A few weeks ago I attended the Iowa Passenger Rail Advisory Committee meeting held in Ames. The meeting included updates from cities like Dubuque, Quad Cities, Iowa City, and Des Moines as well as legislative updates from Iowa DOT members and an Amtrak representative. The general consensus is that there is a lot going on with rail right now, but most are trying to figure out how the new administration will affect opportunities. The most interesting part for me was the discussion with the Amtrak rep. He shared that their ridership has increased for the past five years, but usually at only 1 million passengers per year. In 2008, their ridership increased by 3 million for a total of 29 million passengers. The best part about that statistic is the fact that no new services (new rail lines) or frequencies (additional runs on an existing rail line) were added, yet every passenger rail line saw an increase which has never happened before.
We talked a lot about how states can position themselves for matching funds and the best way to set up a successful partnership with Amtrak. The best strategy right now seems to be to partner with Illinois which is currently pro rail and has doubled passenger rail funding. This would add rail access to Chicago from the center of the state, entering at the Quad Cities, and the northern part of the state, entering at Dubuque. I don't know how much I am able to share publicly from the meeting, but I did find the existing Amtrak line across Iowa from the Iowa DOT's site.
One thing that was clear during the meeting was that now is the time to pressure our state legislators about passenger rail. It is currently one of their priority items, but it was stressed that it needs to be pushed as one of the top priorities for Iowa to get its foot in the door and start receiving some of the funding coming from the government. The next meeting will be held in February and I'm sure all involved hope to learn more about passenger rail plans from our new administration.
Showing posts with label transit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transit. Show all posts
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Bus Adventures
Six months ago I posted about my husband and I giving up one of our two cars and depending on public transportation. A lot of things have happened since then so I thought I would post an update along with some recent thoughts.
This past summer the city I live and work in experienced a historic flood that devastated too many people. My company's building was affected which means my transportation route changed to fit my new location. Our public transportation department was also affected, and although they have done a great job adapting, everyone who uses the system had to adapt. In spite of the tragedies, I was excited about testing my commitment to one car living and trying out how most of the riders use the system by transferring routes. Doing this initially doubled my commute to and from work, and since my husband dropped me off and picked me up from my bus stop, it extended his work day by an hour. Since the department lost several buses in the flood, they were on limited route rotations meaning the buses only came once an hour. Luckily the time my first bus came was reasonable, but it meant that I had to bust my butt on mornings that I was tempted to sleep in a bit and catch my normal "second option" before the flood. My extra hour on the bus didn't bother me much since I saw it as more time to read books, watch podcasts, and listen to music, and eventually I found robot mode in the morning to get me out the door. Unfortunately it put some unforeseen frustration on my husband who has to mold his day around my bus.
Recently the transit department revised the schedules in the afternoons to help heavy routes get to the transfer location on time (we have a collect and disperse model). This extended my evening commute by fifteen minutes, not too bad considering what I had already adjusted to. Then there was last week.
My husband had some work related, but not work required gatherings he wanted to attend out of town. Since his company had not asked him to participate we could rent a car ourselves or I could get myself to the bus without him. Being stubborn, I chose the latter. We walked the 1.2 miles to get to my bus stop and found that it took us 40 minutes at a leisurely pace. I found that I could make it in 26 minutes when it is dark and I'm cold.
Wednesday evening rolled around and was when I would first experience getting home without a pick-up, from my usual bus stop (there is one closer, but not ideal. See below.). Everything went smoothly, but I decided to not go with that plan the rest of my days surviving alone. First of all, there is only a "sidewalk" on one side of the street, which happens to be the opposite side that I am dropped off on. There is an underpass for a golf course that spans both sides of the four lane street, however, there are no lights under there since no one is golfing at night, and who in their right mind would be walking in a world with cars? There was no way I was going to test my luck even in our relatively safe town. So I played frogger and past the first test on my trek home.
Next I noticed that there were only two or three street lights the whole 1.2 mile walk home. Again, our city is pretty safe, but come on! The sidewalk was very uneven and I would have really appreciated some light to help out. The last part of my journey before my neighborhood was the worst. Once crosses the last main intersection there is no sidewalk and no lights at all, and to top it off with a cherry, there is no shoulder, just a steep slope. I was walking toward oncoming traffic like we are taught, but I learned that this really only benefits you if the cars see you coming. You know they are getting close when you are blinded by headlights while you hope that you don't misstep, roll your ankle, and end up in the sidewalk-less ditch.
Of course I made it home the two and a half days that I was commuting completely solo, but I made adjustments to catch the inconvenient closer bus which provided residential streets with sidewalks for more of the walk home. So by the end of the week, my total commute to work was 1.5 hours and my total commute home was 2 hours. Two hours in a city with the population of 160,000! Two hours in a city that takes 30-45 minutes to drive across! I would expect this in a large city like Chicago, New York, or D.C., but Cedar Rapids, IA? Ridiculous.
There is a point when stubbornness becomes stupidity and I found that last week. I am not going to break my commitment to a one car lifestyle, because I am lucky enough to not experience this every day, but on my long trips home all I could think about was the people that do. How can you do anything besides get to and from work with a system that takes so long and stops running at 7:30? How can you pick up your kids or be there for their basketball games? The simple answer is probably that you can't and that is sad, but the worst part is that most people would suggest getting a car to solve this problem for someone. I have the option to buy a car and I have the option to move to a city that feeds my public transit obsession, but for now, I have two and a half years to help Cedar Rapids see something better than a two hour commute home. I can't recommend public transit to people who would experience what I did, but for those that would have a ride lasting 30 minutes or less, I'll start with you.
This past summer the city I live and work in experienced a historic flood that devastated too many people. My company's building was affected which means my transportation route changed to fit my new location. Our public transportation department was also affected, and although they have done a great job adapting, everyone who uses the system had to adapt. In spite of the tragedies, I was excited about testing my commitment to one car living and trying out how most of the riders use the system by transferring routes. Doing this initially doubled my commute to and from work, and since my husband dropped me off and picked me up from my bus stop, it extended his work day by an hour. Since the department lost several buses in the flood, they were on limited route rotations meaning the buses only came once an hour. Luckily the time my first bus came was reasonable, but it meant that I had to bust my butt on mornings that I was tempted to sleep in a bit and catch my normal "second option" before the flood. My extra hour on the bus didn't bother me much since I saw it as more time to read books, watch podcasts, and listen to music, and eventually I found robot mode in the morning to get me out the door. Unfortunately it put some unforeseen frustration on my husband who has to mold his day around my bus.
Recently the transit department revised the schedules in the afternoons to help heavy routes get to the transfer location on time (we have a collect and disperse model). This extended my evening commute by fifteen minutes, not too bad considering what I had already adjusted to. Then there was last week.
My husband had some work related, but not work required gatherings he wanted to attend out of town. Since his company had not asked him to participate we could rent a car ourselves or I could get myself to the bus without him. Being stubborn, I chose the latter. We walked the 1.2 miles to get to my bus stop and found that it took us 40 minutes at a leisurely pace. I found that I could make it in 26 minutes when it is dark and I'm cold.
