (I really could use a 48 hour day!)  I wish I had a lot more time to knit.  But twice a day AATA is kind enough to give me 25 minutes to knit.  The gift of time!  It is sweet!  And I relish it!

Ok, not everyone’s a knitter.  But a lot of people read on the bus, or study or do other things.  The point is, it’s free time! When you’re driving a car, all you can do is drive.  That’s all you should be doing anyway.  Yes, we’ve all seen people talking on the phone/eating/putting on mascara while driving, but that’s not safe.  Driving is not free time, and drivers who treat it as such are more likely to crash into something.

But you know what?  If you’re in another car and some idiot driver crashes into you, you’re likely to be hurt.  If you’re in a bus and an idiot driver crashes into the bus?  Ha.  Idiot driver’s going to get hurt, but you’re not.  So safety is another advantage of the bus.

And frankly I just didn’t enjoy driving.  I found it to be very stressful, always having to deal with other drivers cutting me off, not letting me merge, tailgating, and of course dealing with bad weather, poor visibility, bad road conditions, having to take time to put gas in the car and get oil changes, and the expense of the gas and the maintenance and the insurance and the registration and the constant repairs, always at least $300 (sure, the car was paid for, but I was still spending how much?).  It is so much easier (and cheaper!) to just take the bus.  Now I just leave the driving to the professionals and I have no stress.  If there’s a mechanical problem, another bus comes and we just get on that one.  Someone else takes care of all of the details, all of the problems.  Because really, all I want out of my transportation is something to get me from Point A to Point B.  I don’t want to deal with all of the stuff required to make it happen.

What first motivated me to stop driving years ago was when one day it just occurred to me while I was driving that I was contributing to air pollution.  It wasn’t just a vague, nebulous “cars” that were causing air pollution.  If I was driving a car, I was polluting.  Me.  Personally.  I was contributing to rising asthma and cancer rates.  Once I realized that, I just couldn’t keep driving.  The cognitive dissonance was getting too loud.  So I stopped driving.

I really enjoy life so much more without the car though.  I didn’t “give up” my car.  I found a better way to live.

The online magazine Concentrate just produced this wonderful video showcasing a couple of Ann Arbor businesses (Quinn Evans Architects, Google, JSTOR) along with some great footage of Ann Arbor Commuters and some info on the Commuter Challenge.  Click on the video above to watch.

At the April 1st DDA Meeting, the DDA approved funding for two types of bike parking downtown:

1. When the downtown parking meters are converted to paystations, the DDA will install posts at each parking space to designate the space.  Where appropriate, these posts will have a hoop attached to them to allow for secure bike parking.
2. The DDA also approved putting in temporary racks at on-street parking spaces in several locations downtown (including close to Arbor Brewing Company and the People’s Food Co-op).  These racks will have the added benefit of demonstrating that cyclists should be on the street and should free up some sidewalk space where bikes have been parking.

For complete information on these exciting developments, please check out the article in the Ann Arbor Chronicle about the DDA Meeting.

Example of on street bike parking

The basic idea behind Green Garage is creating a sustainable space in Detroit to provide a space to create the green collar jobs of the future.

From their website:

A new spin-off project of Great Lakes Green Initiative has emerged and we are tentatively calling it the Green Garage. Think “silicon valley garage” focused on building world class skills for the “green collar” jobs and sustainability-based service and product businesses of the future. It will link the next generation of this region to what will likely be the most important work of their generation…that is, making our way of life more sustainable.

We have purchased a great old building in the Midtown area of Detroit, Michigan. This building had most recently been used as a warehouse, but in the 1920′s it was a showroom for Model T-based automobiles, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the next year, we are planning on doing an green renovation of it, while keeping true to its historic origins. The Green Garage Project launched in September 2008.

They are calling me because they are looking to integrate sustainable transportation options for their tenants into this design.  I am defintely looking to take a field trip there at some point.

This document has the following info:

• Transportation accounts for 28% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  60% of these emissions comes from cars, pick-ups, and SUVs.
• Car transportation alone accounts for 47% of the carbon footprint for a typical American family.
• The most environmentally-friendly motorized transportation options are heavy rail and vanpools at average occupancy.
• 40 passenger buses produce the smallest amount of Greenhouse Gas emissions over their full life cycle, as compared to cars, pickups, trains, SUVs and smaller buses.
• The average car produces a little under 1 pound of CO2 per passenger mile.

Read all about it here.

Reelights are daylight running lights for bicycles. With Reelight, you always have lights on your bike – day and night! The permanently fitted magnet lights flash when the wheels rotate and therefore work without any batteries.

You install a couple of magnets on your spokes, the light on your hub, and they’re powered magnetically by the spinning motion. This means that you don’t have to worry about replacing batteries, and they take long enough to remove that they’re much less likely to be stolen than handlebar-mounted lights. Not quite bright enough to be headlights, but enough to greatly improve your visibility. The front light is white, and the rear light is red, just like our automotive brethren.

The most basic model, the SL100, flashes as you pedal, while the top-of-the-line SL150 has a steady beam. A few different independent bike shops in the US carry them (I got mine from Niagara Cycle Works, via mail order), though your Local Bike Shop can probably order them.

For the extra-curious, here’s a youtube video demonstrating a rear light.