Is it possible that we are actually changing our driving habits?  In a recent Esquire story, Nate Silver makes a convincing argument for “The End of Car Culture”.  A bad economy and high gas prices are not the only factors fueling this change.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, Americans have driven less for 15 consecutive months.  Now, I can understand the decline in driving when gas prices spiked last summer, but the trend has continued even after the gas prices fell.  This is a dramatic adjustment from our past behavior.

The bad economy and high unemployment can also be credited with a decline in driving, but there seems to be more at work here.  We seem to be trying to wean ourselves from our car dependency.  For further evidence, just look at the decline in auto sales over the last 18 months.

One other trend to follow is housing prices.  In the last 4 years, cities equipped with superior alternate modes of transportation have seen large gains in the price of housing while cities that are highly dependant on cars have seen sharp declines.

I have been reading a book by Chris Balish entitled “How To Live Well Without Owning A Car”.  Click on this link to read the book through Google books.  It is a good read and he raises some excellent points:

Save money, breathe easier, and get more mileage out of life.

You may be surprised at the actual monthly cost of owning a car and how much you could save without one.  Maybe you are a multiple car family and could get by with one less car?

Well, I hope this trend continues.  Reducing the miles driven has so many positive effects on our daily lives.  Are you driving less than a year ago?  Do you have plans to reduce your driving in the coming months?  I hope so, let me know.

photo credit: jtriefen

I saw the image below on Treehugger today and thought they made an excellent point for the power of an image.  We can talk and talk about the differences between transportation types, but these pictures clearly illustrate the advantages.

In the comments, a few readers have made a good case for a fourth image to represent walking, which I agree, is a very valid position.  Wouldn’t that be nice, a clear street with just people?

Obviously, I would argue the first picture would look much different with Passenger Energy.  If each car carried 3 passengers with a driver instead of the typical single occupancy vehicle, then we could remove 75% of the cars.

The story goes on to mention an article that the author, Michael Graham Richard, wrote 4 years ago.  The story titled: Have You Reduced Your Dependence on Cars? is a very good read, again with some great comments.

We all need to make a concerted effort to move away from cars as our primary source of transportation.  Car pooling, mass transit, biking and yes, even walking are wonderful alternatives.  You don’t have to sell your car, just use it less.

photo credit: Press-Office City of Müenster, Germany

My kids love getting the mail this time of year and then fighting over who gets to open the envelopes holding the Christmas cards.  They smile while looking at pictures of friends they see all the time and some they have never met (yes, Mom and Dad’s old friends have kids too).  These cards are a wonderful reminder of all the friends and family in our lives.  We tape them on the walls to enjoy them the entire holiday season.

So people all across the country pick out thier cards, address each one and drop them in the mail.  Then what?  Did you ever think about how the mail actually travels?  Can you imagine having to hand deliver each one?  Think about the incredible inefficiency of having to drive to the house or apartment of each family.  Without the post office, you would have to deliver them yourself or use a high priced courier service to carry each card to their specific destination.

On a typical day, the US Post Office will handle around 700 million pieces of mail, but some days in December the volume can exceed 900 million.  This can only be accomplished with a well designed system that continually improves over time.

Starting up an idea like Passenger Energy must be similar to establishing the first post office.  Where do we begin?  Just sharing one or two rides will not have a significant impact, but if a paid ride sharing system was created and improved over time then we would really have something.  The potential efficiency of 250 million drivers sharing unused passenger capacity with millions of riders could solve many of today’s problems.

The rich can avoid traffic, but what about the rest of us?

Congestion pricing charges motorists an additional toll to use a stretch of highway, a bridge or to enter a particular area during peak travel time.  Also known as “Lexus lanes”, these cater to the rich and hurt average working people who can not afford them.  Many auto commuters lack access to convenient mass transit, so you can not penalize them without first investing in improved rail and bus service.