Wednesday evening rolled around and was when I would first experience getting home without a pick-up, from my usual bus stop (there is one closer, but not ideal. See below.). Everything went smoothly, but I decided to not go with that plan the rest of my days surviving alone. First of all, there is only a "sidewalk" on one side of the street, which happens to be the opposite side that I am dropped off on. There is an underpass for a golf course that spans both sides of the four lane street, however, there are no lights under there since no one is golfing at night, and who in their right mind would be walking in a world with cars? There was no way I was going to test my luck even in our relatively safe town. So I played frogger and past the first test on my trek home.
Next I noticed that there were only two or three street lights the whole 1.2 mile walk home. Again, our city is pretty safe, but come on! The sidewalk was very uneven and I would have really appreciated some light to help out. The last part of my journey before my neighborhood was the worst. Once crosses the last main intersection there is no sidewalk and no lights at all, and to top it off with a cherry, there is no shoulder, just a steep slope. I was walking toward oncoming traffic like we are taught, but I learned that this really only benefits you if the cars see you coming. You know they are getting close when you are blinded by headlights while you hope that you don't misstep, roll your ankle, and end up in the sidewalk-less ditch.
Of course I made it home the two and a half days that I was commuting completely solo, but I made adjustments to catch the inconvenient closer bus which provided residential streets with sidewalks for more of the walk home. So by the end of the week, my total commute to work was 1.5 hours and my total commute home was 2 hours. Two hours in a city with the population of 160,000! Two hours in a city that takes 30-45 minutes to drive across! I would expect this in a large city like Chicago, New York, or D.C., but Cedar Rapids, IA? Ridiculous.
There is a point when stubbornness becomes stupidity and I found that last week. I am not going to break my commitment to a one car lifestyle, because I am lucky enough to not experience this every day, but on my long trips home all I could think about was the people that do. How can you do anything besides get to and from work with a system that takes so long and stops running at 7:30? How can you pick up your kids or be there for their basketball games? The simple answer is probably that you can't and that is sad, but the worst part is that most people would suggest getting a car to solve this problem for someone. I have the option to buy a car and I have the option to move to a city that feeds my public transit obsession, but for now, I have two and a half years to help Cedar Rapids see something better than a two hour commute home. I can't recommend public transit to people who would experience what I did, but for those that would have a ride lasting 30 minutes or less, I'll start with you.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Slick new bike
I recently saw an article on the new Ultra Motor A2B electric bike. This looks like a pretty slick bike. It's not too traditional looking, but it has a sorta Mad-Max, utilitarian look to it in my eyes. If I didn't already have a motorcycle, this might be a nice option for commuting and around town errands. Heck, with the 20 mile range, I'm pretty sure some of our contributors would be able to get to work on one of these. Recharge at work and have a fresh charge for your ride home. Sure, it costs around $2500, but if you had a 20 mile one way commute, it could pay for itself in 2 years in saved fuel costs alone, figuring you cut out 10.4k miles/year at ~$0.12/mile(figure from AAA for Medium Size Sedan). Plus you'd be helping out the environment.
--JOsh
EDIT: This article is the one that originally got me thinking about this entry.
--JOsh
EDIT: This article is the one that originally got me thinking about this entry.
Carpooling on the Rise
After catching an article on carpooling, I decided to give a couple of the links in the article a try to see if there was anything local showing on them. Imagine my surprise when both CarPoolWorld.com and eRideShare.com had some local entries. I've long since relegated myself to the fact that, living in Iowa, we generally don't get much participation in these sorts of sites. Glad to see that even locally people are trying to get into the ride sharing.
--JOsh
--JOsh
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Trip Home: Looking Back
Some final thoughts from our recent trip from the Midwest to the east coast and back.
Not all train stations actually have a train. I'm still confounded by this one.
Buses are not for me.
Power is everywhere!
Regional trains are a level or more above long distance trains.
Comfort is in!
A few things you may want to bring on a train:
Blanket – You can buy one on the train for $15, but I would just bring something if you know you'll be cold.
Food – You can buy it, but it's expensive and could run out.
Entertainment – Books, iPod, laptop, DVD player, and chargers. I don't mean you should bring all of these, and it should be tailored to your trip, but the options are wide open. We read through all of the books we brought and I was able to write posts as we went along without being cutoff by my battery. I really appreciated that.
Improvements:
Provided entertainment – It could be a nice perk to have “in route” entertainment like planes provide. There is plenty of space in the back of the seats to provides a nice size screen. The Acela train did have headphone jacks in the chair arms, but I didn't check them out to see what was playing.
Speed it up – No question, we need high speed trains for long distance train travel. We may take a train from the Midwest again if we find an option that doesn't include a bus, but it won't be our only mode since it does take so long.
U.S. train travel isn't for everyone right now. Our bus mishap could have been a lot worse if we were traveling with anxious kids. I don't want to deter anyone from this mode of transportation, but I also don't want to paint the picture too pretty. Give Amtrak a chance or at least compare it to other options when you plan your next trip!
Not all train stations actually have a train. I'm still confounded by this one.
Buses are not for me.
Power is everywhere!
Regional trains are a level or more above long distance trains.
Comfort is in!
A few things you may want to bring on a train:
Blanket – You can buy one on the train for $15, but I would just bring something if you know you'll be cold.
Food – You can buy it, but it's expensive and could run out.
Entertainment – Books, iPod, laptop, DVD player, and chargers. I don't mean you should bring all of these, and it should be tailored to your trip, but the options are wide open. We read through all of the books we brought and I was able to write posts as we went along without being cutoff by my battery. I really appreciated that.
Improvements:
Provided entertainment – It could be a nice perk to have “in route” entertainment like planes provide. There is plenty of space in the back of the seats to provides a nice size screen. The Acela train did have headphone jacks in the chair arms, but I didn't check them out to see what was playing.
Speed it up – No question, we need high speed trains for long distance train travel. We may take a train from the Midwest again if we find an option that doesn't include a bus, but it won't be our only mode since it does take so long.
U.S. train travel isn't for everyone right now. Our bus mishap could have been a lot worse if we were traveling with anxious kids. I don't want to deter anyone from this mode of transportation, but I also don't want to paint the picture too pretty. Give Amtrak a chance or at least compare it to other options when you plan your next trip!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Trip Part 5: Sold Out!
Well, we have visited all three of our locations for this trip and are settled in on the train taking us (closer to) home. We boarded at Union Station in D.C. and the train is sold out! We had to wait a bit to find seats because every one of them was going to be filled. This brought to light a great benefit of train travel. If the train is full or, I imagine, over booked, you can still get on and will eventually find a spot from conductors reshuffling people, or people getting off at the next stop. With planes, you don't have the option. You don't get to go if there isn't a seat and the plane doesn't move if it is taking longer to seat people. So far the train is on time so there is hope that our trip back will be better than the Indi-Philly trip out. This will be my last “during trip” write-up, but I will pull together some final thoughts about our trip once we are home.
Trip Part 4: Acela, King of the Rails
Our trip from New Haven to D.C. was on the Acela Express business train. It is a "high speed" train that runs from Boston to D.C. and it was definitely the nicest train we rode on during this trip. The train cars were more modern and had almost a futuristic feeling, and the dinning car was more organized than the first train we were on. The trip took about five hours, but it didn't feel like it. Other than watching some of the sites as we pulled into New York, Philly, and D.C., I took a nap and arrived rather refreshed.
