House Bill threatens Safe Routes to School & Transportation Enhancements

Here’s some food for thought (courtesy of our friends at America Bikes):

•Walking and biking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding.

•Two out of three pedestrian deaths take place on roads built with federal funding. Ensuring funds for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways help end preventable deaths and make roads safer for everyone.

•When town centers are walking- and biking-friendly, business and economic development improves.

If you find those points interesting, you might want to use them in a letter to your congressman. The much anticipated and debated American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure– Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. On February 2, just a week from today, the House Transportation Committee will vote to send the bill to the House floor.

Two NC Representatives are on the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Howard Coble (6th district) and Rep. Heath Shuler (11th district).  Even if your representive is not on the committee, once it passes it will be a just a few weeks before it makes it to the House floor where all members will get a chance to vote. Make sure your voice is heard. Find your representive here. Need some talking points to get you started? Check here.

Edit: The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act  should be released on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, DC StreetsBlog has a post on a summary that’s been circulating for a few days.

Best Bets by Bus: Triangle Restaurant Week, Jan. 23-29

Triangle Restaurant Week starts Monday, January 23 and ends Sunday, January 28. Do you have any plans to check out any of the special offerings?

The Triangle has an abundance of good eats and guess what– a lot of them are transit-accessible. The arrival of Triangle Restaurant Week gives you a great opportunity to get out and taste the special menus that some of our area’s best eateries are offering. Why risk anxiety-induced indigestion? Instead, sit back and let trained professionals chauffeur you around town.

Just click “Plan your trip!” to go to our Trip Planner. The restaurant’s address will already be there, all you need to do is type in your starting point and the time and date you want to dine. Note that several of these establishments are served by the free Bull City Connector and the R-Line. Be sure to plan your return trip so you don’t get stranded if the bus doesn’t run late!

Restaurants you can access via transit are after the jump. You can find the full list of participating restaurants at the Triangle Restaurant Week page.

Bon appétit!

Greenways, Trails, Bicycles – National Leader visits Triangle

NC Rep. David Price will host two events on Thursday, 1/19 with OR Rep. Earl Blumenauer on local and national bike-ped policy

Congressman David Price  will host two roundtable discussions with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (Oregon) on Thursday, January 19. Blumenauer is chairman of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus and Livable Communities Task Force 

Attendees can expect to learn about efforts in the Triangle to improve greenways and trails. We’ll also learn about work being done in Washington to create pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly transportation policies nationwide.

The Durham session is scheduled from 11am to 12pm in the McKinney offices in the Reed building at the American Tobacco Campus, 318 Blackwell St, Durham, NC 27701. The Raleigh event takes place from 5pm to 6pm at  The Stockroom at 230, 230 Fayetteville St, Raleigh, NC.  Click here to register in advance for the Raleigh session.

If you can’t make it, don’t worry– I’ll live-tweet the events at the Durham session. To join the conversation, just follow @GoTriangle and look for #bikeped on Thursday.

Job skills, better bus service & smart commutes…

If you need a job, a smarter commute, or want to see improved bus service in Durham, you’re in luck– there are some great workshops happening this month.

Smart Commuting in the Triangle
Where: South Regional Library in Durham
 When: Sunday, January 8, 3-4p.m.

Join Naima Rorie, Transit Education Specialist of Clean Energy Durham,  and Dale McKeel, Pedestrian & Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Durham, as they share ideas on shaping a lower-cost, more efficent & sustainable commute using public transportation, ridesharing, and bikes. No registration required. Co-sponsored by South Durham Green Neighbors
 

Designing Better Bus Service in Durham
Where: Varies, check the events page.
When: Varies, check the events page.

The City of Durham and Triangle Transit are looking at ways to improve DATA’s bus service. Community outreach began in March 2011 to collect information about citizens’ priorities for transit service and ideas for improvement. Four phases of public workshops have been scheduled to allow members of the public to review materials and provide comments. Phase 1 was completed in December and phase 2 starts January 10. Come see initial recommendations for service changes at any one of the meetings scheduled through February 1. See the full event schedule here.

Free Workshop to Teach Job Search Strategies 
When: Thursday, January 19, 9am-12pm
Where:  Durham Station Transportation Center, Second floor

Durham JobLink Career Center and the City of Durham Office of Economic & Workforce Development in partnership with Triangle Transit and the Durham Area Transit Authority present an employability workshop. Durham residents are invited to come and learn new strategies on how to pursue effective employment searches in today’s job market. Workshop attendees will develop an understanding of the business side of the job search and gather tools to apply to their own job search plan. The information provided in these sessions can be used by the unemployed, underemployed, career transitioner, or the budding entrepreneur.

