Commuting at $4 a Gallon...

..is a real burden for many! While increasing gas prices and environmental considerations are encouraging many to get off the road, some companies are finding ways to help their employees with this goal.

Last week, the Seattle Times had an article, "Employers Going Beyond Requirements for Commute Alternatives," that discussed how some employers are giving additional incentives to employees to get off the road:

• Transit subsidy (T-Mobile)
• Shuttle service (Microsoft)
• Transportation counselors (Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center)
• Telework (Entellium)
• Bonus for biking (Mithun architecture firm)
• Zipcar (Safeco)

What is your employer doing for you?

Image source: 808oasis

Time for a Hybrid?

With the price of gas crossing $4 a gallon (I paid $4.14 last time I filled up), lots of businesses and individuals are seriously considering trading in their fleets/cars for hybrid vehicles. Is it the right thing to do? This article in the Wall Street Journal argues that the answer is….maybe.

There are a number of reasons it’s a “maybe” – not the least of which is that a new car is a new car, and it’s wasteful to get something new manufactured when something old will do. Some of the other arguments include:

• It depends on how many miles per year you drive (the average American is 15,000 per car per year)
• Priuses cost $22K (that’s for the low-end model)
• You’re not going to get much money back for your trade-in, especially if it’s a guzzler
• Other small cars get pretty good mileage too…especially compared to your SUV!

All this said, I have a Prius and I love it. Not just for the gas, although that’s a big plus since when I calculated out the cost of getting a Prius vs. a similar-sized car, I was calculating gas at $2.50 a gallon. At $4+, I'm doing much better than I expected. The car is roomy, easy to drive, kinda cute, and my dog likes that it has a big back seat all for him. Of course, it does have a big old blind spot, but I’ve figured out how to work that out. For me, it was the right choice...but is it the right choice for everyone?

Space Allocation and Parking

I'm at the American Planning Association's National Conference this week - it's been a lot of fun and I've attended lots of very interesting sessions - you will see more posts about what I've learned over the next couple of days.

One session I attended really sticks out, and not for the reason the presenter intended. The session was called "The Environment and Sustainability in Transit Evaluation" by Eric Bruun. His discussion focused on how to incorporate monetary, non-monetary, quantitative, and qualitative variables into a cost/benefit analysis for transit.

The "aha" moment for me had not to do with transit evaluation, but with one simple sentence: "the average office gives more space per employee for parking than it does for their office." Shocking, but true! Let's look at the numbers:

Net:

• Office - 64 to 150 NSF/person. 64 SF for a workstation/cubicle; 150 SF for an office.
• Parking - 170 - 290 SF/car. Size depends on configuration (perpendicular, angled, parallel, etc.) and zoning laws.

Useable: (I think this is the better measure because it applies to any office employee, regardless of whether they sit in a workstation or office)

• Office - 200 USF/person is a GSA standard. This includes not only your desk/office, but also your share of circulation around your desk, part of the conference room, pantry, copy room, etc.
• Parking - 275 to 350 SF/car. This includes circulation around the parking lot.

Of course there are lots of factors playing in, such as does the office provide parking on a 1 spot: 1 employee ratio or less. Regardless, it really made me think, and could be a great argument when talking to clients about reasons to locate near transit, encourage carpools, etc.

Image source: Copely Society

And if you don't have your own bamboo bicycle in DC...

I love being in a city that sets new standards for sustainability, not to mention quality of life: "DC SmartBike" will launch in the coming weeks. Washington is the first North American city to try this type of bike share. This isn't just lip service, I have already spotted stations going in at the busy Foggy Bottom and Gallery Place Metro Stations. I am hoping that the new Washington Nationals Ballpark thinks about signing up for one too!

The program is a lot like the car-sharing service in DC, Zipcar. You pay a $40 annual membership fee to access bikes stored at computerized racks around the city. To unlock the bike, you scan an access card. Unlike Zipcar, the bikes can only be used for up to three hours at a time (sad) and can be returned at any SmartBike station (much better than the Zipcar model that requires you to return to Point A after swinging by Point B). In the beginning at least, there won't be any hourly charges. So enjoy it while it lasts!

The DC program is starting small (10 stations/120 bikes) but the program easily could be expanded to more than 1,000 bikes at more than 100 stations within a year.

Check it Out in Business Week: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D90AE1G82.htm

Bamboo Bicycle!