In the Summer of 2007, New York City Mayor proposed a plan to introduce congestion pricing in Manhattan.  The plan proposed charging passenger cars $8 a day and commercial vehicles $21 a day for the right to drive below 86th street.  The plan stalled in Albany, but it is sure to come back in the future.

While researching this topic, I found an interesting short 4 minute film that makes a string case for congestion pricing.  Although when I watch this, I think it makes an even better argument for Pay4Rides.

In the film, there is a good quote from Bob Kiley, the Former Commissioner: Transport for London.:

“Under the skin, most of us don’t like change.  We’ll put up with bad circumstances because we fear the consequences of change.  Maybe it could be worse than it already is.”

I agree that many of us feel this way, but fear should not stop us from doing the right thing.

Reward for riding together

A high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane is typically reserved for a vehicle with a driver and one or more passengers.  Sometimes reward single occupant vehicles if they are hybrid or use alternative fuel.

They can also be used to improve bus and van traffic.  HOV lanes often carry more people than adjacent regular lanes of traffic and can also be designed as reversible lanes.  They can then serve double duty by carrying inbound traffic during the morning rush and outbound traffic during the evening ride home.

Why not reward drivers who reduce traffic, save energy and help the environment?  I think the least we can do is shorten their commuting time.

photo credit: Bitpicture

Just use a car when you need it

Zipcar is a car rental company with a twist.  Members can reserve a car and get billed by the hour or day.  This car sharing concept works well in major cities allowing its’ members easy access and convenience.

For mass adoption of this idea, the real question is would people be willing to get rid of their car?  If you do not need a car every day, this can be a very good alternative saving you many of the expenses of car ownership.

The benefits of a Zipcar members include:

1. not purchasing a car
2. selling the car they have
3. driving less
4. using other transportation

One Zipcar can replace 20 privately-owned vehicles resulting in reduced demand for urban parking and less congestion on the roads.  They offer an occasional driving plan and extra value plans.

The average car is driven just 1.5 hours a day, which means it is not being used 22.5 hours each day.  I wonder if this concept could be extended to individual owners willing to share their own cars for a fee?

photo credit: NCinDC

How a letter travels is analogous to each driver traveling their own unique route instead of traveling together for efficiency.  Today most of us are using something similar to a high priced courier service where each individual travels non stop directly from point A to Point B.  Passenger Energy would enable us to take advantage of lower priced delivery options.

If you look at the major shipping carriers, they include:

• US Postal Service – handles more than 44% of the daily mail volume

• UPS – the primary package carrier for Ground delivery

• FedEx – “When it absolutely has to be there overnight”

• DHL/Airborne – door-to-door express service for world wide delivery

• Courier Services – special services and same day rush deliveries

Can you imagine sending every piece of mail via Courier Services instead of all the other options?  The cost and inefficiency would be staggering.  Can we somehow apply the genius of our shipping systems to the problem of commuter traffic?

photo credit: divemasterking2000

More than 700 million pieces of mail are sorted and delivered by the US Postal Service each delivery day, so how does a letter travel?

1. Deposit a letter in a collection box
2. Mail is collected at the local post office and sent to a mail processing plant
3. At the processing plant, a machine rapidly separates by shape and applies a postmark
4. Each letter is then identified with a barcode representing the address
5. Mail is then further sorted into ranges of zip codes
6. The sorted mail is then placed on airplanes to move across the country
7. Once at the destination airport, it is moved to another mail processing plant that splits the mail to the branch or post office that will deliver the letter
8. The mail is then further split to individual carriers are sorted in delivery order
9. Finally the mail carrier makes the delivery

If people could travel the bulk of their trip with ride sharing, then mass transit could cover the last 10-20%.  We just need an efficient way to group rides and allow passengers to travel together for a greatly improved transportation system.

Imagine you are heading to NYC.  You see someone waiting at a stop and you provide them with a ride.  It does not cost you anything.  They get a faster ride (no stops) and pay you less than a typical bus ride.  You both win and so does the environment.

photo credit: kimberlyfaye