 Seating is limited; therefore the deadline to reserve tickets to attend this workshop is January 18. For more information, or to reserve tickets, contact Malcolm Cook at (919) 354-2748 or via email at Malcolm.Cook@ncesc.gov.

 

New Year, new commute?

An estimated 44% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions—are you one of them?

With the holiday excess behind us, the New Year beckons with the promise of a fresh start. What are you going to do with yours? If your plans include trying to save money, get more exercise, and/or live more sustainably, maybe you should consider a resolution that can do all three—a new commute. Here are some tips on how you can make the change.

Take the bus, just don’t be afraid to get creative with it. Few people have bus stops right outside their front door, present company included. When I first started planning my bus commute I realized I could shave 20 minutes off my trip if I could get to Durham Station quickly.  I initially thought I’d ask my partner to drop me off on his way to work, but then I realized I should check the trip planner to see if going to work with him could get me a better bus trip. Sure enough, Triangle Transit’s 700 has a stop very close to his employer. Now I ride to work with him and he drops me off at my bus stop. When planning your bus trip, think about the all the possible locations you can start from. If you can’t catch a ride with a family member or roommate, consider a Park and Ride.  

Bike it. Another way I could have solved my Durham Station dilemma—a bike. If you want to start biking to work or to a bus station, there’s a growing community of Triangle cycling enthusiasts willing to share their wisdom, so take advantage of all that’s out there. You can start by checking out the tips and resources we have at GoTriangle.org. To get cycling news and to connect with the community, try the Durham Bike/Ped group and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Listserv for RTP.

Share the ride. If a bus or bike won’t cut it, try a carpool. If you don’t have someone to ride with, you can look for suitable partners at ShareTheRideNC.org, a free statewide database of commuters hoping to make their gas money go a little farther. Even if your schedule isn’t the typical 9-5, there’s still a chance that you can find someone to share the ride; remember, the more people who sign up, the greater likelihood you’ll get a match. You might also consider joining your neighborhood listserv and sending a note to your neighbors. A vanpool is a form of rideshare that works well for long commutes. Check TriangleTransit.org‘s vanpool page to see if any seats are availalbe in existing pools. If they don’t have a vanpool that works for you, maybe you can start your own. Triangle Transit provides the van, insurance, and maintenance — all for a low monthly fare.

What if the unexpected happens? Worried about an emergency that could have you scrambling to find a ride home on a day you took the bus, vanpooled, carpooled, or biked? The Emergency Ride Home program provides a ride home via taxi or rental car if you or a family member gets sick or has a crisis or you or your rideshare partner has unscheduled overtime. Sign up is quick, easy, and FREE.

How did you start alt-commuting? We’d love to hear your story. Please share your tips and any resources you found helpful in the comments section.

Happy New Year from your friends at GoTriangle!

Clean Energy Durham needs South Durham volunteers

 

Clean Energy Durham is recruiting 10 South Durham volunteers to organize bike events in their neighborhoods. Free training is provided! Interested? Apply before 12/30/11.

Clean Energy Durham needs 10 volunteers from South Durham neighborhoods to act as Bicycle Transportation Trainers. These volunteers will receive free training and will help teach bicycle maintenance and commuting techniques to their neighbors.

The trainees will be provided with 14 hours of training in seven sessions during the first and third Tuesdays of the month (beginning Jan 17th). The  mandatory training sessions are hands-on and taught by skilled professionals. Each trainee will be provided with the necessary supplies and a bike maintenance & safety pamphlet during the course. Trainees must be able to attend all sessions.

In return for this training, trainees will be expected to organize bike-related activities in their neighborhood by June 30th. Examples include:
• Hosting a bicycle clinic
• Starting a group bike ride
• Leading a bike safety workshop
• Being a bike mentor for a beginner commuter

Classes will be located at the Durham Bike Co-op at 715 Washington Street.  Trainees will be asked to provide an additional 10 volunteer hours at the Bike Co-op to allow them to hone and share their skills.

To apply, please complete the Bicycle Transportation Trainer application. The deadline is 12/30/11, so spread the word today!

How would you change TriangleTransit.org?

Triangle Transit’s New Year’s resolution is to get a new look. No, the big green buses aren’t going away, but their current website will be. In the 4 years since the last redesign the internet and how people access it has changed a lot, and Triangle Transit wants to make sure they keep up.

Take a look at how their little corner of the internet has changed through the years:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Got an idea on how to make the new site better? Fill out the survey below. The survey will be open until 1/10/2012.

