{"id":190444895,"date":"2011-01-14T05:21:35","date_gmt":"2011-01-14T05:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=190444895"},"modified":"2011-01-14T05:21:35","modified_gmt":"2011-01-14T05:21:35","slug":"the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-the-last-of-the-streetsies-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=190444895","title":{"rendered":"The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: The Last of the Streetsies 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: Lots of good stuff here, try to read the full article (link is at the end.)]<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

from Streetsblog Capitol Hill by Tanya Snyder
\n…<\/p>\n

\"Yeah,<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, we’re still not buying this Nissan Leaf ad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Least favorite panacea:<\/strong> There are a few magic pills out there that are supposed to cure all our ills, and we\u2019re wary of them all. First and foremost, though, we\u2019re just not buying all the hype around the electric car. The Obama administration has pledged billions for R&D, the auto industry is marketing them as polar-bear-friendly<\/a>, and eco-minded folks everywhere are getting ready to trade in their hybrids for a plug-in.<\/p>\n

But the negative consequences of driving aren\u2019t exclusively measured in carbon molecules. When we advocate for transportation options, we\u2019re also trying to keep our cities from being choked with traffic congestion. We\u2019re finding a more efficient way to move people around than keeping each in her own two-ton bubble. We\u2019re getting more exercise. We\u2019re reducing automobile-related crashes. We\u2019re finding better uses for our public spaces than making them parking lots. We\u2019re designing human-scale cities.<\/p>\n

The electric car might reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent over a standard car, but it doesn\u2019t solve any of these other problems. Besides, we think we can do better than 30 percent. We\u2019ll stick with our zero-emissions bicycles and our own two feet.<\/p>\n

New Year\u2019s Resolution for 2011:<\/strong> Let\u2019s do this one in two parts: the personal and the political. (I know, I know, the personal is political<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

First, the political. There\u2019s a lot we can resolve to do this year. Robert Puentes at Brookings has laid out a pretty good to-do list<\/a> including everything from starting the shift to a VMT fee to reducing construction delays, from expanding public-private partnerships to cutting wasteful spending. We\u2019re in favor of all of those.<\/p>\n

But our 2011 resolution is to keep bike-ped spending in whatever version of a transportation reauthorization comes down the pike. As fiscally conservative Republicans look to cut spending, bike-ped programs are extremely vulnerable<\/a>. We need to ramp up our efforts to reach across the aisle to make it clear that active transportation isn\u2019t just for hippie liberals<\/a>. There are serious conservative arguments<\/a> to be made for keeping federal support for these programs. Let\u2019s resolve to make them.<\/p>\n

Now, the personal. I, myself, have two transportation-related resolutions. First, in service to the previous resolution, I\u2019m going to revoke my AAA membership<\/a> until they reverse their position on federal funding for bike-ped programs. (I don\u2019t have a car, so it\u2019s out of an overabundance of caution that I have a membership anyway.)<\/p>\n

Second, I\u2019m going to use my Zipcar membership more. It may sounds strange that I want to drive more in the new year. But it\u2019s important to me that being car-free shouldn\u2019t feel like a sacrifice. I want to make sure I can do everything I want without limitation.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s psychologically hard to justify the cost per Zip-trip, even though I\u2019m savings thousands a year by not having a car. I resolve to integrate car-sharing more fully into my repertoire of transportation options, to make sure I never feel like I\u2019m missing out on anything by not having a car.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your New Year\u2019s resolution?<\/p>\n


\nhttps:\/\/dc.streetsblog.org\/2011\/01\/05\/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-the-last-of-the-streetsies-2010\/<\/a>oldId.20110114052135398<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: Lots of good stuff here, try to read the full article (link is at the end.)] from Streetsblog Capitol Hill by Tanya Snyder … Yeah, we’re still not buying this Nissan Leaf ad. Least favorite panacea: There are a few magic pills out there that are supposed to cure all our ills, and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: The Last of the Streetsies 2010”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190444895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190444895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190444895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190444895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190444895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190444895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190444895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}