After dropping off our things at my friend's house in Arlington, we ventured toward the city and watched how our capitol does the 4th of July from the Iwo Jima park (thanks to marzipan9 for uploading that video from almost exactly where we were). It was a good show and other than the firework smoke blocking some of the view, we had great seats. The Metro trip back to the house was quite the experience, but didn't take at all as long as I had planned. The D.C. Metro is more of what I expect public transportation to be like in a big city. We used it most of Saturday to visit the few attractions we left time for, one of which was the botanical gardens. We didn't make it in time to go inside, but the outdoor gardens feature two areas highlighting solar and Seattle's eco ratings for new building structures. It's free to see and great to read about some of the specifics being added to city building plans. D.C. was a great way to end our east coast trip.
After dropping off our things at my friend's house in Arlington, we ventured toward the city and watched how our capitol does the 4th of July from the Iwo Jima park (thanks to marzipan9 for uploading that video from almost exactly where we were). It was a good show and other than the firework smoke blocking some of the view, we had great seats. The Metro trip back to the house was quite the experience, but didn't take at all as long as I had planned. The D.C. Metro is more of what I expect public transportation to be like in a big city. We used it most of Saturday to visit the few attractions we left time for, one of which was the botanical gardens. We didn't make it in time to go inside, but the outdoor gardens feature two areas highlighting solar and Seattle's eco ratings for new building structures. It's free to see and great to read about some of the specifics being added to city building plans. D.C. was a great way to end our east coast trip.
Trip Part 3: Regional Bliss
Our second train brought us to Connecticut, New Haven to be exact. We are actually visiting a friend closer to Hartford, but there were more connection times available in New Haven. We did rent a car since the part of Connecticut we are visiting is more a collection of villages than a city. The train ride had no surprises other than we had to search a bit for seats. We found two fairly quickly and got to watch the mass exodus in New York City.
I love the style of the New Haven station. It is the smallest for us this trip, but has a ton of character! I have also decided that all sizable U.S. train stations have only four options for a name or can combine those names: Union, Penn/Pennsylvania, Grand, or Central. Smaller towns along the way just use their name. No major travel excitement other than getting two power sources in our aisle!
As for Connecticut, it's awesome and beautiful! The area we were in and drove through was so lush and so full of history. The town we stayed in was established in 1702! We went blueberry picking with a friend of our friend and were able to eat them right from the bush. No spray, yay!
Final stop, D.C. for the 4th!
I love the style of the New Haven station. It is the smallest for us this trip, but has a ton of character! I have also decided that all sizable U.S. train stations have only four options for a name or can combine those names: Union, Penn/Pennsylvania, Grand, or Central. Smaller towns along the way just use their name. No major travel excitement other than getting two power sources in our aisle!
As for Connecticut, it's awesome and beautiful! The area we were in and drove through was so lush and so full of history. The town we stayed in was established in 1702! We went blueberry picking with a friend of our friend and were able to eat them right from the bush. No spray, yay!
Final stop, D.C. for the 4th!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Trip Part 2.5: Philly's Spoke Problem
We were only in Philadelphia for a full day and some change by the time our late train (three hours late) got in and we had to catch our next one to Connecticut. We had a pleasant trip visiting Keith's cousins and staying with his aunt and uncle.
While in The City of Brotherly Love, we used the local rail system to get to and from the Amtrak station and downtown. It was pretty much like any other public rail system, but we found out from the cousins that they have a similar "wheel spokes" problem as the Cedar Rapids bus routes. They do have buses that help offset the problem and they allow full size bikes on the trains during off-peak hours. Folding bikes are always allowed!
The big negative was the cost. Off-peak, one-way rides from our "hotel" to the center of the city were $4.25 per person and peak, one-way rides were $5. Obviously people making this commute frequently would buy a month pass, but as a tourist it was more expensive than I had anticipated.
One of the great "green" things about our Philly trip was wandering around the downtown area and finding a great local ice cream shop, called Franklin Ice Cream or Franklin Fountain, that used bio-compostable spoons and garbage bags. They had really good ice cream and an untouristy, but historic appeal. I believe it is located on Market St. near the river. As we walked back from the river on Market St., we found The Big Green Earth Store and stopped in. They seemed relatively new and their website isn't quite up yet, but it would be great to see them grow and expand. The guy behind the counter was very friendly and informative. I loved that he wasn't overbearing with other customers that had stopped in to check out being green. The store had decorative and functional items including recycled glass bowls, recycled cardboard wall designs, bicycle chain frames and bowls, recycled dinnerware, cleaning supplies, home fragrances, solar backpacks, reusable bags, I could go on. They even had a laundry detergent refilling station which Keith dubbed The Vat. The idea is that you can bring in any container and fill it up with detergent, then pay for how much you take. You reuse containers and prevent more containers from entering the landfills.
Our Pennsylvania portion of the trip was short, but extremely fun and well worth the stop. Good luck to The Big Green Earth Store, and cheers for public transit that runs on time!
While in The City of Brotherly Love, we used the local rail system to get to and from the Amtrak station and downtown. It was pretty much like any other public rail system, but we found out from the cousins that they have a similar "wheel spokes" problem as the Cedar Rapids bus routes. They do have buses that help offset the problem and they allow full size bikes on the trains during off-peak hours. Folding bikes are always allowed!
The big negative was the cost. Off-peak, one-way rides from our "hotel" to the center of the city were $4.25 per person and peak, one-way rides were $5. Obviously people making this commute frequently would buy a month pass, but as a tourist it was more expensive than I had anticipated.
One of the great "green" things about our Philly trip was wandering around the downtown area and finding a great local ice cream shop, called Franklin Ice Cream or Franklin Fountain, that used bio-compostable spoons and garbage bags. They had really good ice cream and an untouristy, but historic appeal. I believe it is located on Market St. near the river. As we walked back from the river on Market St., we found The Big Green Earth Store and stopped in. They seemed relatively new and their website isn't quite up yet, but it would be great to see them grow and expand. The guy behind the counter was very friendly and informative. I loved that he wasn't overbearing with other customers that had stopped in to check out being green. The store had decorative and functional items including recycled glass bowls, recycled cardboard wall designs, bicycle chain frames and bowls, recycled dinnerware, cleaning supplies, home fragrances, solar backpacks, reusable bags, I could go on. They even had a laundry detergent refilling station which Keith dubbed The Vat. The idea is that you can bring in any container and fill it up with detergent, then pay for how much you take. You reuse containers and prevent more containers from entering the landfills.
Our Pennsylvania portion of the trip was short, but extremely fun and well worth the stop. Good luck to The Big Green Earth Store, and cheers for public transit that runs on time!
Trip Part 2: The Whistle Goes Woo
We finally made it on the train! After waiting for almost five hours in the Indianapolis train station, we were finally able to climb aboard and crash in our spacious seats. The train was two hours late getting into Indianapolis, so the dark, quiet train car was a welcome change from the harsh buzzing lights of the station.
