Velo Visionaries

How Can You Save $10,000 more a year?

Sell your car and take transit. Individuals who switch from driving to taking public transit can save, on average almost $9,986 this year, and up to $828 a month. American Public Transit Association

Millennials in Continue Trend Away from Car Use

Millennials are less car-focused than older Americans and previous generations of young people, and their transportation behaviors continue to change in ways that reduce driving.

Between 2001 and 2009, the average number of miles driven by 16 to 34 year-olds dropped by 23 percent, as a result of young people taking fewer trips, shorter trips, and a larger share of trips by modes other than driving. Young Americans drive less than older Americans and use public transportation more, and often use multiple modes of travel during a typical day or week.

In recent years, young people appear to have continued to shift away from driving:

Census data show that the share of 16 to 24 year-olds traveling to work by car declined by 1.5 percentage points between 2006 and 2013, while the share of young people getting to work by public transportation, on foot or by bicycle, or else working from home, had increased.

Young people aged 20 to 30 are less likely to move from central cities to suburbs than a decade ago.

Driver’s licensing among young people has continued to decline. The percentage of high school seniors with driver’s licenses declined from 85 percent to 73 percent between 1996 and 2010, according to the AAA Foundation for Highway Safety, with federal data suggesting that the decline has continued since 2010.

Young people are not the only Americans who are driving less. The number of miles driven by the average American has declined nearly continuously since 2004. Americans now drive no more in total than we did in 2005 and no more on average than we did at the beginning of President Bill Clinton’s second term in office.

Millennials in Motion Report - US Public Interest Research Group

24 WRITERS SELECTED FOR THE AMTRAK RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Amtrak is excited to announce the selection of 24 members of the literary community as the first group of writers to participate in the #AmtrakResidency program. Over the next year, they will work on writing projects of their choice in the unique workspace of a long-distance train. The 24 residents offer a diverse representation of the writing community and hail from across the country.

Amtrak blog

The $1 million dollar parking spot

What will $1 million buy in New York City? A diamond-encrusted Cartier men’s watch. A small fleet of 2014 Bentley Continentals. Or maybe your very own parking spot in SoHo.

New York Times

Portland's New Bridge will be Carfree

A major transit bridge project that welcomes pretty much everything but cars might seem unfathomable in other American cities of similar size and geography. However, it’s anything but atypical in Portland, a city which historically hasn't snubbed the automobile per se but has long prided itself on offering its residents alternative ways to get around town.

Mother Nature Network

How Selling My Car, Saved My Life

When you grow up in California, having the right car to drive is very big deal. I mowed lawns and slung pizzas to pay for the privilege of driving. On my 16th birthday, I made that mythic teen-age journey to the DMV for a driver’s license. I was cool, in a 1965, baby blue, Mustang.

Medium

MINT: A Visual Guide to How Cycling Can Save You Money

Very cool and informative infographic. MINT.com

Dad Arrested For Picking Up Kids At School By Foot

A Tennessee father was arrested recently by an overzealous officer for picking his children up at school by foot. The school’s policy is that children can only be picked up by parents driving cars or kids can board a school bus.

The Urban Country

Is bike parking the key to better cities?

Not only is bike parking cheaper than car parking, it encourages healthier people, cleaner air, and safer roads.

Grist

Bike cops rolling through stop signs

Related: SFPD Still Targeting Bike Commuters Rolling Stop Signs on the Wiggle

“Closing” Lombard Street: The Language of Taking Cars For Granted

The verbal gymnastics used to avoid mentioning cars are present not just in headlines, but in everyday conversation. In discussions about behavior on the streets, notice how often the operators of motor vehicles are described as just “people” — for example, “People are always flying down this hill.” Not that drivers aren’t people, but the mode of transport is a key distinction to make. People using other modes usually get explicit labels that posit them as “others” — people on bikes are “cyclists,” and people just walking around are “pedestrians.”

Streetsblog SF

Bikes Change Your Brooklyn Apartment Hunt

Last month, they renewed their lease for one more year at $2,050 a month, in part to keep their rent manageable but also to preserve their biking habit. “We talked about moving,” Ms. Nickelson said, “but now it’s like we need to live near the bridges because we’re so committed to commuting with bikes.”
New York Times

WebMD: How Driving Makes You Fat

A recent study of the link between driving and obesity showed a result that surprised even its lead researcher: Every 30 minutes you spend each day in a car increases your risk of being obese by 3%. WebMD

Millenials Abandon Cars - The New Republic

They’re getting their freedom from smartphones, which can travel distances and reach speeds that make cars seem quaint. They’re increasingly interested in commuting by bike or public transit. And growing numbers of them say they see cars more as nuisances and less as toys. The New Republic

U.S. Public Transit Ridership At Its Highest Level Since 1956

Americans are boarding public buses, trains and subways in greater numbers than any time since the suburbs began booming.

Nearly 10.7 billion trips in 2013, to be precise — the highest total since 1956, according to ridership data reported by transit systems nationally and released Monday by the American Public Transportation Association.

AP/HuffPost

Earth Devours Car Museum

A sinkhole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday.
ABC News

The American cities with the most growth in car-free households

The highest rate of vehicle ownership in America occurred in 2007, when the average household owned 2.07 vehicles, according to research by Michael Sivak for the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Recently, the average number of cars per household dipped below 2—at the end of 2012, it was 1.98. Greater Greater Washington

Congress Gives Mass Transit Riders the Finger

A popular tax benefit for public transit commuters has come to a sudden end, forcing bus and train riders to pay more out of pocket — even though parking subsidies for those who drive to work remain untouched. WIRED

Glorious Return to the Carfree Community!

Robert hauls away The Bug, a donation to our local NPR station

Three years after successful double knee replacement surgery, the wife and I proudly rejoined the Carfree Community today. Expect lots of new posts in the next year about life after car ownership.

So glad to be back on the bike, walking, and mixing it up with my community on our glorious transit system.

Thrilled about the $thousands of dollars a year that will go into our savings rather than to oil companies, repair shops, parking tickets, bridge tolls, insurance. Thrilled this will reduce our carbon footprint by 8064 pounds of CO2 each year.

Life is Good!

- Editor