The Green Life: Guide to the Green Life: Commute Green

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Drive Less

Public bike share programs may seem like a thing of the 70s, but they are not only still around, they are making a comeback. As urban centers are revitalized around the country and suburban shopping malls lose favor with young people who have a choice, this preferred method for getting around a city is gaining favor. Public bike programs in Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Portland, OR and Austin are meeting with success.

Some European and South American cities have banned cars from their urban center or imposed a tax on downtown drivers, and many believe that the US would do well to follow their example. For more information on bike share programs and other ways to reduce urban driving, visit The Center for Appropriate Transport.

Probably the most important thing we can do is the simplest thing we can do. It’s not sexy or gimmicky or industry-promoted, but it is essential: we have to drive less. According to the Center for a New American Dream, the average American drives over 250 miles a week. Replacing one weekly car trip with public transport, biking, or carpooling reduces your annual emissions of carbon dioxide by 1000 pounds.

In the United States especially, not everyone has the option of living without a car. Public transit options are not universally available, and many Americans live too far outside the city to commute by walking or biking. Long commute distances are unsustainable without efficient, cheap, and popular public transport, but until we find a better solution, minimizing our driving is the best way to go.

However, many Americans who think they can’t possibly get by without a car would be surprised to find that it is possible and often desirable. Los Angeles, for example, is notorious for being a car-centered city, but many, including some residents, would be surprised at the options available for public transport. The LA Metro offers bus, light rail, and bike path options in and around the estimated 465 square miles of LA county, and over one million of LA County’s ten million residents use them every day. A ten percent public transit ridership in the US is actually well above average. If LA can do it, we all can.

We need to get out of the habit of jumping into our car for unnecessary trips, taking two cars with two people, and driving back and forth from home. Condense your errands into one trip, and carpool with your neighbors. That’s the only way it will work

If you are fortunate to live somewhere where having a car is an option and not a necessity, you can enjoy living car free.

For more information on climate change: World Resources Institute,
Union of Concerned Scientists

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