Boarding the train was different than I expected. All passengers getting on were lined up and we were allowed to board by size of group (large parties first) and then by the order that we were standing in line. They assigned us seats on the fly. Keith and I were the first couple in line so we were given seats at the front of the first train car. We have a large set of windows, seats that recline and have leg rests and foot rests. We were given the seat numbers to sit in when we boarded, but several people have switched seats as people have gotten off. The only complaint about our seats so far is that there is an Amish family sitting behind us and they woke up way earlier than my 3am bedtime would have preferred. Not only did they wake up early, but they were talking in normal voices across the aisle, not helping us get a full morning's rest. This could happen in any travel situation, so no marks against Amtrak for this. I do think it would be worthwhile to try traveling in a private room during a long distance trek. I haven't tried exploring beyond the dining car to see if this train has any.
We have a single power socket on our section of the wall, which we have used to recharge our laptops from their use in the train station (picture also posted later). So far access to gadget food has been a pleasant surprise. The people food, however, met my expectations exactly. Expensive, mediocre, and runs out fast. With the train being near full capacity the whole trip, several of the food choices have diminished before we ventured back to eat. Both hot and cold options were listed including pizza, hot wings, hot dogs, sub sandwiches, chips, candy, and a variety of drinks. I bet we will stock up on food supplies for the trip back.
The scenery as of late has been very pleasant. We are somewhere in West Virginia and there are creeks and rivers winding along our path, and we are surrounded by green foothills. At least I'm guessing they are foothills.
As the second section of our journey, things have gotten better. I would rate this long distance train better than the smaller, slow trains in Europe, but nowhere near the high speed, first class trains like the TGV, not surprising. Our first real stop will be Philadelphia where we will be attempting to use the public transit system to get around!
Update: Picture of power on the train
Boarding the train was different than I expected. All passengers getting on were lined up and we were allowed to board by size of group (large parties first) and then by the order that we were standing in line. They assigned us seats on the fly. Keith and I were the first couple in line so we were given seats at the front of the first train car. We have a large set of windows, seats that recline and have leg rests and foot rests. We were given the seat numbers to sit in when we boarded, but several people have switched seats as people have gotten off. The only complaint about our seats so far is that there is an Amish family sitting behind us and they woke up way earlier than my 3am bedtime would have preferred. Not only did they wake up early, but they were talking in normal voices across the aisle, not helping us get a full morning's rest. This could happen in any travel situation, so no marks against Amtrak for this. I do think it would be worthwhile to try traveling in a private room during a long distance trek. I haven't tried exploring beyond the dining car to see if this train has any.
We have a single power socket on our section of the wall, which we have used to recharge our laptops from their use in the train station (picture also posted later). So far access to gadget food has been a pleasant surprise. The people food, however, met my expectations exactly. Expensive, mediocre, and runs out fast. With the train being near full capacity the whole trip, several of the food choices have diminished before we ventured back to eat. Both hot and cold options were listed including pizza, hot wings, hot dogs, sub sandwiches, chips, candy, and a variety of drinks. I bet we will stock up on food supplies for the trip back.
The scenery as of late has been very pleasant. We are somewhere in West Virginia and there are creeks and rivers winding along our path, and we are surrounded by green foothills. At least I'm guessing they are foothills.
As the second section of our journey, things have gotten better. I would rate this long distance train better than the smaller, slow trains in Europe, but nowhere near the high speed, first class trains like the TGV, not surprising. Our first real stop will be Philadelphia where we will be attempting to use the public transit system to get around!
Update: Picture of power on the train
Trip Part 1: No Trains in Peoria!
My husband and I have finished the first section of our East Coast vacation and the adventures have already begun.
We have been planning on going east to visit friends and relatives for a couple of years and this one was set to be that year. I convinced my husband that we should take Amtrak out since we could travel between our three destinations via rail and I would love to see how good or bad US rail travel is. I had high hopes and was very excited.
The hardest part was planning our routes. I can't say that Amtrak's website is terrible, but it definitely leaves several things to be desired. I am only partially blaming this for our first "adventure" of the trip. Having never ridden Amtrak before, I probably should have called to get help in finding the best way from the midwest to the east. I saw that Peoria had an Amtrak station and we happen to have friends who live there. We decided this would make an easy starting point to our journey plus provide a place to stay overnight. Well surprise surprise when we find out that Amtrak doesn't actually have a station in Peoria. You get bussed to an Amtrak station. We found this out after our friends asked some co-workers and informed us when we arrived. They speculated that we would ride the bus about 30 minutes to the Bloomington-Normal station. Wrong! We got to ride the bus from Peoria to Indianapolis, about 5 hours including the various stops along the way. I felt my excitement hit the bottom of my stomach and I immediately felt terrible for pulling Keith into my crazy plans. So far he hasn't killed me or complained, but I'm still sorry!
Now why am I sorry? Nothing bad happened, we aren't later because of it, the other passengers were enlightening, but didn't interfere with anyone's trip. I think comes from two places: the fact that we didn't know ahead of time, and the fact that I realized my euphoria during our trip declined with this news. I believe I have just found a personal boarder between willing to do the "right thing" and finding little benefit while adding perceived unnecessary annoyance. Keith and I discussed the difference between driving a personal vehicle and riding a bus, and while I will proudly support people who always choose busing long distances, to me, this will always be the last option I look at and will most likely pass on. I imagine that I won't be on any more long distance buses unless it is involved in a group tour. Sorry, here is my limit.
I am currently writing this in the Indianapolis station so we still have quite a way to go on our journey. While sitting here I have been comparing my surroundings to my other travels. There are large wooden benches reminiscent of old train stations. Not the most comfortable if you have to sit for three hours, but they do add some charm if you pretend you're in an old movie. The lack of wireless is unfortunate considering our long "layover", but that isn't a given at all airports either. Maybe we will have better luck further along our trip. The buzzing lights also detract from an otherwise sparsely occupied, quiet environment. The object of awesomeness here is that there is a charging station available to charge electronics (I will post separately when i can pull the picture off our camera). Now why can't more airports have these? I am impressed.
This is just the first post for this trip, so check back for an update and my first impression of actually being on an Amtrak train (still hopeful).
Updated: Picture of the charging station
We have been planning on going east to visit friends and relatives for a couple of years and this one was set to be that year. I convinced my husband that we should take Amtrak out since we could travel between our three destinations via rail and I would love to see how good or bad US rail travel is. I had high hopes and was very excited.
The hardest part was planning our routes. I can't say that Amtrak's website is terrible, but it definitely leaves several things to be desired. I am only partially blaming this for our first "adventure" of the trip. Having never ridden Amtrak before, I probably should have called to get help in finding the best way from the midwest to the east. I saw that Peoria had an Amtrak station and we happen to have friends who live there. We decided this would make an easy starting point to our journey plus provide a place to stay overnight. Well surprise surprise when we find out that Amtrak doesn't actually have a station in Peoria. You get bussed to an Amtrak station. We found this out after our friends asked some co-workers and informed us when we arrived. They speculated that we would ride the bus about 30 minutes to the Bloomington-Normal station. Wrong! We got to ride the bus from Peoria to Indianapolis, about 5 hours including the various stops along the way. I felt my excitement hit the bottom of my stomach and I immediately felt terrible for pulling Keith into my crazy plans. So far he hasn't killed me or complained, but I'm still sorry!
