Locals start up debate, not cars

They came on foot, they came by bus, they came by bike, they came by high-tech gizmo.

But they didn't come by car.

About 200 residents gathered Thursday to promote alternative transportation as part of the area's celebration of Car Free Day - a day honored internationally by about 1,400 U.S. cities, as well as 37 other countries.

And many walked, jogged, biked and rode the bus the rest of the day, too.

"The primary goal is to expand awareness about how dependent we are on our cars," Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said. "If you think about it, there are ways to use your car less."

Nearly 800 Orange and Durham county residents pledged online to go "car lite" or "car free" - Foy was in the "car free" category.

"The easiest way to go without a car is to plan for it," he said.

The town's fare-free transit system and its greenway trails and sidewalks make these alternatives feasible, he said.

Groups promoting those alternatives turned out at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro to show locals creative ways to get around town.

The Village Project, a nonprofit group for sustainability, hosted the event.

Carrboro resident Steven Waters brought a Segway scooter to demonstrate its uses and limitations.

"I'm a pedestrian activist," he said.

Waters said he chose his home in Carrboro so he would be able to walk to work.

Waters joined the other locals gathered on the lawn to listen to music and learn about alternative methods of transportation.

The Triangle Transit Authority and Zipcar also were on hand to give out information and sell folding shopping carts for pedestrian use.

Town officials who participated in the day cited several benefits of using public transit.

"I walk and take the bus - not for environmental reasons - to decompress, to see what's going on around town, to feel connected with my community," said Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist.

"It takes me 25 minutes to walk to work. If I drove it would take 30."

Chapel Hill Town Council member Ed Harrison said he went car free for 24 years, and until he completed graduate school at Duke University, he never owned a car.

Harrison said he limits driving by packing many tasks into each trip - a tactic called trip chaining. "(My wife and I) very seldom get into the car just to go to one place," he said.

He said another benefit of Car Free Day is that it garners feedback from residents who seldom ride the bus on their views of the transit system.

But aside from the crowd gathered on the Weaver Street lawn, some say the day passed by unnoticed.

"I don't think that I see a difference in traffic on Car Free Day," Foy said. "But for people who do know about it, it probably has some effect on their thinking on other days."

Town bus driver Nancy Hayes also said she noticed no difference in ridership Thursday as she drove her regular S route.

"It was about the same," she said. "My load is always heavy."

Blair Pollock, Orange County solid waste manager, said the community works well with a car-free lifestyle.

"You don't really need a car in Chapel Hill, it's just a choice," he said. "It's not like I'm anti-automobile, it's just a tool."

He also said the day lets locals take a proactive approach to a global problem.

"Car Free Day is one little way a person can fight global warming."

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.