People Are Getting Smarter
RIDE Solutions was an exhibitor at the recent 10th Annual Green Living and Energy Expo. Despite an unseasonably warm and gorgeous Saturday, and a soft economy that made people feel like they could put off than geothermal upgrade one more year, attendance was still good, if down a bit. At the RIDE Solutions booth we had a steady series of great conversations. Of course, at an event like this there’s a bit of preaching-to-the-choir going on, but folks were readily receptive to and supportive of transportation options as a way to cut back on energy use.
The title of this post stems from an anecdote shared by Ken Cronin, Director of General Services for Roanoke and heavily involved in the Clean and Green campaign. Ken was there with a couple of the City’s new all-electric cars, each of which had stickers on the side promoting the fact that they were zero-emission vehicles. “But wait,” an expo-goer challenged Ken, “That’s not true. If they run on electricity that’s been generated from coal, then there are still emissions involved.” Ken, rightly, conceded the point.
When the general public displays this kind of sophisticated understanding of the energy supply chain, I think it shows real promise for our ability to respond to the energy crisis. So long as our main source of electricity continues to be derived from coal, concerns about climate change, mountaintop removal, air quality, and so forth might be lessened but eliminated when we concentrate solely on efficiency. Sure, an electric car (or a hybrid) is a cleaner mile, but it’s always been our position that the only clean mile is the one not driven.
Filed under: Citizens for Clean and Green, RIDE Solutions | Leave a Comment
Tags: roanoke, hybrid, electric car, coal, mountaintop removal, climate change, ken cronin
RIDE Solutions has registered the following new rideshare opportunities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. To see if you are a potential match, register online and we will send you a match letter with contact information for all potential carpool partners. You can also view of map of all current carpool origins in the Carpool section of the RIDE Solutions website.
- Christiansburg to Dublin with flexible schedule.
RIDE Solutions offer free carpool matching and Guaranteed Ride Home benefits for everyone who carpools, bikes, walks, takes the bus or telecommutes to work instead of driving alone. We are a free public service of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
By providing transportation alternatives in the Roanoke area, RIDE Solutions improves regional air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and helps create a sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Want instant updates? Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.
Filed under: Carpool Opportunities | Leave a Comment
Tags: Christiansburg, dublin
RIDE Solutions has registered the following new rideshare opportunities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. To see if you are a potential match, register online and we will send you a match letter with contact information for all potential carpool partners. You can also view of map of all current carpool origins in the Carpool section of the RIDE Solutions website.
- Within Roanoke (24012) from 12am to 9pm.
- Within Roanoke (24012) from 9am to 6pm.
RIDE Solutions offer free carpool matching and Guaranteed Ride Home benefits for everyone who carpools, bikes, walks, takes the bus or telecommutes to work instead of driving alone. We are a free public service of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
By providing transportation alternatives in the Roanoke area, RIDE Solutions improves regional air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and helps create a sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Want instant updates? Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.
Filed under: RIDE Solutions | Leave a Comment
Tags: roanoke
Update on Exit 140 Park-and-Ride
From Roanoke County’s Community Developments Newsletter:
Beginning on Monday, November 2, 2009, VDOT will improve the unpaved portion of the Park and Ride lot at Interstate 81’s exit 140 (Salem). The 13,000 square foot expansion will convert the grassy area on the northern end of the commuter lot into a hard-surface parking area, creating approximately 30 new parking spaces.
Improvements will also be made to the unpaved portion of the commuter lot including grading, stabilizing the soil, updating the drainage ditches, placing stone, applying surface treatment and painting lines.
During construction, 7 of the 59 existing parking spaces in the paved portion of the lot will be unavailable for several days between Monday, November 2 and Friday, November 6, so that the work can be performed. In addition, drivers will be unable to park on the grassy area while it is being upgraded. VDOT plans to complete the improvements by November 6; however, weather may require adjustments to the work schedule.
Additionally, increased enforcement of no parking areas at the facility will begin November 1, 2009. It is important that commuters do not park in the designated no parking areas as the longer Smart Way buses may have difficulty turning the corners in the parking lot.
Filed under: RIDE Solutions | Leave a Comment
Tags: park and ride, roanoke county
RIDE Solutions has registered the following new rideshare opportunities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. To see if you are a potential match, register online and we will send you a match letter with contact information for all potential carpool partners. You can also view of map of all current carpool origins in the Carpool section of the RIDE Solutions website.