Now why am I sorry? Nothing bad happened, we aren't later because of it, the other passengers were enlightening, but didn't interfere with anyone's trip. I think comes from two places: the fact that we didn't know ahead of time, and the fact that I realized my euphoria during our trip declined with this news. I believe I have just found a personal boarder between willing to do the "right thing" and finding little benefit while adding perceived unnecessary annoyance. Keith and I discussed the difference between driving a personal vehicle and riding a bus, and while I will proudly support people who always choose busing long distances, to me, this will always be the last option I look at and will most likely pass on. I imagine that I won't be on any more long distance buses unless it is involved in a group tour. Sorry, here is my limit.
I am currently writing this in the Indianapolis station so we still have quite a way to go on our journey. While sitting here I have been comparing my surroundings to my other travels. There are large wooden benches reminiscent of old train stations. Not the most comfortable if you have to sit for three hours, but they do add some charm if you pretend you're in an old movie. The lack of wireless is unfortunate considering our long "layover", but that isn't a given at all airports either. Maybe we will have better luck further along our trip. The buzzing lights also detract from an otherwise sparsely occupied, quiet environment. The object of awesomeness here is that there is a charging station available to charge electronics (I will post separately when i can pull the picture off our camera). Now why can't more airports have these? I am impressed.
This is just the first post for this trip, so check back for an update and my first impression of actually being on an Amtrak train (still hopeful).
Updated: Picture of the charging station
Thursday, June 19, 2008
No Bikes Allowed?
Brief bit of background... I have been pretty busy lately because my company's building was one of the many that were affected by the flooding in Iowa. We now have a temporary location which means that I needed to try out a somewhat new transportation route to get there.
The way our bus routes are set up means that any cross town destinations include a transfer at the central hub. I can still ride my normal route to the hub, but now I need to take an additional route to the new location. I decided to do a test run since I was on my way down to help clear out the building and I used my Strida to get to my first bus. Other than it taking almost twice as long to get to work, the trip down went smoothly. (Note: I was impressed especially since the normal bus hub was destroyed by the flood and they are using a new location with tents as a building right now.)
What prompted me to write this post happened on the way home. I rode the first route back to the transfer point and caught the second leg of my journey. There was one other guy already on the bus. I sat down and held the Strida right in front of me as usual and then the bus driver said something about it. I didn't quite hear him and figured it was a typical "what is that?" or "that's interesting/cool/weird." comment, but I asked him to repeat. He asked if it was something that I still didn't catch and I responded with "It's a folding bike." Then came the comment... "Well you can't have bikes on the bus." Ok, I understand that, but this is a folding bike, and I'm moving to the front of the bus because you just prompted an in depth discussion.
A polite verbal discussion ensued, and below I have a few of his points and my responses:
Other tidbits:
We talked about the buses getting bike racks and he shared that he has worked in large metropolitan transit organizations (no specifics) where people have taken another passenger's bike off the rack if it was nicer than theirs. I don't imagine this to be a huge problem in CR, but I could be surprised. He also said several times that he personally didn't care if I had the folding bike on the bus, but "the rules say...". Apparently he is a runner and bikes himself, so he is very excited that he can ride his bike to work, put it on the bus he's driving, and then take it off to go home. I don't agree with him taking up a space that actual transit riders would use, but I didn't mention it because we had reached my stop.
So for anyone who might read this, what do you think about folding bikes, or compact transportation in general, being allowed or not on public transit? I know large cities handle it, but I don't have personal experience there. Am I at fault because bicycles are not allowed, or should rules be bent or updated to handle alternative transportation that is reasonable?
The way our bus routes are set up means that any cross town destinations include a transfer at the central hub. I can still ride my normal route to the hub, but now I need to take an additional route to the new location. I decided to do a test run since I was on my way down to help clear out the building and I used my Strida to get to my first bus. Other than it taking almost twice as long to get to work, the trip down went smoothly. (Note: I was impressed especially since the normal bus hub was destroyed by the flood and they are using a new location with tents as a building right now.)
What prompted me to write this post happened on the way home. I rode the first route back to the transfer point and caught the second leg of my journey. There was one other guy already on the bus. I sat down and held the Strida right in front of me as usual and then the bus driver said something about it. I didn't quite hear him and figured it was a typical "what is that?" or "that's interesting/cool/weird." comment, but I asked him to repeat. He asked if it was something that I still didn't catch and I responded with "It's a folding bike." Then came the comment... "Well you can't have bikes on the bus." Ok, I understand that, but this is a folding bike, and I'm moving to the front of the bus because you just prompted an in depth discussion.
A polite verbal discussion ensued, and below I have a few of his points and my responses:
| Driver | Me |
| The rules say no bicycles on the bus. | Hmm, first driver to tell my I can't bring this on. I'm surprised it hasn't come up before. As I understand it, the rule is meant for full size bikes because they take up so much space. Mine is folded and compact, and in the same space as my feet. No one could be where it is unless they wanted to sit on my lap. |
| If everyone can't do it, no one can. If everyone brought their folding bike on the bus, there wouldn't be enough room and they would have to wait for the next bus. | If everyone one brought their child in a stroller, there wouldn't be enough room. Cedar Rapids would be so lucky to have that problem. If enough people have to wait for the next bus because they are full, maybe buses should run more frequently, again we would be so lucky... |
| If everyone brought their stroller, the transit directors would make a rule that strollers couldn't come on either. I have a unicycle, should I be able to bring that on the bus? | Yes you should be able to bring your unicycle on the bus as long as you can keep it out of the way. |
Other tidbits:
We talked about the buses getting bike racks and he shared that he has worked in large metropolitan transit organizations (no specifics) where people have taken another passenger's bike off the rack if it was nicer than theirs. I don't imagine this to be a huge problem in CR, but I could be surprised. He also said several times that he personally didn't care if I had the folding bike on the bus, but "the rules say...". Apparently he is a runner and bikes himself, so he is very excited that he can ride his bike to work, put it on the bus he's driving, and then take it off to go home. I don't agree with him taking up a space that actual transit riders would use, but I didn't mention it because we had reached my stop.
So for anyone who might read this, what do you think about folding bikes, or compact transportation in general, being allowed or not on public transit? I know large cities handle it, but I don't have personal experience there. Am I at fault because bicycles are not allowed, or should rules be bent or updated to handle alternative transportation that is reasonable?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Fewer Cars Than People
How many families do you know that have a car for each family member? How many have more cars than people? Well my husband and I have been testing the one car per family lifestyle and after two successful months, have decided it works perfectly fine for us! We started by not driving my 1996 Honda Civic. It was there if we needed it, but during most of the two months it has been blocked by mulch and we have never had a reason to free it.
