FYI:
The City of Ypsilanti is developing a non-motorized plan and there is a great opportunity tomorrow for public input. All are invited.
Public Meeting about Ypsi non-motorized transportation plan
Thursday, July 30
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
City Council Chambers
City Hall, 1 South Huron Street, Ypsilanti
P.S. If you go and are so inclined, email us a report at info@getdowntown.org and we might post it on our blog.
When I read this Commuter Challenge Success Story, I was really blown away. Ines works at the US EPA on Plymouth and explains in this story how the Commuter Challenge got her on her bike for the spring, summer, and even the fall.
Read Ines’ story to find out how she went from 0-1,000 miles as a result of the Commuter Challenge:
The Commuter Challenge made a big difference in my life and completely changed my outlook at using alternate modes of transportation. After the Challenge last year, I continued biking until November and put 1000 miles in my bike (most of these miles were commuting miles).
Before this, I have not used a bike in more than 10-12 years and I have never biked to work before (I have worked for the EPA 17 years). I also should mention that I had a bike accident toward the end of the Challenge (end of May). I was biking on a sidewalk and a car pulled out into the sidewalk from a business drive and the car and I crashed pretty bad. I didn’t get any serious injuries, so I was very lucky. I ended up in the emergency room and got a lot of bruises, but nothing major (no broken bones!). Again, I was very, very, lucky. The accident, however, didn’t stop me from continuing using my bike and, as I said before, I continued biking until November. After the accident, I ended up biking more on the street. I feel safer on the road, although I wish we had more bike lanes. My bike from home to work takes me through Packard, which has a bike lane that I really like. Then I usually go through town, through the Broadway bridge and then use the path along Plymouth Road to my destination at EPA.
Also, my husband and I use the bike all the time to go downtown. Sometimes we also walk (depending on how much time we have). I also tried the bus/bike option a couple of times, but realized that I can get to my destination faster if I just bike. We use Packard a lot, which has the bike lane, but additional bike lanes in town will make a big difference. (hint, hint….more bike lanes, please!!!). I should also mention that I ended up using my bike for pretty much everything I did last year from May to November. I did all my errands, grocery shopping, etc.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to starting biking again this year. I did stop during the winter. I have an old, heavy mountain bike and it was getting really hard to bike when it was windy last year. Also, when it started snowing, I didn’t feel safe on the streets. I have been shopping around to see if I should get a newer, lighter bike, especially if I commute to work. Not sure yet if I will change my bike. I recently got smoother (hybrid) tires, which might help a bit with my commute. Another improvement that I’m considering is a better (softer!) seat. Maybe with these minor improvements, I might not need to get a new bike. I really got attached to my old bike! I bet it has something to do with being together on the road for 1000 miles!
With a little bit of planning, I realized that I pretty much could do most of my errands on the bike. I can honestly say that my bike was my primary mode of transportation. I very rarely used the car. I always tried to make it work by biking, whenever I could. It was an amazing feeling to be able to do most of your trips with the bike — a feeling of freedom and independence — it felt so cool to be out there on the bike! I really, really, really enjoyed it — as you can probably tell by now.
Do you have a Commuter Challenge Success Story? Email it to us at info@getdowntown.org
Zipcars are coming to downtown Ann Arbor on March 17th!
True, Ann Arbor is not New York City, but that’s actually a case for why we should have Zipcars. Even though a lot of things are within walking distance in the downtown, getting to a meeting or stocking up at Costco can be a little challenging without a car. But if the car is going to spend most of the time being parked, why not just use it when you need it?
The thing I really like about Zipcars is that I think it will help free people from their cars and possibly get more folks to try using the bus, carpooling or biking to work because they know a car will be available for them to use. Once we get the downtown Zipcars, there will actually be 17 Zipcars in Ann Arbor. That’s a nice number.
I am really excited about having more Zipcars in Ann Arbor and how you are, too.
Yes, at long last, Zipcars will be coming to downtown Ann Arbor . . . soon.
I was just forwarded an interesting email today. It was from SEMCOG and was sent to all of the area Chambers of Commerce.
The email talks about SEMCOG’s Ridesharing site www.mirideshare.org, which is the same site the AATA uses for individuals who want to carpool in this area.
Next, the email goes on to explain that a new for-profit ridesharing service is coming to the area soon with an expensive ad campaign. This service is carbuddy.com
According to the email, carbuddy is looking to charge people to use it’s service while SEMCOG’s service is free. SEMCOG sees Car Buddy as a competitor.
Welcome to the battle of the ridesharing sites.
I actually spoke with the founders of Car Buddy awhile back because they are based here in Ann Arbor. They are interested in operating a ridesharing site as a company and not as service provided by a government entity.
This brings up some interesting questions. Who should be running these sites? What happens when multiple sites are up in a community at once? Who can provide better service, a for-profit or non-profit company?
We’ll see what happens.
The Federal Transit Adminstration recently released a report on Public Transportation’s Role in Climate Change.
This document has the following info:
Zipcars, Segway sharing, and party buses, oh my!
If Ann Arbor is any indication, there is an interesting new trend in private-public transportation afoot in our country. I discuss this idea at length in a recent Arbor Update Post.
Click here to read it: The rise of Public-Private Transportation in a2