- Blacksburg to Pulaski from 8:45am to 5pm.
- Roanoke (24018) to Downtown Roanoke from 8:30am to 1pm.
RIDE Solutions offer free carpool matching and Guaranteed Ride Home benefits for everyone who carpools, bikes, walks, takes the bus or telecommutes to work instead of driving alone. We are a free public service of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
By providing transportation alternatives in the Roanoke area, RIDE Solutions improves regional air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and helps create a sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Want instant updates? Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.
Filed under: Carpool Opportunities | Leave a Comment
Tags: downtown roanoke, roanoke
Yesterday saw two interesting developments for downtown Roanoke. The first was the welcome announcement that Ed Walker, father of the Cotton Mill Lofts and the Hancock Building, had purchased the redoubtable Patrick Henry Hotel. Though the future is still a bit fuzzy for the redevelopment of the building, Walker made clear in his morning press conference that we could count on at least 100 new apartments being at the core of the project. Downtown Roanoke continues to add to its residential offerings at a pleasing and exciting rate.
Second, The Roanoke Times offered a piece on upcoming construction in downtown’s core: the Market Building, Farmer’s Market and Center in the Square. The piece paints a grim picture of how the three massive construction projects could hurt the businesses that rely on them, even as they work to improve the buildings they are housed in. Valley Business Front’s Dan Smith addressed this in a recent blog post, pointing out how the construction will result in “vanishing parking spaces in a place that is often a parking challenge.”
There are a few issues worth discussing in the context of these developments, and most of them have to do with parking. The first is that, with downtown residential booming, attention must be paid to potential parking conflicts with existing commuters and shoppers. I’m sure Walker has a sense of where those 100 apartment dwellers are going to put their cars, and it probably doesn’t involve building a new lot – maybe leasing space at the lot across the street or at Community Hospital. Either way, it’s going to displace commuters. The same thing happened a few years ago with the top level of the Market Square lot.
One way to address this is to make sure those 100 new apartment dwellers don’t need a car. Downtown Roanoke is already one of the largest, if not the largest, trip generator in the region, particularly if you include Carilion Roanoke Memorial and the research complex/medical school. Investments in express transit and bike connections could reinforce the idea that you’re supposed to get into and out of downtown in something other than your car. In terms of development, attracting basic amenities like a grocery story and pharmacy would reduce the need for urban dwellers to have to drive to Towers or Crystal Spring or anywhere else to do their shopping, further encouraging them to ditch the car altogether. If that were compounded with the introduction of carsharing – through Zipcar or some local start-up – that would seal the deal. Not only would downtown residents be able to do without a car, but downtown employees would have access to a Zipcar for meetings and other day trips, allowing them to ride the bus, carpool, bike or walk to work.
It seems that the vision of Downtown Roanoke as a bustling, vital, and thriving urban center is not going to come to fruition unless we anticipate the transportation impacts and avoid the pitfalls of traffic and parking congestion that go with them. I’d hate to see Walker or other developers have to turn grand old buildings into unproductive parking decks. To be clear, I don’t think Ed Walker would do that, but at some point, if we’re not smart about this, someone else might.
Downtown employers and city government have a responsibility in this, too. A careful review of parking regulations and rates need to be made. We need to decide if the current structure of rates is incentivizing the right behavior – are we retaining our parking space for visitors, shoppers, and tourists? Are we dedicating it to commuters who leave their cars sitting idle for most of the day? The city – the regional in general, really – needs to expand those options. Would putting more money into express transit routes or shorter headways on Valley Metro buses be more effective use of public dollars than dealing with traffic congestion, road maintenance, parking maintenance and construction, or the loss of tax revenue that could have been generated from commercial or real estate property that would instead need to be used as parking?
Employers need to advocate and fund transportation options as well. Carilion Clinic and Jefferson College have set the bar with their support of the Star Line Trolley, which has been wildly successful. More employers could get in that game. Or, they could simply look at existing incentives – implementing the pre-tax Commuter Choice transit benefit could be an easy way to encourage ridership that would essentially “fund” the growth in regional transit service by increasing fairebox revenues rather than by subsidizing free services. Offering the pre-tax Commuter Choice parking benefit to carpoolers and vanpoolers could incentivize intelligent use of parking. There’s even a new bicycle commuter benefit that works much the same way.