Our system relies most heavily on public transportation. My husband drops me off at the bus stop or I ride my Strida to the stop and take the bus from there. Now that the weather is nicer, I have the option of riding my full size bike all the way into work. The one time that I drove to work, my husband was working from home. When making this decision we thought of scenarios where we would both need a car. We decided that if we run into one of those situations, it is just as easy to rent a car the few times that we will need an extra. We also discussed when we would need to own two cars again. For us, this would be when we decide to have kids, but this would hinge on if we really needed another vehicle. I don't subscribe to the belief that having one child requires that you get another car. This includes adding cars and getting a bigger vehicle. I completely understand the reasons where it is required, but there is still the opportunity to maintain a one car household with one kid. This will be one of those play it as we go situations to ensure that we make the right choice.
As of right now, my Honda is getting tuned up to be passed along to my brother and replace his less efficient S10. Hopefully we will make the hand off this weekend and gain a large area in our garage! The other nicety is that our car insurance will go down a little bit. It won't be a life changing amount since my car is old and we don't have full coverage on it, but it will still be more money that we can put to other, more exciting things.
So try out a new transportation style. Not everyone can give up a vehicle, but driving one less day a week or one less week a month will not only save you gas money, but open your eyes to changes you can make, or changes in transportation that your community could make to help out its citizens.
Our system relies most heavily on public transportation. My husband drops me off at the bus stop or I ride my Strida to the stop and take the bus from there. Now that the weather is nicer, I have the option of riding my full size bike all the way into work. The one time that I drove to work, my husband was working from home. When making this decision we thought of scenarios where we would both need a car. We decided that if we run into one of those situations, it is just as easy to rent a car the few times that we will need an extra. We also discussed when we would need to own two cars again. For us, this would be when we decide to have kids, but this would hinge on if we really needed another vehicle. I don't subscribe to the belief that having one child requires that you get another car. This includes adding cars and getting a bigger vehicle. I completely understand the reasons where it is required, but there is still the opportunity to maintain a one car household with one kid. This will be one of those play it as we go situations to ensure that we make the right choice.
As of right now, my Honda is getting tuned up to be passed along to my brother and replace his less efficient S10. Hopefully we will make the hand off this weekend and gain a large area in our garage! The other nicety is that our car insurance will go down a little bit. It won't be a life changing amount since my car is old and we don't have full coverage on it, but it will still be more money that we can put to other, more exciting things.
So try out a new transportation style. Not everyone can give up a vehicle, but driving one less day a week or one less week a month will not only save you gas money, but open your eyes to changes you can make, or changes in transportation that your community could make to help out its citizens.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
First Strida Ride!
Today was the perfect rush of adrenaline. We were running late and missed the opportunity to catch my usual bus. My husband was sick and I felt bad that he was burdened to drop me off at my bus stop. The weather was a nice 45-ish degrees and the roads had finally rid themselves of snow. With all of these conditions perfectly aligned, I made the quick decision to break in my Strida and find out if my solution had any hope. The short story is that it worked! I got to the bus stop and back home in one piece. My morning bus driver suggested my solution to another rider, and I got plenty of comments (providing great leads into encouraging other people to bike or ride the bus). The long story involves some areas that I would like to improve for my next trips and comments about the bike. Here is my list:
That is all I have for now, along with a bunch of excitement that my scheme worked on the first try! Now to commit to getting rid of my car...
- The ride is much more vertical than I'm used to. This is something I knew ahead of time and I'll just have to get used to it. My main problem is that habit makes me try to dismount forward of the seat. This *doesn't work* since it's an A frame and there is a big bar there. I really need to remember this so I don't continue to look ridiculous when getting off!
- I need to aim better when putting the two wheels together in the folded position. The magnets are quite strong and pull the wheels together quickly, so I didn't get them centered well this morning, which provided opportunities for the wheels to separate when I pushed the bike over cracks and bumps.
- Weight is important! The bike was actually pretty heavy to steer even though I was just pushing it. It's more that you have to control the direction of the bike and keep it from wobbling too much, so hopefully this will get easier as I become more adequate at driving a folded bike.
- I need to find straps/Velcro/something to hold the handles still when they are folded down. They currently flop around and can get caught on various things while trying to steer the folded bike. They were also a problem on the bus. I was able to fit the bike right in front of me on the bus, so that it was between my seat and the seat in front of me. The handles are about head level and could smack me in the face or hit the person in front of me in the head. Luckily neither of those things happened today, but I did spend the whole time on both bus trips holding the handles still.
- I love that there are straps to lock the breaks. The was so helpful while I was both waiting for buses and on the buses.
- The bike is adequate for riding the approximate mile that I have to get to the bus stop, but I wouldn't want to go touring around with it.
That is all I have for now, along with a bunch of excitement that my scheme worked on the first try! Now to commit to getting rid of my car...
Monday, February 4, 2008
Smarty Pants
Along with buying the Strida in Chicago, we also went north to Lincolnwood to test drive a Smart Car. We had no intention of buying one, but I really wanted to get inside and see what they were like to drive.
I scheduled our test drive online to make sure we didn't drive all that way and have to wait in a line or something. We met with one of the sales guys and then someone that knew more of the nitty gritty details gave us a tour and test drive. Let me tell you, these cars put everything into perspective. They are very small compared to the SUVs the US has lovingly embraced, and it blatantly points out how little room you really need (if you don't have kids in the car). And this small that I speak of is in no way a negative in my opinion. You get in the car and you forget that you are driving the smallest car on the market. It had very little difference in "size" feel from my Honda Civic. It feels very secure and stable not like a toy as I imagined. Better proof of my testament is my husband's reaction. He really just went along to make me happy and had very little interest in the car, but after he drove it he was blown away at how nice it felt to drive.
The car is an automatic manual so it has the fake manual shifting provided through paddles similar to what I hear is in the Pacifica. I'm not a car person so I can't give you good specifics, and questions might be better answered on the Smart Car website or you can feel free to ask them in the comments and I'll dig through the documentation we were given, but no promises! Below are some pictures that we took of the Smart Pure and Smart Passion Coupe models.
Me in the Smart Pure which is the bottom of the line model. It comes with automatic locks and that is pretty much it. No air conditioning, no super brake things, no power windows, very pure.
Below is a comparison of the dash in the Pure (left) and the Coupe (right). Of course you can upgrade the Pure if you want some of the features in the Coupe.
Trunk shots. The first is looking from the driver seat to the back of the car and the second is with the tailgate down. The tailgate also has a compartment for storage.
One of the disappointments is the mpg rating. I was expecting it to get 50+ mpg and some stories reported 60-70 mpg before release. The EPA says that it only gets 33 in town and 41 highway according their upgraded 2008 testing. The Smart's website also shows its 2007 rating, before the EPA changed, as 40/45. I wondered how this could be with such a small car, but the nitty gritty guy pretty much answered it when he told us that the US version had to be beefed up to weigh almost 200 lbs more than the UK model.
Driving the Smart made me wish that we had a good reason to buy one, but both of our cars get good gas mileage and we're actually thinking about getting rid of one of them because we don't use two frequently enough. If you're lucky enough to live near a dealership or don't mind driving to get to one, I highly recommend taking one for a test drive just to get a new perspective on small cars.