Okay, I am admittedly on the fence about bamboo. On the one hand it is rapidly renewable, on the other, it is primarily harvested in Asia for building materials and products like this bike which means the embodied energy (including the transportation to get it here to Washington, DC) is a tad carbon-heavy.

That being said, this is a cool bike. According to the manufacturer "It is appropriate for everyday use and for racing. The vibration damping is a performance advantage on longer rides...

"If there were an award for "Bicycle with lowest carbon footprint" (least amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the production of the frame), this frame would win, hands down."

Now why aren't there awards for bicycles with the lowest carbon footprint? I would love to see some additional nominations!

P.S. I found these pix here: http://www.calfeedesign.com/bamboo.htm

The Pros and Cons of Transit

We all talk about how great transit is and how we should all abandon our cars to take mass transit. But many of us do not. Why? Sometimes it’s because transit is not available. Sometimes it’s because it is inconvenient. A lot of times it’s because of the poor customer service/overall experience.

The last time I took Metrorail, the train was late, dirty, and packed full of people. One very large lady (I use the term loosely) shoved me and screamed that I needed to move further in (I was already touching the person in front of me), while someone else sneezed in my face. I then had to wait 15 minutes to change trains (they’re supposed to come every 6 minutes). I could have driven to my destination much faster, for about the same cost, and without the headache and future cold.

I just read a great article on thestar.com, “The Genuinely Better Way” that talks about San Francisco MUNI’s new Connected Bus and how it hopes to provide better customer service. This bus is a pilot program that MUNI and Cisco have developed that provides passengers with wireless internet, information on other vehicles in the system, and green stats on the bus’s environmental impact.

I certainly hope all public transit agencies start to think more aggressively about customer service/customer experience!

Other articles on the Connected Bus:

• Cisco
• SFMTA
• SFGate
• TreeHugger
• Transbayblog

LEED Innovation Points

For those of you who are members of the USGBC, you have access to some very good resources on their website. Much of the site is dedicated to resources and links helpful for becoming an Accredited Professional (AP) or to certifying your building. Because technology and design options are always changing, and because the criteria used for LEED are sometimes up to interpretation, there is a section online dedicated to Credit Interpretation Rulings (CIRs). This is one of my favorite places to go for new ideas, because these CIRs are where LEED applicants go to state their "case for creativity" to the USGBC in order to get points for certification. Anyone who is a member can see all requests for any LEED registered project. Here are a few things I learned poking around in the "innovation points" section:

Bank of America announced on June 7, 2006 that it will reimburse Associates living within 90 miles of Charlotte, Boston, and Los Angeles and purchasing a new hybrid vehicle $3,000. Available to more than 49,000 associates, the program addresses a correlation between air quality, limited travel options (other than single-rider vehicles), and commute length. As of September 7, 2006, 200 Bank of America associates, including 118 in Charlotte, have taken advantage of the program and the Bank expects up to 100 more will participate by the end of 2006. The program is available to all associates working in the Bank of America Corporate Center and it is possible to monitor how many of those associates take advantage of the program.

Here's another great one:

Our project is a 198,000 square foot, high-rise dormitory on a university campus in an area with constant, prevailing trade winds. Due to its location, the project has provided natural ventilation for its building corridors as well as operable windows for all student apartments. In order to provide a comfortable environment for building occupants, we have undertaken a wind tunnel study, which is not typical design practice for this type of building.

Two approaches were undertaken in this wind tunnel study: numerical calculations and a wind tunnel test. The numerical calculations considered input parameters such as wind speeds, wind pressure coefficients, air temperatures, opening sizes for doors and windows, and different air permeability rates for the windows, doors and cracks.

The wind tunnel test was conducted by creating a 1:150 scale model of the building complex based on the drawings of the architects. The model of the planned building complex was instrumented with approximately 500 pressure taps to test for pressurization, and it was exposed to 36 different wind directions spaced 10 degrees apart (0 to 360 degrees). The building model was mounted on a turntable with a large inertial mass, allowing any wind direction to be simulated by rotating the model to the appropriate angle in the wind tunnel.

The wind tunnel study resulted in a change to the project's natural ventilation design. It was determined that several windows needed to be moved to different façades, while some operable windows were made inoperable and vice versa. This redesign was critical in enhancing the natural ventilation approach of the corridors, consequently creating a more comfortable environment for the building occupants.

