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I recently tried as an experiment (initially) to walk from my job to the connecting point for my bus ride home. I have a 35 minute timeframe and it takes me about 20 minutes (15 minutes if I keep to just walking). It takes the bus about that long to get there. On top of the enviromental and anti-traffic benefits, I get to see some beautiful scenery and to laugh at car and SUV drivers who are inconvenienced and
stressed out over the traffic problems wich can be prevented. Last, my knees don't hurt as much but that is up to me and my doctor to decide on how to deal with that.
stressed out over the traffic problems wich can be prevented. Last, my knees don't hurt as much but that is up to me and my doctor to decide on how to deal with that.
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Harrisburg
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Re: Walking Power
Sun, July 20, 2008 - 9:50 AM"laugh at car and SUV drivers who are inconvenienced and stressed out over the traffic problems wich can be prevented"
I hear you!
I get that often.
Now, they could laugh too when the bus is late or when a few months back I sat on a seat that was...all wet...arghhhhhhhhhhh BUT, still, I'm trying to suggest people to move closer to their work if they can, to use the bus more if they can etc...
i'm actually trying to go and move closer to my 5 y. old school so we don't have to pay and spend time in the bus (even if it's 5 mns) because walking is way better.
I don't know if I can do it but I'm going to try.
Keep on walkin'!
S. -
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Re: Walking Power
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 3:21 PMThere is a positive message we send when we walk, ride the bus, bicycle, etc. Those who drive everywhere are not so independent after all. Last Saturday I rode the bus about 5 miles to a local festival. I did not have to worry about finding and paying for parking, gas, etc. That is a form of independence. Lunch was within walking distance as was some of the other shopping I needed to do. I also met up with some friends that I haven't seen in a few years. Those benefits I would have missed out on by driving. -
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Re: Walking Power
Sat, August 2, 2008 - 11:48 AMYes Mike, that is so true, I mostly feel independant by using public transportation, that's very true.
And yes, it gives you more time or opportunities to talk to others.
I always tell people how wonderful it is to walk around in my neighborhood because at that pace I have time to see and talk to people, and if we haven't time we can at least say hi and maybe share just a few words and keep on going but it's such a big difference compared to being in a car...
S.
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Re: Walking Power
Mon, May 11, 2009 - 5:23 PMI like to help out with the organization thet helps to maintain the trail that I walk between work and the bus stop. It's about a 1-1/2 mile section of a 20 plus mile trail that circles the town I live in. The benefits I recieve are many though little if no money is exchanged. Once in awhile I get to take a photo wich I sometimes realize the true beauty of things when I put the photo in the computer. At times I get to say hi to someone, exchange photography tips, etc. -
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Re: Walking Power
Sun, May 31, 2009 - 5:33 AMWith a bad back and Sciatica issues,I can't walk more than a mile or so without pain and numbness in my left leg however,I can and DO comfortably ride my Recumbent Bicycle just about everywhere a car can go. I laugh mostly at seeing all these fat bloated Americans in their huge gas guzzling SUV's,firing it up to go two blocks to the liquor store for their case of Bud and carton of smokes!
And we need wonder WHY Americans are so unhealthy?? -
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Re: Walking Power
Mon, June 1, 2009 - 3:42 PMI have to be careful myself with arhtritis in my left knee. Even those who ride bicycles can laugh at those SUV drivers getting their case of Bud. I also laugh at them at the gas pump when they are complaining about their $50 plus fillup. -
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Walking or riding...or driving..
Mon, June 1, 2009 - 9:58 PMWe are preaching to the choir here. I recently visited some rural communities in the western US ..( Utah,Arizona,Colorado,Wyoming and Montana) where distances between anything and anything is huge. Even suburban communities are built with the car in mind, with huge roads dividing everything up, with no safe facilities for peds or cyclists. My point is that it took 100 years to get us into this pickle, we arent't going to solve the problem overnight.
Those yahoos in SUVs have been sold a bill of goods,as we all know. We can smirk and chuckle all we want,but when the cost of sustaining the impossible hits,its gonna be painful. Those complaints are real. Urban dwellers have more possibilities,with increased density and some transit. Those in the hinterlands are gonna be forced to change, with no clear direction they should be headed in.
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Re: Walking or riding...or driving..
Thu, June 4, 2009 - 6:03 AMWhen our Petroleum based society "hits bottom" and there is no more Oil and gasoline to power America we will revert back to the pre-automobile days of the turn of the 19th century
Horse and Buggies and Bicycles! It's true what your saying jOe,that America was built for the automobile with it's distances from town to town especially in it's rural area's like HERE in Idaho where I am,Except for Boise,Idaho Falls,Pocatello,Arco and Blackfoot,every other town is at least 40-70 miles away from each other,it's VERY isolated and rural here and without a car,difficult to get around -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Walking or riding...or driving..
Thu, June 4, 2009 - 9:04 AMI agree with you Jake...but even before the car, those rural towns had some transit available.. mostly trains. now amtrak is all thats left and only serves small parts of the country. No greyhound for small towns. I dont believe most folks realized what a bill of goods they were being sold. Car lifestyle SEEMED like good sense for a long time. Even 20 years ago,post '1973 oil embargo' we were being sold big guzzlers instead of alt transport/fuel efficiency. Folks who voiced those concerns were mostly considered nutcases. Now these are everyones concerns, but we need to consider HUGE investments in other forms of transportation to serve the entire country. Talk about a jobs program...
But what I am saying ,or trying to is: its gonna be expensive, painful for some, and probably we will start down some paths that we hadn't considered. That is not to say it shouldn't happen. It should.
But I am glad to be a citydweller, as the folks in rural areas are going to be forced farther outside their 'comfort zones' than urbanites. -
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Re: Walking or riding...or driving..
Thu, June 4, 2009 - 3:36 PMI agree with you Joe. The investments in altermative transportation and fuel efficiency will be expensive at least initially. How much Amtrak will be only as successful as its ridership. And to get investments in Greyhound is little if no chance. -
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Re: Walking or riding...or driving..
Sat, June 6, 2009 - 1:47 PMYour right jOe
America's Rail Trains were the #2 transportation next to the horse and buggy or wagon in pre-19th century americana
but was slowly phased-out by the invent of the automobile.
I am actually glad to live in a relatively small rural mountain town of only 65 thousand residents(Pocatello Idaho) here,everything is just ten blocks away in every direction from my doctor to the food and retail outlets that supply all of my weekly needs.
ten blocks is "nothing on a bicycle". If oil dried up tomorrow,I would still be able to accomplish ALL of the things I do now with my pickup truck on my Recumbent Bicycle except bring home 8 foot 2x4's and sheetrock panels.
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