Go shop and leave the driving to the pros!

Parking lots are a nightmare. Forget the hassle-- take the bus!

Still need a few last-minute items? Traffic around shopping centers can be a nightmare, so quit stressing and leave the driving to the professionals. Here’s a list of transit-accessible shopping in the Triangle.

Need some help figuring out a trip plan? Call 919-485-RIDE or leave us a note in the comments.

Crabtree Valley Mall: Plan your trip! Served by CAT 6, 4, 16, 23c, 33c, 38, 70e

North Hills Mall: Plan your trip! Served by CAT 8, 24c, and 37

Triangle Town Center: Plan your trip!  Served by CAT 1, 25c, WRX

Cary Towne Center: Plan your trip! Served by CTRAN 1, 2, 6 and Triangle Transit 301

Crossroads Plaza: Plan your trip! Served by CTRAN 1, 2 and Triangle Transit 305

New Hope Commons: Plan your trip! Served by DATA 10 and Triangle Transit 400

Northgate Mall: Plan your trip! Served by DATA 1

Patterson Place: Plan your trip! Served by DATA 10 and Triangle Transit 400

Brightleaf Square: Plan your trip! Served by DATA 11, Bull City Connector

Southpoint Mall: Plan your trip! Served by DATA 7 and Triangle Transit 800

University Mall: Plan your trip! Served by CHT G, F, FG (Saturday), and D (Saturday).

If you make it fun, will they come?

Both My Kind of Transit and Human Transit could make for interesting bus reading.

Still don’t have a gift for the transit enthusiast in your life? Consider My Kind of Transit and Human Transit, two books that espouse different philosophies about why and how transit works.

What, you don’t have such an aficionado on your gift list? Well, don’t let that stop you from checking out this engaging debate between the two authors, Darrin Nordahl (My Kind of Transit) and Jarrett Walker (Human Transit). Just start the video at 4:10 to bypass the setup issues and you’re on your way to an interesting introduction to two approaches to transit design.

Nordahl’s My Kind of Transit is predicated on  the idea that your transit journey is just as important as the destination. Public transportation, he posits, competes against the personal automobile and should be designed to lure people away from their “sexy” and culturally rich cars. He argues that transit should be considered as part of public space and designed as good parks are designed. By bringing “delight” to public transit design we can encourage more people to connect with their communities via transit.  He points to the success of local farmer’s markets and cafe culture in recent years as evidence that people seek that type of connection and that public transit is uniquely suited to fulfill the need. He believes that making transit fun is just as important making it work.

Jarrett Walker, on the other hand, believes that systems should be designed for utility before “fun.” While he agrees that public transit should be treated as public space and designed accordingly, he calls the transit bells and whistles that leave passengers with little more than good feelings, “endearing-but-useless transit.”  You can read his written response to Nordahl’s book at his blog, Human Transit. He brings up a good point in his discussion with Nordahl– some transit systems, particularly in dense urban areas, are so popular that service can’t keep up with the need. Shouldn’t the focus on those areas be on giving people what they want– more service for more people– over new technologies, particularly when transit budgets are shrinking?

The debate hosted by Treehugger.com’s Lloyd Alter touches on issues of density and connectivity, light rail vs. bus rapid transit, and even how bikes can fit in with public transit and help solve the “last mile” problem. Check it out and let us know what you thought!

Tell how #litter is #wrong, get $25 for Restaurant.com

Bette Midler hates litter, and so do Durham transit providers,  Triangle Transit and DATA.  That's why they're joining forces with Keep Durham Beautiful to spread the word that littering is just plain wrong.

This partnership enforces DATA's and Triangle Transit's commitment to promote sustainability and a more environmentally responsible community. By spreading the word about this initiative they hope to beautify Durham and drive home the point that littering is not only an eye sore, but is as socially unacceptable as, say, tripping your grandma. Reps will get the word out on Twitter and will appear at busy bus stops to talk about litter and collect riders' parallel-to-littering wrongs.

Want to help out? Just tweet an example of an egregious wrong and then add a reminder that littering is wrong too. For example:

 Clipping your nails on the bus. Littering is wrong too. #litter @TriangleTransit @kdbdurham

Need more inspiration to get the creative juices flowing? Head over to Keep America Beautiful's Littering Is Wrong site for other submissions. 

Remember to mention @TriangleTransit and @kdbdurham and use the hashtag #litter in your tweets. Triangle Transit will reward the funniest/wrongest tweeter of the day with a code worth $25 at Restaurant.com. The promotion is slated to run indefinitely.