What's great for LEED applicants is that they get the USGBC's ruling and/or additional infomormation required. It gives your company an inside view as to what you can expect when certifying your building, but also saves time for all involved. Check the site out: www.usgbc.org

The UK - to have an eco-town makeover?

Today the UK government has revealed 15 locations which have been shortlisted as the first new towns in England in since the 1960s. 10 sites will be selected from this list to be built as new "eco-towns" by 2020 and will contribute to the government's plans to build 3 million new homes by the same year.

The eco-towns initiative has been designed to tackle the dual challenges of climate change and the need for more UK families to own their own home. However, they have come under fire on both these areas.

The UK government's sustainability agenda for eco-towns

Eco-towns are planned to be low-energy, carbon-neutral and built from recycled materials. Each development will be exemplary in one area of sustainability, such as energy production or waste disposal.

The argument against the sustainability agenda

The opposition has accused the government of "eco-spin rather than a genuine attempt to address the environmental nature of UK housing".

The UK government's house-building agenda for eco-towns

The UK is currently experiencing a housing shortage, especially in the affordable housing market. The largest eco-town will provide between 15,000 and 20,000 new homes and 30% to 40% of each eco-town will be allocated as affordable housing.

The argument against the house-building agenda

The opposition argue that because three-quarters of the housing we'll be living in by 2050 is already built, that unless you do something about the existing stock, putting up a few eco-towns amounts to a tiny fraction of the total housing we will require. There are also several shortlisted new towns that will require building on green field sites.

The opposition have also stressed the need to ensure inhabitants of new eco-towns do not have to commute in order to work. As if this happened, the sites would not be sustainable at all and would in fact give rise to extra carbon emissions in transportation. There are concerns among environmental campaigners that most of the proposed eco-towns will increase car pollution because they will not be big or diverse enough to sustain viable public transport.

For more information go to the UK Communities and Local Government Department website.

Map source: BBC News

LEED is Just Not Enough

The U.S. Green Building Council and their LEED certification process is truly making a difference in the building industry. See Jetson Green's ovation for their recent success: Green Buildings Financially Crush and Outperform Non-Green Buildings!!

That's all well and good, but look at some of the real hurdles we're setting for ourselves. Take California for example. Executive Order S-3-05 targets a reduction in greenhouse gases to:

• 2000 levels by 2010
• 1990 levels by 2020
• 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

This means that by 2050 we must reduce our emissions to roughly 17% of what they are today. Yikes. So how do we attack this? Well, transportation is roughtly 41% of emissions, electricity production impacts 22% (with 75% of that used for buildings) and residential and commercial bulidings emit roughly 9%. The built environment affects 2/3 of CA's GHG emissions.

So even if every single building in the state achieves LEED certification , we won't even come close to meeting this target. The solution? To realistically meet this target, we need to stop building buildings. And reduce single occupancy driving as much as humanly possible. We need to find new ways to create energy and transport goods / people through our cities. We have to overhaul the system. LEED certification just isn't enough by itself.

Admittedly CA, as usual, has set some of the more aggressive of U.S. policies, but all the government targets I'm seeing (and listed on the USGBC website) require significantly more attention than we're giving them today. Find the public policies that affect your neck of the woods. Turning off lights and driving hybrids is not going to do it. We need to engage in some extremely creative thinking about how we work, recreate and live.

Companies that are starting to think this way today are already avoiding costs and receiving kudos by environmentalists at the same time. It takes time to work through these issues, but isn't it worth it?

Greenwashing Hits Home..and My Wallet

The term “greenwashing” has been thrown around for many years, usually referring to companies claiming that their products are green/sustainable/organic, when in actuality they are not. Refer back to Greenette’s post on greenwashing for more info.

Greenwashing has really hit home in the last couple of months: my husband works for a large defense/aerospace contractor (over 70,000 employees and over $20 billion in annual sales), that according to its Corporate Stewardship report, is very committed to reducing its impact on the environment. He is contracted to a government agency that is very interested in climate change, an agency that the public puts immense pressure upon (think protestors outside with inflatable whales, etc).

My husband takes public transportation to work, both because it is the right thing to do for the environment and also because commuting by automobile to his workplace can be terrible. Until very recently, he was reimbursed monthly (to a standard upset amount) for his public transportation expenditures.

A couple of months ago, the program director approached him and told him that the company would no longer be reimbursing his expenses – that the reimbursement was for PARKING ONLY. If my husband wanted a parking pass, he was welome to have one, at the company’s expense, but public transit was not an acceptable use of this money.