I scheduled our test drive online to make sure we didn't drive all that way and have to wait in a line or something. We met with one of the sales guys and then someone that knew more of the nitty gritty details gave us a tour and test drive. Let me tell you, these cars put everything into perspective. They are very small compared to the SUVs the US has lovingly embraced, and it blatantly points out how little room you really need (if you don't have kids in the car). And this small that I speak of is in no way a negative in my opinion. You get in the car and you forget that you are driving the smallest car on the market. It had very little difference in "size" feel from my Honda Civic. It feels very secure and stable not like a toy as I imagined. Better proof of my testament is my husband's reaction. He really just went along to make me happy and had very little interest in the car, but after he drove it he was blown away at how nice it felt to drive.
The car is an automatic manual so it has the fake manual shifting provided through paddles similar to what I hear is in the Pacifica. I'm not a car person so I can't give you good specifics, and questions might be better answered on the Smart Car website or you can feel free to ask them in the comments and I'll dig through the documentation we were given, but no promises! Below are some pictures that we took of the Smart Pure and Smart Passion Coupe models.
Me in the Smart Pure which is the bottom of the line model. It comes with automatic locks and that is pretty much it. No air conditioning, no super brake things, no power windows, very pure.
Below is a comparison of the dash in the Pure (left) and the Coupe (right). Of course you can upgrade the Pure if you want some of the features in the Coupe.
Trunk shots. The first is looking from the driver seat to the back of the car and the second is with the tailgate down. The tailgate also has a compartment for storage.
One of the disappointments is the mpg rating. I was expecting it to get 50+ mpg and some stories reported 60-70 mpg before release. The EPA says that it only gets 33 in town and 41 highway according their upgraded 2008 testing. The Smart's website also shows its 2007 rating, before the EPA changed, as 40/45. I wondered how this could be with such a small car, but the nitty gritty guy pretty much answered it when he told us that the US version had to be beefed up to weigh almost 200 lbs more than the UK model.
Driving the Smart made me wish that we had a good reason to buy one, but both of our cars get good gas mileage and we're actually thinking about getting rid of one of them because we don't use two frequently enough. If you're lucky enough to live near a dealership or don't mind driving to get to one, I highly recommend taking one for a test drive just to get a new perspective on small cars.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Benefits of a Contortionist
This past weekend my husband and I went to Chicago with several missions. We visited quite a few of our friends, but I also had other reasons for going. The first was to find a folding bike.
Background: I have started riding our bus system almost daily. In fact there are few reasons that I don't ride any more. One is not waking up in time which isn't usually me being lazy, but rather because I'm sick. This doesn't happen often and all I can do to control it is prevention. Another cause is if my husband is sick or otherwise unable to take me to the bus stop. This also isn't me just being lazy, but instead a problem of our city's bus system. The closest bus stop to our house is only a 14 minute walk, but it only comes every hour and a half and the times don't work well with my schedule. The second closest option is 1.4 miles according to Google Maps so my husband drops me off on his way to work and this requires him to be a part of the plan which can cause problems for both of us.
Options: I can increase my riding rate by finding an alternate way of getting to the bus stop. One option would be for the large post office parking lot across from the stop to double as a park and ride, but that will take a lot of pushing and more people than just me to make that official, plus that would require me to drive and I don't like that option even if it is only 1.4 miles. I could walk, but maybe I am being lazy here or maybe thinking of the unshoveled sidewalks turns me off. This would also require me to get up earlier to allow time to walk and if I'm going to do that I might as well take the bus that comes closer.
Solution: Ride a bike. This is not a complete solution because our buses don't have bike racks and I wouldn't be allowed to bring a full size bike on the bus. The complete package is to ride a folding bike to the bus stop, fold it up and then hop on the bus. I started looking into this option several months ago and have been digging through the options since then. There are several companies that sell folding bikes and for the most part they are just like regular bikes with frames that allow the folding part. Of course these won't work for me. These "regular" folding bikes fold into a compact form I call a "bike ball" and they almost require a bag to be easily carried. I wanted something that folded into a form similar to an umbrella or cheap baby stroller. In all of my searching I could only find two options, the Strida and the A-Bike (see comparison video here). I preferred the A-Bike because it was the smaller, lighter, and more compact of the two even if Ryan thought it looked like a circus clown bike. The problem is that they are currently sold out and I sometimes have problems with patience. The other problem was that I could only get one from the UK as they have no US dealers and I like to try before I buy. This is how the Strida became the better option and I decided that I needed to go to Chicago (the closest dealer to me) and check one out. That brings me to today, well yesterday, when we arrived at Rapid Transit Cycle Shop. I talked with the sales rep for quite a while on their experience with the Strida, the positives, the potential negatives and I was very pleased with his helpfulness and honesty about the bike. He also showed me a Bike Friday folding bike which was the closest "regular" folding bike in weight that they sold and they highly recommended. I decided that the folded form would not work in my situation and went with the Strida especially after he told me they had a trial period and would be somewhat flexible with me since I lived so far away. The following is a series of pictures of me demoing how the Strida folds along with some tidbits that I discussed with the sales rep.
Me on the Strida. Both the Strida and A-Bike are called A Frame bikes so they are more upright than a normal bike. This one makes me sit almost straight up. The seat is adjustable for different heights so others may not be as upright as I am.
This is the Strida by itself. It also came with a rack that I had them take off at the shop. I still
have it, but I plan on using my back pack to transport stuff and the rack just added extra weight and an extra thing to get in the way.
The pedals fold in to stay out of the way.
The bottom part of the A frame attaches to the front with a pin clip. It slides right on and clicks into place, and to take it off you push on a tab to release and pull up.
The sales rep mentioned that this was the part that I had to be the most careful with. The top point of the "A" is a pivot point that has a spring and a plastic cap. They experienced a problem with the plastic cap cracking when the front leg is allowed to go much further forward than it is when fully assembled. Strida did supply them with a replacement cap, but it's something to note.
Next, the front leg swivels to the side enough to get it past the pedals and lock into place with the rear wheel. Magnets on both wheel axles keep the wheels together. I noticed that the magnets are very strong and it is pretty hard for me to get them apart. While looking through the manual tonight I found a section that talked about changing the strength of the magnets. I may have to play with this if it continues to be too hard for me to pry apart.
The last fold of the frame is to bring the bottom bar up and snap it between the two other bars. This feels very secure and provides that umbrella form that I was looking for.
The last folding that is
done is the handle bars. they pop out and fold down. There are also loops at the end to hold the brakes down and lock the wheels if you want to lean the bike against a wall.
And now you have a folded Strida ready to roll or hang out in a tight spot.
I haven't had a chance to put the Strida into action yet and we just received another dose of snow today so it may not happen right away. Some things that I will note that I don't like, yet still purchased to try out. The last picture shows how tall the bike is when folded. It is taller than I would like in a perfect world and that is one of the key reasons I preferred the idea of the A-Bike. The A-Bike has telescoping legs so it folds into a shorter package. Also, it is pretty heavy. It is listed at almost 20 lbs. which could get annoying if you had a long distance to carry or maneuver it. These two issues will be ones that I plan on analyzing to see if this solution works for me. I will be posting updates about my Strida experience as I give it a try.
