10 Instant Cures for High Gas Prices

Also effective for traffic, climate change, and sedentary lifestyles!

1) Use cones or Jersey barriers to create a bike/walk lane along road shoulder or shoulder+right lane. 5' is a good minimum width. 10' is better.

2) Use marking paint to create walk paths in mowed lawn next to road, esp in public land like parks, utility corridors, schools. Big boxes, shopping centers, office parks are good candidates, too.

Can be muddy, but a good way to link paved paths. Use signs that bikes/peds see.

3) Designate a parking area for carpooling, perhaps an underused lot at a school, park, or shopping center. Make sure the community knows about this resource.

4) Start a social media group for carpoolers to meet. Same for bike commuters.

5) Start walking/biking school buses for area schools, esp with younger kids and near housing. http://walkingschoolbus.org

6) Do a bike/walk event to places where people need to go — downtowns, campuses, hospitals, factories, train stations. Even a one-time event helps newbies get past hesitation about routes and safety.

7) Create a guide for new bus/train riders on your town/company/school website — fares, routes, schedules, passes, transfers. Do you need exact change? Are credit/debit cards OK? And then…

8 ) Do a “ride transit” event for new riders to go in a group the first time. Not too big a group — don’t overwhelm the system. Again, it’s easier to overcome newbie jitters in a group.

9) Not quite instant, but powerful: Run buses more frequently! A once/hour bus wrecks your whole day if it’s late or early. IMO ideal frequency is every 10–15 minutes, so you just show up and ride without needing the schedule.

10) Plan ahead for festivals, fairs, etc to be car-free. Use all of the above. Traffic and parking hassles make people more receptive to getting out of the car. And you can promote car-free transport for regular life at the event, too.

#walking #bike #completestreets #tacticalurbanism #planning #architecture #gasprices #climatechange #activelifestyle

Thanks for reading! For more like this, see Design by Deficit: Neglect and the Accidental City, at designbydeficit.com