Category Archives: walking

by | August 23, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: Living Without A Car In Houston

By Micheline Maynard

How often do you see cows on your commute?

How often do you see cows on your commute?

When you think of Texas, you think of pickup trucks and Cadillacs, right? David Lippert doesn’t. He, his wife and his child are managing to get along without a car.

Dave is able to fill his transportation needs by walking and riding the bus. He goes to work, shops at Walmart, and handles everything else car free. He even gets to see livestock during his commute.

Here’s Dave’s diary.

“Monday – Friday.  7:30 am – walk to West Road and Greens Crossing, 66 bus south, transfer to 108 downtown at Shepherd Park and Ride.  Get off at Jefferson Street.  ~50 minutes. $1.25

 5:00 pm – 108 north to West Mt. Houston.  Fiesta grocery store, Walgreens and taco truck at transfer point and used occasionally as needed.  Bus 66 N to West Road and Greens Crossing.  1.5 hours $1.25

Cross busy street carefully.  Walk to apartments. Continue reading →

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by | August 22, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: Parking And Walking In Ohio

By Micheline Maynard

Even though a lot of us own cars, we’ve made a resolution to walk more. Brian Goodman, of Circleville, Ohio, has put that resolution into action. Here’s his Transportation Diary, which involves parking and walking.

Brian's lonely car.

Brian’s lonely car.

Says Brian,

“Until recently, I was commuting 40 miles each way, which took an hour in the morning, and sometimes up to two hours to get home in the evenings. Living in a small town, there are only a couple employers large enough to need the type of work I do so commuting or moving were the only options.

I finally got a job at one of the local employers, I started two weeks ago. I took a pay cut and gave up some very nice benefits in the process. Even after only two weeks I’m sure this was the right move.

Now, my weekly commute consists of driving my old commuter car on Monday morning, and leaving it sit at work all week in case I need quick transportation. Monday evening, I walk the mile and a half home from work. The rest of the week I walk, except Friday afternoon when I bring my car home. Continue reading →

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by | August 21, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: A Detailed Commute In Queens

By Micheline Maynard

Some people grow up driving, and find they change their ways once they move to the big city. Jason Reese, the director of strategic media at ArkNet Media in Garden City, New York, is one of them.

Here’s his contribution to My Transportation Diary. Check out his great photos and be sure to read all the way through for his detailed account.

Jason writes, “I am originally from rural eastern Tennessee, where the only way to reliably get anywhere is by car. Two years ago, I moved to Nassau County, Long Island to pursue graduate school. The town of Hempstead and its surrounding suburbs fall just outside of the borough of Queens and as such the NYC subway system.

The only reliable public transit option for local travel is the N.I.C.E. bus system, which is generally not so nice. As such, I kept my car for regular commutes to work and school, but often took the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) for trips into Manhattan.

Last week, I moved to Forest Hills in Queens, where I have a plethora of transit options available. Three blocks from my apartment are the E/F/M/R subway lines and a LIRR stop for Forest Hills, as well as several MTA bus connections. I still have my car, but to park in the garage around the block would be $300/month.

Parking around my apartment is metered 25 cents per 15 min from 9am-7pm and is very competitive outside those times, so I park free in a residential area about five blocks away.  Continue reading →

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by | August 20, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: A Hodge-Podge Of Travel Habits

Up in Wisconsin, a fine ride.

Up in Wisconsin, a fine ride.

By Micheline Maynard

Aubrey Burleson-Sanford relies on a mix of transportation: he drives, is driven and relies on his bike.

Aubrey, a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, checked in from Door County, Wisconsin, to share his transportation diary for last week. (That’s the Toyota Sienna he took to get to Wisconsin’s vacation land.)

Here’s how Aubrey puts it:

“My own car, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is broken (busted transmission), so I have to use a hodgepodge of family and friends’ cars when I need a car.

I didn’t work or have class at all this weekend, so there’s not any sort of commuting pattern, but there are a few other patterns. I have a couple unusual key locations I go to and from, but it would be interesting to see how someone interprets this without knowing those.

(Editor’s note: We aren’t going to tell you what Aubrey is doing at some of these hours. We’ll let you guess.)

Looking at this, I wish I had biked more, but most of my traveling, since I didn’t really have any obligations, happened because I had a car and decided to go do such-and-such thing, instead of I needed to get to a thing and therefore got a car.  Continue reading →

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