derath

It's nice seeing stuff like this starting to pop up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XUGQ...eature=related

gerv 

Second in the series talks about biking specifically. Both are heavy with good sound bites.



Although personally giving up the car for just one day sounds a little "passé"... so 20th century Might as well shoot for a month or a year.

Robert Foster

You do make a point. If the guy rides even one week it will not make a big impact on the other 51 weeks when he drives the 5.0 Mustang in his driveway.

derath

Gosh yea, it's not perfect. But you have to start somewhere. The video series is a PR campaign. He had a nice looking bike, I would bet he rides more than a week a year. But the point I took from it is that everyone could find at least a week to try this out.

I imagine there could be a nice impact if collectively, every driver in just the USA used a bike or public transit just one week out of the year.

Robert Foster

Not saying you don't have to start somewhere. But the mindset of the person is already established by the car they decided to buy in the first place. Fuel mileage and carbon footprint aren't high on the list of people driving V-8 Mustangs, Corvettes, Chargers, Vipers or 911 Porches. That was what I noticed. If the person continues to ride and forgoes the hot rod then it will be news worthy.

If I seem a bit jaded remember I live where movie stars show up in their Prius to an event but go to the beach or Vegas in their Hummer limo or Lambo that gets 9 or 10 MPG. The news clip looks good but the real story isn't as good. If it were a retail store it would be called bait and switch.

Forgive me, you are right, they have to start somewhere and I hope it is a start and not just another publicity thing.

Darth_Firebolt

4.9

newenglandbike

I think the real power of this idea will become apparent if the "one car-free day" thing can actually be enacted by an entire city or community.

If a city or town was able to pull of a "no driving" day (except maybe for public works vehicles or police, etc), that, I imagine, might show people how quiet their streets and neighborhoods can be, how safe the streets can feel, and how pleasant life can be without automobiles.

zeppinger

I bet that if even 1/10 people in LA did not drive their cars for a week, that small collective decision would have a bigger impact on CO2 levels than the relatively huge decision of a single person to go carfree for their entire lives.

I think thats what this is about. Getting a whole lot of people to make a really small decision rather than trying to change everyone's mind on a very big one.

gerv 

True but the amount of work it would take to figure out cycling or transit routes, all the preparation needed.. would be enormous. I'm not sure how you got into to traveling by bike... but for me... I started out by commuting to work only when the weather was really nice. That evolved into 2 or 3 days a week. Grocery stores come next. Traveling at night came next. For me, it took a while.

For everyone -- or even a decent percentage -- to suddenly change their transportation habits would be a real mess. Think what would happen on the bus.

wahoonc

All you have to do is look at the mayhem that was created when the bay bridge went down a few years back. Or what happens when there is a transit strike or natural disaster. Unfortunately we humans are creatures of habit for the most part.

Aaron

Eileen

When gas was over $4.50/gallon, our local news did a one week project about getting around without your car. Two of those days alternatives were take a taxi and get a ride from a friend. OK, getting a ride from a friend could count as carpooling and a small step in the right direction. But take a cab? Really? That's a viable, economic solution? They did walking (not practical for a longer journey than 2 miles, and even that is a stretch) and rollerblading (also very impractical in a town with very few sidewalks and NO MUPs). There was a biking day, but it was a really pathetic series.

billyymc

Why is she wearing a batting helmet? What a fred.