It is a small sized board that was light enough to be pinned to my cubicle wall. It was the statistics tracker for my car-light days.

Since I was sparsely driving my car, I decided to track what I was exactly doing.

• The first line says when I last filled up my gas tank. 14th august had been 26 days since I I updated the board last. I put my car up for sale (link)  in the beginning of October which shows when I stopped updating the board.
• The next line tracks the gallons used since the last fill up. In 26 days, I had driven 143 miles at the rate of 24.5 miles per gallon and used 5.8 gallons.
• I had ridden 923 miles since I started commuting by bike in the end of May 2008. A coworker added “Days ridden in Tropical Storm : 1″ since I rode to work and back on one of the first days of tropical storm Fay hitting us. Riding in strong winds and rain was challenging but I lived just two miles away. That was also the day I did not get honked or yelled at.
• I tracked days that I had not driven the car. This prompted me to question the times I did drive thereby thinking of alternatives. The xtracycle was purchased out of this statistic.
• My goal was to ride atleast 250 miles a month. Below that, I measured the miles I rode each month. Since I stopped tracking by the end of September, I never updated this board.

Discovering this white board brought me back good memories. Those were very passionate days and played a strong role in making me what I am today. It is because of those days, and that whiteboard that I joined forces with Matt at Bikejax and executed a successful bike valet. We are expanding it this weekend due to higher numbers of commuters to the Arts Market.

Last year, I attempted riding on Southside Blvd between Deerwood Park Blvd and Touchton Rd. Twice. Being on the same road as cars traveling at excess of 50 mph seriously questions ones safety. I don’t mean to target Southside but it is the only road within easy reach of me and tends to portray a healthy mix of demography representative of the Jacksonville suburbs. The argument made below with Southside Blvd in perspective may be made for all major connecting roads.

More people start using bicycles as transportation when they have the option to use it to go to a place of business such as movie theaters, restaurants etc. Families prefer to visit such businesses with their family members. Workers such as bartenders, waiting staff, movie theater staff can save more if they incur less car-related expenses: gas, insurance, maintenance.

The map below shows residential neighborhoods in blue, Tinseltown with its movie theaters, bars and restaurants in pink and the direct route in red. The entire length of the red lined route is 4.4 miles, an easy ride.

The speed limit on this stretch is 45 mph. Cars usually travel here at 50 mph to 60 mph. There is some shoulder on this road. It is usually littered with debris and not very wide. Turning lanes at Baymeadows Rd, Deerwood Park Blvd, exit to JTB, entry from JTB, Gate Parkway etc cause a serious hazard for a cyclist in the shoulder.

The Challenge:

Lets assume that you are sold on the idea of bicycles as transportation. You are out with your family, kids on their bikes and are planning to visit a restaurant for dinner. Maybe you are single and are out with a date on your bicycles to Mellow Mushroom to catch the live band on Friday night. Maybe you want to attempt one less car trip to the movie theater to meet your friends for the new Harry Potter movie.

Here are two methods (A and B) of travel. Which one would you chose?

Method A:

The video below created by Keri from Commute Orlando shows how to ride on the road where the speed limit is 55 mph. The trick here is to not control the outside lane in the center but on the outer two thirds. Remember, you are not required to wear lycra or ride at +15 mph as is depicted in the video below. Normal clothes and a comfortable 10 mph on your beach cruiser is acceptable.

Pros:

1. Utilize existing road infrastructure for bicycle commutes. 92% of your Income Tax, Sales Tax and Property Tax pays for those roads anyway.

Cons:

1. Some of the cars switching lanes to overtake do so at a very close proximity to Keri’s bike. A slight oversight, miscalculation or distraction will lead to a crash that nobody wants. We all know how sparingly motorists use cell phones, radios and iPods.
2. During three minutes of the video, Keri gets yelled at only once. Firstly, this implies that Orlando traffic in that area is much much more civil than Jacksonville traffic in any area. Try riding on University Blvd or Southside Blvd to find out. Secondly, this questions the time of the day. Trying to ride like this in rush hour may not be as pleasant. Maybe the motorists could even see the video cameras strapped onto the helmets.
3. What we never see is cars once overtaken cutting back into the lane in an aggressive manner. That behavior is prevented by the presence of the second rider in front of Keri. Cutting in front of the cyclist aggressively is a dangerous move and is more prevalent in slower traffic.

These cons reduce what is called Subjective Safety: Are you near fast moving traffic ? Is it easy to make a turn across traffic ? Do you have to cycle "fast" in order to keep up ?

