Some Solutions to Car Problems (part 1)

Well, I said I’d post this yesterday and then guess what? I fell asleep at 9pm (which never happens). I think I’m fighting off a cold. Sorry about that. Still, I’m here now…

Congestion pricing:

In the comments of my post, The Problem With Cars yesterday, Susan noted that congestion pricing is a good solution. It is, so let’s start there. Congestion pricing is basically charging people more money to drive in certain areas during heavy traffic rush hours. Those certain areas can be bridges, tunnels, major roads, etc. Of course this has been met with opposition by motorists. Actually this topic could be an entire post (or many posts all on it’s own). For now I’ll direct you to a few resources.

Susan noted this resource – which is a good post about the costs involved with driving. There’s a nice graph too.

One nice and easy article about congestion pricing can be read at Transportation Alternatives. It’s a good article if you’re new to the topic because it really spells out the situation. It’s a good intro.

Stay in one place:

You can’t stay in one place all the time, but if you’re serious about saving on emissions and helping the planet, then commuting is something you should avoid. Not just commuting to work either; commuting means to the store, mall, play activities, and more.

Now obviously this method of reducing our dependency on cars has some major downsides. You need to plan ahead. You need to live in a place that’s close to work, stores, and other activities, which is not always easy or even possible. On the flip-side it’s not impossible either.

Here are two situations – mine actually.

Living in Humboldt: Life in Humboldt was much better driving wise. We lived in a small town within about five miles of the following – grocery stores, the library, farmers market, beach, co-op, drug store, restaurants, parks, the zoo, and more. Basically it took me about three to five minutes to get just about anywhere. We would drive further to get to the redwood forests to hike. Since we were barely driving anywhere, this worked out though. And really the forests were only about 15-30 minutes away depending on where you’d go.

Living in Washington: Life in Washington is not as sweet driving wise. We don’t live anywhere near a co-op or even a natural food store – both are at least 30 minutes drive-time. The zoo is a good 30-40 minutes away. Mainly that’s because you have to drive on one of the most congested highways in Oregon to get there. It takes us 30 minutes to get to the children’s museum, and the sort of places we like (forest, beaches, etc.) are anywhere from an hour to three hours away. We do live across the street from a park, a community garden, and a grocery store is about five minutes away.

The major downer of living here is that we have to plan all of our trips. For example, we can’t leave the zoo between the hours of 2:30pm and 6:30pm or we’d be stuck in traffic for two hours. My best friend lives literally eight miles away, but it can take an hour to get there due to traffic.

The best way to cut down on everyday driving is to plan before you move. Choose a house near everything; work, play, etc. More extreme, try to choose a town that has less traffic. This doesn’t mean you have to live in some 300 member Humboldt town either. Albuquerque, NM, for instance, has far less traffic than Portland, OR. San Francisco has more than Salt Lake… so compare areas if you’re considering a big move, and of course if your job allows for it.

Combine trips:

Say your job absolutely must be in a big traffic ridden city, or maybe you just prefer city life. The next best thing you can do is combine trips. One study I read shows that people tend to make an excess of car trips each day – in some cases up to 13 trips a day. That’s insane. Make a list and stick to it. Hit the grocery store, co-op. drug store, and dry cleaners, in one swift swoop. Don’t backtrack; drive in a logical order. As mentioned above, if you can only drive when there’s less traffic.

Change your schedule:

One thing I’ve seen people do is try to get a different work schedule. Say, maybe 10am-6 or 7pm, in order to miss rush hour traffic. If you have the right sort of job you can ask to do some of your work from home as well. Obviously the same goes for classes. Don’t plan your child’s gymnastic class for 5:30 pm; you’re just asking for traffic problems.

Later, part 2 of car solutions.

Now, do you think it’s worth it to live in a smaller town to drive less – or are you a big city sort of person? How can you cut down on city driving?