My husband was outraged (rightfully so). He has been in contact with the Corporate Stewardship representatives, the project lead, and the environmental health and safety contact for his group. While his boss supports him (in principle, if not in action), the environmental people have merely pointed him back to the stewardship report.

I promised him that I wouldn’t name his company, but it’s now been a few months and with no progress – it seems like it is time to start talking about this type of poor environmental behavior. Companies this large cannot afford to be hypocritical in their approach to environmental stewardship.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Slugging Replaces Bus?

For those of you not from the DC area, let me explain what I mean by “slug” – it’s not the slimy little garden creature that I always manage to step on when I go outside barefoot to pick up the newspaper on Sunday mornings.

Slugging is a form of commuting unique to the DC area. It’s basically instant carpooling. People line up at designated slug areas and people with cars needing a couple of extra bodies to make it into the HOV lanes pick them up. It’s completely free – the driver benefits by being permitted in HOV and the passengers benefit from the free ride.

In Qualicum Beach, BC (Canada), busses have been shut down due to low ridership. The community is considering setting up a similar system of mass carpooling as without transit, as many people are left without any means of transportation.

It’s certainly an appealing idea!

Dirty Bus U

The Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, a.k.a. Metro, is donating the last four of its "dirty air" buses to the nonprofit Biodiesel University. These buses generate some of Metro's dirtiest emissions.

The buses will be turned into mobile teaching labs that will run on biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel U, affiliated with the University of Maryland, will take the teaching labs to schools, colleges and events across the region.

Now I think this is a great idea for a couple of reasons - we have a lot of dirty vehicles (not just in DC, all over the world) and we can just chuck them into landfills when we're ready to upgrade to a cleaner bus (or car). It makes sense to convert them and keep on using them. This got me thinking that Metro probably spent a lot of money on newer, cleaner emitting buses and wouldn't it makes sense to convert the buses to biodiesel...and keep on running them for Metro? I don't know a lot about conversion services out there, but I would love to hear about them. I think this could apply well to fleet vehicles too.

And the other reason I like this idea: it really got me thinking. There a lot of website that tell you how to shrink your carbon footprint as an individual, and they often advise activities like buying Energy Star appliances or hybrid cars. Well, we can't all go out and buy new cars or appliances as this would a) create a lot of waste and b) create a huge demand on resources. BUT! What if we could come up with the technology to convert these to more efficient models without having to trade them in altogether? Is anyone working on this???

It is like LEED-EB for cars and appliances! Use what you have and make it more efficient.

I love my Prius…and so do my favorite Celebs!

I bought a Prius about a year and a half ago – Toyota was having an event in which if you traded in your Toyota (I traded in a beat up but fast and fun Celica, “Alice”), you got a HUGE amount of money back. The offer was too good to pass up – Alice needed some serious body work, and they offered well over her blue book value. It’s turned out to be a great investment – Ralph, the Prius, is an excellent addition to the family. Great car – big, sporty, mechanically sound, great gas mileage. At least five other people in my office drive a Prius and love it too!

Lots of companies are offering incentives for driving hybrids - for example, Google offers employees a cash incentive for purchasing hybrid or alternative fuel cars. Also, the USGBC's LEED system awards points for offering preferred parking for hybrids/alternative fuel cars.

I was watching TV while ironing the other weekend and saw that the Prius trend is catching on with celebrities even more than I’d known: Holly Madison (Hef’s #1 girlfriend) bought a Prius on The Girls Next Door. It made me wonder who else is driving a Prius. I did a quick google search and found out that quite a few do (I knew about Holly, Cameron and Leo, but check out the list!):

• Alexandra Paul
• Alicia Silverstone
• Arianna Huffington
• Bill Maher
• Billy Crystal
• Billy Joel
• Brad Pitt
• Cameron Diaz
• Carole King
• Charlize Theron
• David Duchovny
• David Hyde Pierce
• Donna Mills
• Donny Osmond
• Dr. Andrew Weil
• Dr. Oliver Sacks
• Ed Begley, Jr
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Ewan McGregor
• George Clooney
• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Harrison Ford
• Jack Black
• Jack Nicholson
• Jackson Browne
• Jennifer Lopez
• Julia Roberts
• Kevin Bacon
• Kirk Douglas
• Kurt Russell
• Larry David
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Patricia Arquette
• Prince Charles
• Rob Reiner
• Robin Williams
• Salma Hayek
• Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies)
• Sting
• Susan Sarandon
• Ted Danson
• Tim Robbins
• Tom Hanks
• Will Ferrell
• Woody Harrelson

*Note: some of these are electric car or other-hybrid drivers...and I’m sure I’m missing tons! Go Prius-nation!