Method B:

Imagine if Southside Blvd and all similar roads with a speed limit of above 35 mph had a bike path separated from motorized traffic by a curb, a grassy shoulder and maybe even some trees. This, when complimented with appropriate forced yields at turning lane intersections and stop signs for the segregated bike path reduces any conflict with motorists.

Given such infrastructure, would you ride here with your children?

Would you let your children ride bikes to school?

Would you let your teenage son or daughter commute on these roads to visit after school programs, sports practice, friends etc?

Would you have a quality commute and in turn, a quality life?

I have thought about buying a new city bike (preferably a Velorbis Churchill Balloon) and preserving this 30+ year old Amsterdam bike, but bikes are made to be ridden. So, I shall honor the creation of this bike and it shall be my mode of leisurely short distance travel. For those who have not experienced the joys of a city bike (not hybrid but dutch design bikes), you don’t know what you are missing. I even bought a pair of aviators to match the bicycle.

Today, I ordered a Solvit Trackr Dog Trailer, large, for Laya. The internal dimensions measure up well with Laya’s collar to butt length. If she likes it, my trusty 2007 Saturn Aura will receive its last oil change from me and will be put up for sale.

I had some time to reflect back on my misery during my ride back home. Not only was I late, I was also soggy and tired. I put myself into harms way by riding my bicycle on roads with no shoulders and bike lanes during low visibility conditions! This is where a Plan B would help. A bus route, sub way, light rail or even the presense of a car-sharing agency like zip car would make my day a lot happier (and drier). The easy way out was to have carried a spare pair of shorts and protective rain-pants but the safety issue is still unsolved.

The better Jacksonville plan (link here) was put into action with an extra 0.5% sales tax to make jacksonville a better city in terms of infrastructure. So, they proceeded to improve vital elements like expanding libraries but have been also spending a considerable amount of money in expanding roads. People have been expanding roads for a century now. What problem has that solved? It is insanity to do the same thing and expect a different result. The city seems to be doing a fast-paced effort towards starting commuter rail but that is limited in its scope. We need more light rail and street cars for intra-city movement if the city does not plan to expand roads indefinitely. We need a plan B. I need a plan B.

I want to successfully live car-free and it appears that the city has made it very difficult to get around without a car. Till the city gets its act together and till I am patient enough to not move to a smarter city like Portland OR, I will have to grow an extra pair of balls and be my own plan B.

cash prizes involved

see page on right: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/ditch-the-car

then comments go here

UPDATE – 19 Sept 2008

I have decided to sell my car no matter what. The contest is hereby closed.

The best option would be to sell the car and use the non-existent public transportation of the great city of Jacksonville FL! My other anchor is Laya. She is a fairly large dog, just as female greyhounds are. I need some mode of transportation in case of emergencies. Once these problems are creatively solved, I will be able to live car free. There have been thoughts of selling my car and buying a sub-thousand dollar beater-car for emergencies but that line of thought is a work in progress.

I am reading “How to Live Well without owning a car” by Chris Balish. It is a brand new book borrowed from the library with my brand new library card. Lets see if I can pick up something creative from that book.

Walking. The most minimalistic form of transportation! I have always liked walking though I have avoided it before in the name of laziness. Walking has always been a mind cleanser and a time to think. Walking slows us down and removes the sense of hurry from the mind thus making us assume that non-activity has taken priority over activity.

People do a lot of walking everyday. The most significant ones are as follows: walk to the car, walk out of it to the office, walk through massive parking lots, walk from a car to a fast food restaurant if the drive-through is backed up and walk through grocery stores. To capture this great feat of walking, we carry state-of-the-art electronic devices on us to measure the number of steps.

There is even a website that lets you know the walkability of where you live: link

Since Jacksonville has managed to build suburbias within city limits, I had no doubt that the walk score would be nothing but phenomenal. My neighborhood came out with flying colors.

super-duper-phenomenal score

This is the only reason that I would never buy a single-family-home in a suburbia type environment. Even though the values of single-family homes appreciate more than that of condos, I’d pay the price in stress, overweight, diabetes or heart disease. Living in a closer packed environment is a lot better for the mind. You get to step out of your door and be a part of the society instead of enclosing yourself in a capsule and driving 2 miles to just get out of the neighborhood.

I wish my work moves Downtown so I can move to San Marco or Downtown and live a more healthy life. Till then, it is me on my bicycle and irritated suburbia-living-drivers wondering how I can be on the road with them!