These are some ideas – not necessarily the right ones, but worth discussing, I think. As the Roanoke Times article points out, the next two to three years are going to see some big disruptions in our urban core. How we come out of that may be determined, to some extent, by how easy we make it for commuters and shoppers to get into and stay in downtown.
I’m interested in what you think – what’s your vision for a sustainable, vibrant Downtown Roanoke? Where do you think parking and transportation fit into the redevelopment and renovation mix? I invite you to share your ideas here, but if you’re on Facebook I’d also suggest becoming part of The Heart of Roanoke group, where there’s a Transportation forum available for this very topic.
Filed under: RIDE Solutions | 25 Comments
Tags: bike, carless, carshare, downtown, downtown roanoke, parking, roanoke
A Strong Criticism
From Diana Christopulos at the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition:
Hollins University and the Darci Ellis Godhard Fund for Social Justice present “The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century” with urban planning expert, social critic, author, and journalist James Howard Kunstler
- WHEN: Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 7 p.m.
- WHERE: Niederer Auditorium, Wetherill Visual Arts Center
- COST: Free Admission
With a critical eye and a provocative, entertaining voice, Kunstler explores the sweeping economic, political, and social changes that will result from the end of access to cheap fossil fuels.
“Kunstler, like George Orwell, understands that being honest about the past and present is the only way to prepare ourselves for an uncertain future.” —Professor David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University
I’ll be there. Kunstler has been an outspoken and harsh critic of urban sprawl and progressive design of public space, as illustrated by this presentation (warning: Some of Kunstler’s language is as strong as his criticism, so be forewarned).
Filed under: RIDE Solutions | Leave a Comment
Tags: kunstler, sprawl, suburbia, urban space
Get to the Vote
Star City Harbinger, Fork in the Alley and Fork in the City, and RIDE Solutions are teaming up to encourage you to get out and vote this upcoming election day: Tuesday, November 3rd. Arrive at either Fork in the Alley or Fork in the City with your “I Voted!” sticker and get 10% off your meal purchase. Just show the sticker to your server or attach it to your tab.
RIDE Solutions will help you get to your polling place with or without a car by connecting you to your transportation options. Visit the Vote page on the RIDE Solutions website to find your polling place and the transportation options taking you there, including a pre-populated link to the Google Transit trip planning page for that location.
If you know of other services or options available, please leave them in the comments below. The more people who are aware of volunteer drivers, shuttle services, or other transportation providers, the more efficient those providers can be and more more empty seats we can fill!
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RIDE Solutions has registered the following new rideshare opportunities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. To see if you are a potential match, register online and we will send you a match letter with contact information for all potential carpool partners. You can also view of map of all current carpool origins in the Carpool section of the RIDE Solutions website.
- Salem to Blacksburg from 8am to 5pm.
RIDE Solutions offer free carpool matching and Guaranteed Ride Home benefits for everyone who carpools, bikes, walks, takes the bus or telecommutes to work instead of driving alone. We are a free public service of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
By providing transportation alternatives in the Roanoke area, RIDE Solutions improves regional air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and helps create a sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Want instant updates? Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.
Filed under: Carpool Opportunities | Leave a Comment
Tags: Blacksburg, roanoke
RIDE Solutions has registered the following new rideshare opportunities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. To see if you are a potential match, register online and we will send you a match letter with contact information for all potential carpool partners. You can also view of map of all current carpool origins in the Carpool section of the RIDE Solutions website.
- Belspring to Downtown Roanoke from 8am to 5pm.
- Covington to Roanoke (24012) from 6am to 3:30pm.
- Within Roanoke (24012) from 2pm to 8pm.
- Rural Retreat to Blacksburg from 9am to 5pm.
RIDE Solutions offer free carpool matching and Guaranteed Ride Home benefits for everyone who carpools, bikes, walks, takes the bus or telecommutes to work instead of driving alone. We are a free public service of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
By providing transportation alternatives in the Roanoke area, RIDE Solutions improves regional air quality, reduces traffic congestion, and helps create a sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Want instant updates? Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.
Filed under: Carpool Opportunities | Leave a Comment
Tags: belspring, Blacksburg, covington, downtown roanoke, roanoke, rural retreat
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Register for a carpool partner, or sign up for Guaranteed Ride Home if you already carpool, bike, walk or take transit to work.