Commuting Comfort

As I was flipping through the Sunday Washington Post today, I ran across an article on adding "comforts" into cars: When Home Seems To Be on the Road.

This article discusess how auto manufacturers are adding more perks into cars as Americans are spending more and more time on the road.

Having very recently had the worst commute of my 8 years in Washington,DC (2 hr, 31 min to go 11 miles), I can appreciate why people would want more amenities in their cars. I certainly could have used a fresh beverage or a TV.

Of course, on the flip side, as a gal who is concerned about the environment, I was horrified to think of all the people who may be encouraged to spend even more time in their cars.

I think that auto manufacturers are missing the mark: while packing cars with perks may add short-term profits, the long-term business plan should first be focused on increasing fuel efficiency/reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and secondly on getting people out of single-occupant cars and marketing transportation solutions.

Cool Green Websites

Planetizen is a super-cool resource for planning geeks. This week, they sent out a list of their top ten websites of the year. Sadly, The Green Workplace didn’t make it, but some other really good ones did. Here are a couple of my favorites in the green category and an excerpt of Planetizen’s description:

NYC/London Interactive Transit Map: These two web tools by software developer Gregory J. Brail combine transit data and Google Maps to create the easiest way yet to figure out how to get somewhere using public transit (at least in New York and London). By simply clicking (or typing in the address) of your starting point and destination, these interactive transit maps instantly plot the shortest travel route using each city's underground metro.

Post Carbon Cities: Post Carbon Cities has taken up the challenge of helping local governments understand and respond to the challenges of peak oil and global warming by bringing together a valuable set of resources on energy and climate change. The site's weekly blog provides overviews and advice on topics such as green building and transit-oriented development.

Walk Score also made the list. Refer to Greenette’s previous post on this resource.

The Air Car

That's right, a car that runs on compressed air!

The Air Car is the brainchild of Guy Negre, a French inventor and former Formula One engineer. In February, Negre’s company, Motor Development International (MDI), announced a deal to manufacture the technology with Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial automaker and a major player worldwide. Plenty

Finally... all that technology R&D used to create those ridiculously fast cars is put to good use! The Air Car will cost around $10K and have zero emmissions. The car provides a range of around 60 miles per tank at highway speeds. Anticipated to be released in India at the end of 2008, the car may also be available in twelve other countries soon, including South Africa, Israel, and Germany.

New Year's Resolution: Car-Free Diet

As a metropolitan Washington, DC resident, I'm aware of lots of cool transit initiatives ranging from public transit to car share services to slugging . . . but I just heard of a super-cool inititative in Arlington (one of the close-in counties). It's called the car-free diet.

The car-free diet teaches people the advantages of going car-free, and gives advice on how to do it. The website includes a calculator, that with a few quick inputs, shows you much money you'll save, how many calories you'll burn and the amount of CO2 emissions you'll reduce with your choices. It also links to information on transit options (both man-powered and machine), suggestions of places within the county where it's easy to go car-free, and tons of links to other resources.

The car-free diet even has its own blog: http://commuter.typepad.com/the_carfree_diet/ - full of great advice for those looking to go car-free and personal experiences of those who are trying it. This is a great initiative for a county where there are lots of people, lots of transit, and lots of interest in environmental friendliness.

As my daily commute takes me through parts of Arlington, I'm definitely going to take advantage of the information about this diet.

Facts and Figures from the Green Workplace Survey

If you get Google Alerts on the green workplace you will have probably already seen this story, but in case you haven't:

Today the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released the findings of their Green Workplace Survey. The survey found that 50 percent of surveyed (US) organizations have a formal or informal environmental responsibility policy, but 43 percent have no such policy and no plans to implement one within the next 12 months.

Key findings of the survey were:

• Companies that implement environmental responsibility programs cite improved employee morale (44 percent), increased employee loyalty (16 percent) and a stronger public image for the company (42 percent) as top benefits. They also report increased consumer/customer confidence/choice (20 percent) and a positive financial bottom line (19 percent) as a result of the organization's environmental responsible program.


