Well it's been two years now. What started as a one year experiment is now entering its third year;to be, to live car free in the Silicon Valley. It was
two years ago today that a car ran a red light seriously injuring a family of three and destroying my own car. Since I was preparing to leave on a summer cycling trip through Quebec, Canada, I decided to wait until returning to look into getting a new car.
After
cycling through Quebec that summer, I reflected on just how far behind we are in our own here in California in terms of a cycling culture, public health, the livability in our cities, and in general just enjoying what we have here in this state. Here was an area with over 4,000 km of some of the most beautiful cycling trails, known as
La Route Verte. The organization and investment evident in the trail was superior to anything I have seen in the states.
Bay Area and Silicon ValleyThe Silicon Valley lies between two mountain ranges, the Santa Cruz mountains and the Diablo range of mountains. From ridge to ridge its about 26 miles and from foothills to foothills (using highway 280 as a guide from west to east) its about 17 or 18 miles across. The valley contained by these two ranges and the San Francisco Bay is generally flat.
With a Mediterranean climate that makes for livable area I always wonder; why aren't their more cyclists in this area? Why are their more cars in the bay area then the population of Sweden (9 million), or Quebec, Canada? Why are there
more cars (vehicles) in California than the
poulation of Iraq (31 mil vs. 29 mil). With a population of 36 million and total vehicle registration of 31 million there is a car for just about every resident (86% of residents) of the state! This is over the
U.S. vehicle penetration rate of 84%.
So what started as a one year experiment is slowly evolving beyond that initial goal. Who knows how long I will keep this up. I have tried to highlight the state of cycle transportation in the valley, along with other topical and current issues such as; traffic safety, livability, public health, community, and non-auto advocacy. With the recent and continual decline of automakers, auto dealers, and the other industries that feed off of Detroit, I hope to continue to highlight and tell the story of others that choose not own a car. Although I choose, at this time not to be a "car-nivore", that doesn't mean I do not ride or drive in cars. I do occasionally and have rented a car for the weekend on one occasion. I like to consider myself an "Omni-tran", one who does not exclusively seek out transportation options by automobile.
Along the way I have met some great people in Portland (thanks Meghan and
Elly), New York (Clearance), San Francisco (Dave), and Brazil (Thiaggo). Also others out there who advocate for transportation options; Katie Alvord - "
Divorce Your Car",
Donald Shoup- "
The High Cost of Free Parking", Jonathan Maus - "
Bike Portland", Clarance Eckerson - "
StreetFilms.org"and
James Kuntsler - "
The Geography of Nowhere".
Anyway thanks to all of you who have made this experiment a fun one!
This weekend the Bay Area lost two 16 year olds to tragic traffic accidents this weekend; one in Union City and One in Half Moon Bay. Not only is the coincidence of the events striking, but the young age that they were taken from us should not go unnoticed.
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