Today marks the end of Metro's Rideshare Week, but that doesn't mean that the good habits acquired should end for everyone who hopefully made an effort to take part in carpooling, bus-riding, vanpooling, cycling, etc. Per Metro.net:
California Rideshare Week is a statewide campaign to reduce solo driving that is causing congestion on the region’s roadways. [...]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, solo drivers accounted for 70 percent of the work commutes made within Los Angeles County in 2000. Carpooling accounted for just 15 percent, while public transit represented nearly 7 percent of work commutes. Other means, including walking and bicycling comprised the remaining 8 percent of work trips.
I must admit to being a little peeved when seeing numerous solo drivers on the road. While I understand that we all have to be somewhere, the following question seems to beg constantly: can't you go solo on a bicycle? Or on a bus, perhaps? If you're able to, why not utilize the bus two or three days a week? With the introduction of more frequent bus and railway lines running in most directions, that's not as impossible an idea as it was considered to have been about five years ago. Due to input from Angelenos - perhaps by way of suggestion boxes such as this and general observations on the state of our environment and over-population - Los Angeles has been 'gifted' six railway lines connecting various points of the city, even recently to places where hope of getting there in a reasonable time was once slim to none. As mentioned in prior articles, there has been mention of construction of an extension to the Westside/Santa Monica - which these days can easily take an hour to an hour and a half to get to. One-way. This city is booming ... and for those who say that a suggestion doesn't make a difference, they might want to revisit the issue and ponder what high demand can produce.
My personal concern would be the amount of buses traveling north to south in the San Fernando Valley, as well as to areas beyond Calabasas. If you've a concern with services in your area, or would like to give your input on anything from roads to, for example, habitually incompetent operators, behold the power of email - Customer Relations @ metro dot net is a click away from addressing an issue.
And for more information on ridesharing in your area, call 1-800-COMMUTE (Option 3), or visit http://www.commutesmart.info online.
From Metro.net
Photo via greendioxide.com
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