• The most common barrier to creating an environmental program is implementation cost (85 percent) followed by maintenance cost (74 percent). Other barriers include lack of management support (43 percent), lack of employee support (25 percent), and concern for workplace inefficiency (20 percent).


• Nearly three out of four employees from companies without environmental programs say they want their employers to "go green." Seventy-three (73) percent of surveyed employees in companies without an environmental responsibility policy thought it was very or somewhat important that their organization develop an environmental responsibility policy.


• The majority of "green" programs are created by a senior management team (32 percent) and roughly the same number (31 percent) are also responsible for implementation.


• The HR professionals surveyed rank the top five environmentally-responsible practices to be: 1) encouraging employees to work more environmentally friendly (83 percent); 2) offering a recycling program for office products (83 percent); 3) donating and discounting used office furniture and supplies to employees or local charity (73 percent); 4) using energy efficient lighting systems and equipment such as ENERGY STAR(R) equipment and occupancy sensors (66 percent); and 5) installing automatic shutoff for equipment (63 percent).


• Employees offer a slightly different view and rank the five most important environmentally-responsible practices as follows: 1) donating and discounting used office furniture and supplies to employees or local charity (53 percent); 2) promoting walking, biking, taking public transit (49 percent); 3) using energy efficient lighting systems and equipment (43 percent); 4) offering a recycling programs for office products (39 percent); and 5) encouraging employees to work more environmentally friendly (36 percent).


• Both human resource professionals and employees state that their primary, or number one, motivation for participating in environmentally responsible programs is to make a contribution to society.

Note to the statisticians among us: the Green Workplace Survey's 429 HR professional respondents represent publicly- and privately-owned companies, nonprofits, and the government sector. The 504 employee sample was randomly selected from U.S. telephone population.

You can purchase a full copy of this survey at http://www.shrm.org/surveys/.

Keep That Resolution, the Five Keys to Commute By Bike

There are so many reasons riding your bike to work will help your resolutions, from exercising more, to losing weight, increasing energy, decreasing your carbon footprint, setting a good example for your kids…I could go on. The fact is, commuting by bike saves me a lot of time. I don’t sit in the car doing nothing. Rather I am getting my workout in as I am commuting. I even pick my daughter up from school on the bike. Granted she is three, but she loves it and her friends think it is the coolest thing.

I have commuted in Boston, New York, and Washington DC, year round, anywhere from four to twenty four miles a day. It is feasible, and this is a great time of year to start thinking about it. Why? Because it will get easier as the weather gets better, if you can do it now it will stick.

OK – Here are the five keys to succeed.

1. The Bike –
a. Go to a good bike shop in your neighborhood to buy your bike. It is worth the extra money for a few reasons. First they will find a bike that fits you and your needs. You do not need a Trek Madone unless you are Lance Armstrong and plan on crushing Le Alps this summer. A good bike shop will listen to what your needs are and give you a few bikes to try out. If this is your first bike in a few years do not spend more than $800.
b. The most important thing about a bike and the reason you go to the shop is fit. I good shop will fit you to a bike. I met my wife on a cross country bike ride. She complained constantly about her lower back pain. I adjusted her seat and handlebars about a quarter inch each and her pain was gone. Fit makes all of the difference.
c. Last year’s bikes are on sale now. Just like car dealers, bike shops need to get rid of old inventory. Now is a great time to head to a shop and see what they have. Just like cars, bikes change very little from year to year and to the newbie last year’s bike is still new.

2. The Helmet –
a. Don’t buy a bike if you are not going to wear a helmet every time, I mean every time, really every time, you get on the bike. I would not be writing this right now if I did not practice this advice. Smacking your melon on the ground after you hit a good pot hole will end a lot of your life dreams. I have done this and walked away, thanks to my helmet.
b. Besides set a good example for kids. Nothing frustrates me more than parents riding without helmets while forcing their kids to wear one. It’s a bit to hypocritical for me.
c. Yes my daughter has a helmet too. It is light blue with monkeys on it and she loves it. She puts it on as she rides her bike around our apartment, but that is another story.

3. Bike Clothes –
a. This is the toughest thing to write about. Personally, I follow my own advice from #1 above. I buy last year’s clothes on-line. I know my size and I know what I want. For the newbie, get a few things at the shop before doing this.
b. Get shorts that are comfortable for you. You do not need to get spandex shorts if it is not your gig. There are a number of shorts out there that have spandex liners that look just like typical cargo shorts.
c. In cold weather layer your clothes. This sounds familiar for a reason. If you are too hot just take something off. Do not wear anything that is cotton, wool and synthetics are your friend. They wick moisture away from your skin and do not become saturated.
d. Get a water resistant shell to make the rain bearable. Stuff it in your bag or in a water bottle. Always keep it with you, keeping the wind and water directly off you can make a miserable day pretty fun.

