Travel Alternatives
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE :
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YOUR TIME SPENT GETTING AROUND?
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THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU SPEND GETTING PLACES?
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THE POLLUTION AND WASTE PRODUCED BY TRAVEL?
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THE AMOUNT OF LAND SPACE AND RAW MATERIALS
USED FOR FACILITATING TRANSPORTATION?
Following are some suggestions.
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Walk.
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Live close to work and activities.
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Car pool, ride share, use available mass transit.
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Change jobs, work out of your home, carry your work with
you.
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Lease, borrow or rent vehicles only when essential.
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Buy used rather than new vehicles
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Hitch-hike, and pick up hitch-hikers.
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Bicycle everywhere; use the bike racks on buses.
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Drive electric vehicles rather than internal combustion polluters.
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Repair your own vehicles, or do trades and barter with those
who do repairs.
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Select modes of travel for efficiency and minimal net energy
consumption, not status.
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Become politically active: encourage bicycle paths, mass
transit, pedestrian thoroughfares.
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Live lightly: rearrange your life to require less need for
travel.
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Plan your trips in advance; design routes in geographic clusters;
think proximity.
Here are a few thoughts:
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Over 50% of a city's land space is devoted to the automobile.
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Japan's magnetic rail is fast, efficient and well-used.
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America's two biggest exports are waste paper and scrap cars.
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In the time line of history, people have been car dependent
for a very short span.
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The advertising industry has imbedded in our minds that the
automobile we drive is an extension of ourselves. Because of this
the car will never die. Instead of abolishing the car, we must simply
redesign it to be more efficient, less wasteful, unpolluting, and inexpensive.
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If we are to tax anything, it should be the amount of energy
we consume.
Let's start instituting a "top five ways to get there" list to go along
with every event being organized or even for existing stores, destination
spots. The list would appear in the order of least impactful to most.
1) viable walking paths
2) safest and most direct bike routes
3) options for bus routes
4) carpool and riedeshare possibilities (especially to major events
that have remote park and ride options)
5) cars and cabs (perhaps with info about cars with greater fuel efficiency
for those considering new purchases, and encouraging people to combine
errands into one trip)
Another idea would be to convince the major map websites (a la MapQuest.com
to include a first question "What mode of
transportation would you like to use?" to at least raise the consciousness
that there are other options. Or better yet, when
people typed in a beginning and ending destination it could answer
with all the options available. If they weren't willing it do it maybe
someone could set up such a website with alternative transportation options.
An easy way to get the carpool thing going is www.carpoolconnect.com
Now if we could find a similar website that allows a person to plug in
a longer, more infrequent trip, in case someone else would like to share
the ride, driving and gas.
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Travel Alternatives
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