Background: I have started riding our bus system almost daily. In fact there are few reasons that I don't ride any more. One is not waking up in time which isn't usually me being lazy, but rather because I'm sick. This doesn't happen often and all I can do to control it is prevention. Another cause is if my husband is sick or otherwise unable to take me to the bus stop. This also isn't me just being lazy, but instead a problem of our city's bus system. The closest bus stop to our house is only a 14 minute walk, but it only comes every hour and a half and the times don't work well with my schedule. The second closest option is 1.4 miles according to Google Maps so my husband drops me off on his way to work and this requires him to be a part of the plan which can cause problems for both of us.
Options: I can increase my riding rate by finding an alternate way of getting to the bus stop. One option would be for the large post office parking lot across from the stop to double as a park and ride, but that will take a lot of pushing and more people than just me to make that official, plus that would require me to drive and I don't like that option even if it is only 1.4 miles. I could walk, but maybe I am being lazy here or maybe thinking of the unshoveled sidewalks turns me off. This would also require me to get up earlier to allow time to walk and if I'm going to do that I might as well take the bus that comes closer.
Solution: Ride a bike. This is not a complete solution because our buses don't have bike racks and I wouldn't be allowed to bring a full size bike on the bus. The complete package is to ride a folding bike to the bus stop, fold it up and then hop on the bus. I started looking into this option several months ago and have been digging through the options since then. There are several companies that sell folding bikes and for the most part they are just like regular bikes with frames that allow the folding part. Of course these won't work for me. These "regular" folding bikes fold into a compact form I call a "bike ball" and they almost require a bag to be easily carried. I wanted something that folded into a form similar to an umbrella or cheap baby stroller. In all of my searching I could only find two options, the Strida and the A-Bike (see comparison video here). I preferred the A-Bike because it was the smaller, lighter, and more compact of the two even if Ryan thought it looked like a circus clown bike. The problem is that they are currently sold out and I sometimes have problems with patience. The other problem was that I could only get one from the UK as they have no US dealers and I like to try before I buy. This is how the Strida became the better option and I decided that I needed to go to Chicago (the closest dealer to me) and check one out. That brings me to today, well yesterday, when we arrived at Rapid Transit Cycle Shop. I talked with the sales rep for quite a while on their experience with the Strida, the positives, the potential negatives and I was very pleased with his helpfulness and honesty about the bike. He also showed me a Bike Friday folding bike which was the closest "regular" folding bike in weight that they sold and they highly recommended. I decided that the folded form would not work in my situation and went with the Strida especially after he told me they had a trial period and would be somewhat flexible with me since I lived so far away. The following is a series of pictures of me demoing how the Strida folds along with some tidbits that I discussed with the sales rep.
Me on the Strida. Both the Strida and A-Bike are called A Frame bikes so they are more upright than a normal bike. This one makes me sit almost straight up. The seat is adjustable for different heights so others may not be as upright as I am.This is the Strida by itself. It also came with a rack that I had them take off at the shop. I still
have it, but I plan on using my back pack to transport stuff and the rack just added extra weight and an extra thing to get in the way.The pedals fold in to stay out of the way.
The bottom part of the A frame attaches to the front with a pin clip. It slides right on and clicks into place, and to take it off you push on a tab to release and pull up.
The sales rep mentioned that this was the part that I had to be the most careful with. The top point of the "A" is a pivot point that has a spring and a plastic cap. They experienced a problem with the plastic cap cracking when the front leg is allowed to go much further forward than it is when fully assembled. Strida did supply them with a replacement cap, but it's something to note.
Next, the front leg swivels to the side enough to get it past the pedals and lock into place with the rear wheel. Magnets on both wheel axles keep the wheels together. I noticed that the magnets are very strong and it is pretty hard for me to get them apart. While looking through the manual tonight I found a section that talked about changing the strength of the magnets. I may have to play with this if it continues to be too hard for me to pry apart.
The last fold of the frame is to bring the bottom bar up and snap it between the two other bars. This feels very secure and provides that umbrella form that I was looking for.The last folding that is
done is the handle bars. they pop out and fold down. There are also loops at the end to hold the brakes down and lock the wheels if you want to lean the bike against a wall.
And now you have a folded Strida ready to roll or hang out in a tight spot.
I haven't had a chance to put the Strida into action yet and we just received another dose of snow today so it may not happen right away. Some things that I will note that I don't like, yet still purchased to try out. The last picture shows how tall the bike is when folded. It is taller than I would like in a perfect world and that is one of the key reasons I preferred the idea of the A-Bike. The A-Bike has telescoping legs so it folds into a shorter package. Also, it is pretty heavy. It is listed at almost 20 lbs. which could get annoying if you had a long distance to carry or maneuver it. These two issues will be ones that I plan on analyzing to see if this solution works for me. I will be posting updates about my Strida experience as I give it a try.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
90 mpg Honda Civic
Someone posted this on another car forum that I'm a member of, and I found it somewhat interesting.
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthread.php?t=290
It's a a Honda Civic that's been modified for aerodynamics & fuel efficiency. Can't say I can stomach the looks, but at 80-90 MPG, you can't argue with the results.
I wonder what small things we could all do to our vehicles to add a few MPG without making them look quite so outrageous?
--JOsh
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthread.php?t=290
It's a a Honda Civic that's been modified for aerodynamics & fuel efficiency. Can't say I can stomach the looks, but at 80-90 MPG, you can't argue with the results.
I wonder what small things we could all do to our vehicles to add a few MPG without making them look quite so outrageous?
--JOsh
True Stories
This past year I have become more vocal and more active in green awareness. I didn't make this a goal at first and really just woke up one day and realized that I was already being proactive, so why not put some thought into it? For me, the best turning point I can think of was when I started to ride the city bus to work. I came to love using the buses where I went to college because they provided a warm, dry, quick way for me to get around campus and they were free for students. In my adult life, a city bus route was a 3 minute walk from my apartment and the downtown station was a closer walk than the free company parking lot. It also became free for me to take the bus a few months after I started riding because my company started providing free bus passes to employees. From this change I started slowly adding other environmentally conscious aspects to my life, but it still took a while before I completely woke up to what I could do.
After purchasing a house I felt more empowered to make important choices and that my decisions really had an effect, plus it was fun for me. I started looking for eco-friendly cleaning products, and I got overwhelmed by this so we still use whatever I have leftover from when I lived in an apartment along with a few eco-friendly samples. We also started painting rooms in our house and just completed the third painting project. This last time we used no VOC paint from Sherwin Williams and I think we finally have an efficient painting process even if we aren't perfect yet. Each time I try something new and am successful, I feel good even if I'm just easing in.
In future posts I plan on sharing more information about current projects my husband and I have planned for our house and other changes we're making in our lives to evolve.
After purchasing a house I felt more empowered to make important choices and that my decisions really had an effect, plus it was fun for me. I started looking for eco-friendly cleaning products, and I got overwhelmed by this so we still use whatever I have leftover from when I lived in an apartment along with a few eco-friendly samples. We also started painting rooms in our house and just completed the third painting project. This last time we used no VOC paint from Sherwin Williams and I think we finally have an efficient painting process even if we aren't perfect yet. Each time I try something new and am successful, I feel good even if I'm just easing in.
In future posts I plan on sharing more information about current projects my husband and I have planned for our house and other changes we're making in our lives to evolve.
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