4. Work Clothes –
a. In terms of bags there are two options here, backpacks or panniers. For the beginner go with the pack, you can always change. Most of us have a reasonable pack in our closets that should be dusted off.Packs can get heavy, especially if you are carrying your food for the day as well. They can also throw off your center of gravity a bit. I have a pack that has a rain cover. It works well.The big reason to choose the pack of the panniers is distribution of weight. Some believe it is easier to ride without the extra weight on your body. Others believe the more weight that is on your body the more efficiently you ride. Unfortunately you need to decide for yourself.
b. I get my shirts folded from the cleaners. I fold my pants and a tie up on top of the shirt. Then I throw my underwear, t-shirt, socks in the bag as well. I keep a brown and a black pair of shoes at work, along with a couple sweaters and a jacket. The less you try to carry every day the more enjoyable the ride will be. Alternatively, bring clothes in with you on Monday and ride in on Tuesday. Even if you ride in two days a week, you are decreasing your commuting footprint by 40%.
c. Whether or not you need to shower at work or prior is up to you. I keep a shaving kit at work as well, that way I always have the option. My gym is close by so I can stretch and shower there most of the time. If I am really presses, I shower before I leave for work and take it easy on the way in.

5. Miscellaneous Bike Stuff –
If you have gotten this far and are still into it, there are a few more things to know:
a. Know how to change a flat tire. You will get one at some point, be prepared. I can change a flat and be back on the road in less than ten minutes, but I have a lot of experience. Plan a little extra time so you don’t miss a meeting or anything.
b. If you are riding in the dark, which you will, get a few lights. There are two reasons for this:
i. First you need to be seen, have a couple red flashers on the back and one white flasher on the front. Mix this in with a reflector here and there and you will be set. Yes this is goofy, but it is about being seen not looking cool. It is hard to look cool as you are flying across the hood of a car that cut you off because they didn’t see you.
ii. Second you need to see. If you are on city streets with good lights this is not that big of a problem. If you have some stretches of road with little or no light, consider investing in a rechargeable 9 to 15 watt light that is either bar or helmet mounted. They are pretty inexpensive now and add a lot of convenience and safety.
c. The best way to avoid a flat is to properly inflate your tires frequently. On my commuter bike I check the pressure twice a week. Get a good floor pump with a gauge on it to make this easy.
d. Lube the chain and moving parts once a month. This is not to hard either, you will figure it out quickly.
e. When in doubt just bring it to the shop. This is the another reason you buy from a local shop. In general they will help you out for free if you got the bike from them. Typically they will offer a tune up after a few months or 500 miles.

This might appear to be a lot, but think about how complicated it is to get a second car to commute. We all know how to get insurance, and oil changes, and sit in traffic … there are a number of examples out there. To change that paradigm might start off as a challenge, but I will guarantee you that you will never look back.

Think of me the first time you forget your socks. If it is the worst thing that happens to you that day you are pretty lucky. I don’t remember where I heard it, but a good piece of advice I got once is to act your shoe size every day for at least thirty minutes. Commuting on my bike is how I do it.

Integrated Design Hits Home

I thought this was very cool. Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel cell automobile. Traditionally the complaint about this technology is how does one safely, effectively, and economically distribute hydrogen? Well, why not make it at home and help it enhance your homes carbon footprint as well?

The car is a Honda, BMW has a prototype as well, you will either like or leave the aesthetics but I like it. There are American car makers that have been investing heavily in this technology, but to the best of my knowledge do not currently have a prototype for sale. These same manufacturers were given hundreds of millions of dollars from the US government to develop this technology. They did it, but decided it would be easier to fight the push to low emitting vehicles in court rather than work towards producing them. Let’s just say it, we have all heard about the EV1, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1.

So why is this so special? Honda has developed a Home Energy Station that converts natural gas to hydrogen for fueling the car, brilliant. It can also create electricity for the house, so there is a minimal need for electrical infrastructure. Imagine a hose that can fuel your car, heat and cool your house, and all from a natural gas line. It’s a start.

To learn more about the Honda go here, http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/.