Cathy Rowell photo
Finding ways to drive less helps residents save money, protect the environment and improve their health.
By Tracy Shawn, Noozhawk Contributor | Published on 05.29.2008
Cathi Speake says she enjoys the quality time she spends with her sons, Emmett, left, and Aidan, by using alternative modes of transportation to get to their school, Harding Elementary.
Myriad resources are available in Santa Barbara that can help lessen driving time: public transportation, ride shares, bike paths and commuter buses. In addition to these alternatives, some Santa Barbarans have made creative choices to decrease their use of fossil fuel, save money, improve their health and feel more in touch with the community.
Cathi Speake, a former teacher at Santa Barbara Junior High and a mother of two young sons, is grateful she decided to have her children attend Harding Elementary, the neighborhood school. She loves the school, and she enjoys the freedom from daily rounds of commuting. “The walks back and forth are wonderful times with my son, and his little brother, who bikes or rides his scooter back and forth,” Speake says. “We talk, look at bugs, say hello to neighbors — all the while skipping the car seat wrestling match and using no gasoline whatsoever.”
Speake estimates she’s saving one to two hours a day by not commuting to another school.
She also has made the choice not to overbook her children. They enjoy soccer and T-ball, but she ensures some days are devoted to staying in the neighborhood, riding bikes on the sidewalk and playing with the neighbor kids. She also has connected with other parents. They carpool when possible and do favors for one another, such as picking up items while shopping. It takes energy, she says, to plan carpools and ask for favors, but she says the benefits to the environment and the increased sense of shared community make it worth it.
Marty Moser, a carpenter and electrician, has found a way, even in his line of work, to significantly decrease his driving time. He unloads all of his tools at job sites then commutes by electric bike. Moser says he prefers electric bikes to traditional bikes for getting to work and appointments because they’re faster, easier and he arrives without being overheated.
By using an electric bike for errands as well, Moser says, “I realized the benefits of being efficient in my outings. I began to plan my errands and keep an ongoing list of things I needed to do so that I could make the most efficient route and avoid doing things twice.” This way of thinking also transfers to driving his truck. Moser appreciates how, with his choices, he has decreased his gas bill and lessened his contribution to air pollution.
Marketing consultant and writer Maggie Dennison used to commute to work but now not only works in her own home office but drives far less after moving to downtown Santa Barbara. She says she has always enjoyed walking for exercise, but now it has become an intrinsic part of her daily transportation. Living downtown allows her to walk to the library, the market, the theater, restaurants, the farmers market and church. Walking to do errands helps her feel more energized when she returns to her desk.
Dennison says she used to get into her car without hesitation but now is reluctant to hop behind the wheel. She has learned to consolidate her driving errands so she gets accomplishes several things in one trip instead of making several trips.
James Wagner is the manager of the Transportation Alternatives Program at UCSB. Wagner not only “walks the walk,” he rides bikes, scooters and buses. Wagner bikes to work, bikes and rides the bus (riders can rack bikes on the front of the bus or carry on folding bikes) for downtown errands and uses a kick scooter for closer errands.
Wagner says at least 50 percent of motorists’ driving is within two miles of home. For this reason, he says, it’s a good idea to try to use another fossil-free type of transportation. He enjoys his kick scooter for short trips because he can use sidewalks and bring it into stores without having to lock it up outside.
Using alternative forms of transportation doesn’t have to be an all or nothing endeavor, Wagner says. If a person decides to bike to work just one day a week, consolidates trips, shares rides to meetings or gets “school pools” together for their children, it helps in the long run. “Every trip matters … and any incremental change is change,” Wagner says.
Click here for information on bus services, carpool partners and vanpool choices.
Tracy Shawn is a local freelance writer who writes about sustainability issues for Noozhawk.
