Dammitall

Ask my partner and she'll tell you I'm a bike nerd, pollution snob, uppity about car usage and a shitty driver, if it weren't already obvious from my signature text. These factors, coupled with the 30 or so miles between my home and place of employment and the availability of decent public transportation in the area, mean that I try hard every day to either ride the local commuter train or commuter bus line from home to work and back again, instead of driving. When I'm especially "well behaved," I walk to the commuter train station downtown a mile from my house instead of driving to the other station four miles outside town for free parking. This past spring, summer and fall I did my best to bicycle to the station outside town every day. My "best" days are when I don't set foot in a car at all.

Of course I drive sometimes, like when I oversleep or when I have something going on after work that I have to stay downtown for; my public transit options are limited by time, and the latest train I can ride home forces me to leave work just shy of 6:30pm.

While I admit it's satisfying to cruise along on board the train across a bridge overlooking the traffic-clogged interstate, I try to keep my snobbishness in check and not judge friends, coworkers and strangers who regularly drive. It was hard not to do so this morning, when I bumped into a colleague who lives eight miles from work and a short walk away from the local subway line and still drives in, often sitting in traffic for an hour in the evenings before getting home. In her situation it seems like a no-brainer to hop on Metro and ride every day, especially when our employer subsidizes the cost of transit fares.

As silly as it may sound, I am saddened by the number of drivers chugging along, alone in their cars, down the highway. I know people want convenience and there's a sense of entitlement among USAmericans that each individual "deserves" his/her own vehicle. I also know that for many, not commuting by car is not an option, but for those where it is a perfectly viable, and by far more sensible, option, come on... why not try? Maybe I just don't get it, but it frustrates me.

What do you all do, and what do you all think?

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If one million people replaced a two mile car trip once a week with a bike ride, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 50,000 tons per year. If one out of ten car commuters switched to a bike, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 25.4 million tons per year. [2milechallenge.com]