By Ryan Murray, Camille Jacome, and Hanaan Abdul-Hakim
With current rates of human-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we cannot continue to commute the way we do. More than 86 percent of people in America drive to work, and out of those people, almost nine in ten people drive alone. Even if you live far from your destination, there are many cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions to transportation.
Why do we need to make the switch?
Using these alternative ways for your daily transportation can have many environmental, social, and health benefits. Such as decreasing the amount of pollution released into the environment (by the burning of fossil fuels), due to the large amounts of cars used on the regular. Carpooling and/or public transportation helps reduce road congestion by allowing the traffic to flow better, via the opening of spaces and fewer cars. Also, cars are expensive, therefore these alternative transportation would be easier to afford. Additionally, there are many safety benefits to children young of age and/ or with disabilities, by making the community safer, due to slower and less busy roads for kids to interact and transport. As for health benefits, if you have the option of biking or walking in part of your routine of transportation, it will allow you to work your body and exercise daily, compared to driving a car.
Cars aren't the best way to get around
According to a recent study, the average cost of owning a car per year in $8,649! That is taking into account gasoline, insurance, possible damages, etc. That's the same as paying more than $24 every day for however long your car lasts. A single Metrobus can seat up to 46 people. You can carpool with fellow workers and use the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes to get around traffic. Another way to get into DC is something called “slugging.” There are many specific places around the northern VA area where you can park your car, and have someone who is already driving into DC drive you to work. You can also use multiple modes of transportation to get to work, such as walking to a metro train stop, then after getting into the city, you can rent a bike and bike to your work. For the sake of the project, we can assume the role of the local government as well, and try to make cities more pedestrian-friendly by adding safe, useful sidewalks/bridges for citizens to use so that they don't have to drive a car, by themselves, just to go across the street. Gasoline and other fossil fuels aren't the only way to power cars. Proven alternate fuels do exist and have been invented, however, they lacked interest from the public and enough easy ways for an average person to attain the fuel. If we could set up a network of stations containing alternative fuels, by 2030 these dreams could become reality.
Part of the problem of CO2 dispersion into the atmosphere is the use of cars and other forms of automobiles. Incorporating non-carbon dioxide forms of transportation into our community will help decrease the amount of the gas. We contacted Fairfax County Parks & Recreation center and asked them a couple of questions. Down below is the interview with Bicycle Program Manager, Nicole Wynands. We asked her questions through email because we could not set up a phone interview or personal interview.
(Above) Fairfax County Bike Trails Map from FairfaxCounty.gov
Interview with Bicycle Program Manager, Nicole Wynands
Q1: How many of our local bike stations are actually used?
All Fairfax county-owned Capital Bikeshare stations are used
Q2: Do you plan on adding more bike stations due to pollution problems in the environment?
The usage numbers vary depending on location - of course stations near a metro station have the highest user rates.
Q3: Why have most the bike stations closer towards DC?
It is important to note that though the system has a consistent brand, each jurisdiction actually owns and operates their own equipment. DC has the oldest system and steady funding for expansions, so most stations are located there. The Fairfax County system launched in 2016 and we are working on several expansions that will cover Merrifield, Pimmit Hills, and the area south of Vienna metro. The City of Falls Church is launching in spring, and the Town of Vienna, City of Fairfax and GMU are all in the process of applying for grant funding. The Town of Herndon has expressed interest as well. Expansions are driven by the desire to provide affordable and reliable transportation options and reduce congestion. Improving air quality and reducing noise levels is certainly a desirable outcome as well.
Q4: What area in Fairfax County is the most active with using bike stations?
The station at the Wiehle Reston Metro Station is the most popular station in Fairfax County.
How will we get funding?
All of these ideas sound great, but all great ideas need one thing: money. For funding purposes,we could add taxes on gasoline and other environment-harming fuels. For those that drive to work alone and drive in the non-HOV lanes, we could create a toll booth. Both of these ideas simultaneously encourage better transportation and raise money for the government. Companies that have large parking lots could be taxed because they encourage individual driving to work, which is harmful. On new bike paths and roads, (or even existing ones,) companies would sponsor them and pay for advertising on them. We have 12 years between now and the end result, so steady income is key.
Part of incorporating new bike paths and stations involves providing supplies to build them. Multi-climate paint for the roads which will be used to paint the new bike paths onto the roads costs about $100 per can. We can hire local companies to paint for cheap and raise money for this great environmental cause by making a gofundme.
