Transit system enhances 'Car Free' participation

Residents pledging to give up their wheels on Thursday's International Car Free Day can thank town transit policies and walkability for making it easier to get around town.

Orange County will be one of about 1,400 cities in 38 countries to participate in International Car Free Day, celebrated Sept. 22 every year.

Locals can pledge to go either "car free" or "car lite" for a day.

One way to do that is by using the fare-free bus service. Chapel Hill Transit buses have been free since January 2002, a policy that town officials consider one of the most significant developments in promoting alternative transit.

The free buses can be credited to University students who voted in 2001 to fund such a system by adding a transit fee to tuition, said David Bonk, Chapel Hill's principal transportation planner.

"The student government made it clear that they were not just interested in fare-free transit for students, but townwide," he said.

The response has been undoubtedly positive. Statistics show an annual ridership increase of about 11 percent to 13 percent since then.

Chapel Hill seeks to create alternatives to the car, not abolish it, said Mayor Kevin Foy.

"We want to give people a choice," he said, meaning that people should be able to drive, walk or bike depending on their destination. Foy said the town has been adding those alternatives in stages during the past 35 years.

Foy also gave high marks to the Meadowmont and Southern Village neighborhoods. "When you look at their walkability and just isolate that and say, 'Are they walkable?' - that aspect of the development is good."

But pedestrian friendliness can be achieved through other means. The town runs a program called Go! Chapel Hill that promotes walking as a form of physical activity.

One of its activities is Safe Routes to School, which aims to encourage children within a certain radius of participating schools to use their feet. "Our goal is to send a series of messages to parents about the health of their children," said Bonk, who serves as program director.

He suggested a "walking school bus" as a way to implement the plan. "The kids would assemble at a certain point in the morning, and a parent would walk them to school."

The program's other plans include creating pedestrian refuge islands within the five lanes of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, he said.

Carrboro also has promoted alternative transit for about 20 years, said Alderman Jacquelyn Gist.

Gist said she takes pride in the town's sidewalks and bike lanes, which she calls the best outside of cities. The town also promotes greenways to entice walkers and plans to add bike lanes to Estes Drive.

But things could improve if the University, a major source of traffic, decides not to give parking spaces to those who live within three miles of campus, she said.

"Thousands and thousands of people are driving three miles to fight over a parking space," Gist said.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.