I ride, therefore i am...
...The change. We're always asking people to "be the change," and for Earth Day we wanted to recognize people who are, indeed, doing that. Through the end of April 2012, Blue Planet will be tagging bicycles parked on the streets of Honolulu with handmade Thank You cards. (Thanks to Red Hong for inspiring the idea!) We've partnered with our friends at McCully Bicycle, who are donating 15 Duravision Pro LED safety lights to award to these planet-saving cyclists.
Did you know...
Hawaii commuters drive a total of 26.4 million miles a day, the same distance it takes to circle Earth 1,060 times or make 55 roundtrip journeys to the moon. In 2011, we consumed 465,662,016 gallons of gasoline. Our gasoline vehicles produce 11,350 tons of greenhouse gas pollution each day.
How much bad gas is that? Think of one pound of CO2 filling the space of a balloon the size of an exercise ball, about 2.5 feet in diameter. The CO2 emitted from our cars would fill 22 million balloons each day. Imagine every person in Hawaii releasing 15 huge balloons filled with carbon pollution into the sky, every single day. Every vehicle mile avoided helps to reduce carbon pollution and our dependence on imported oil.
Currently there are two bills pending at the legislature that support bicycle commuting:
House Bill 2626 establishes the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program within the Department of Transportation (DOT) funded through a surcharge for certain traffic violations. This measure seeks to make the routes to schools safer so more students are able to choose walking and biking as a means of commuting. The Federal Highway Administration administers the hundreds of millions in SRTS program funds and provides guidance and regulations about SRTS programs. Federal SRTS funds are distributed to states based on student enrollment. Safe Routes to Schools funds can be used for both infrastructure projects and non-infrastructure activities. The Federal program also requires each state to have a Safe Routes to School Coordinator, which HB 2626 provides within the DOT, to serve as a central point of contact for the state. Hawai‘i stands to gain its fair share of SRTS funding through passage of this measure. By developing more safe routes to schools, walking and biking can be safer and more enjoyable—hopefully establishing healthy habits for life.
House Bill 2760 strengthens Hawai‘i’s “complete streets” policy, prohibiting the use of mopeds on bicycle lanes and bicycle paths, among other changes. The complete streets policy, adopted a couple of years ago, encourages the state and counties to design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind—including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. This measure provides additional language to support that policy, although it does not require that complete streets be part of all budget requests or highway developments.
Here are some other links for bicycle commuters and sustainable transportation enthusiasts:
Streetflms: Film shorts that show how smart transportation design and policy can result in more liveable communities
The BYK Project: Improving the Beretania / Young / King Street corridor
Bike Friendly World: An archive of Treehugger's bike-friendly world articles
Heels on Wheels: Who says you can't hammer in heels?
Hawaii Bicycling League: Join Hawaii's critical mass of cyclists. Advocacy, rides & races, bike education, and more
A big MAHALO to all bike commuters who exercise muscle mobility to help move Hawaii beyond oil!
Questions? Comments? Bike rage? SUV rage? Solutions? Please email bike@blueplanetfoundation.org.
A cool infographic...
Created by: Healthcare Management Degree
Blue Planet Earth Day Events 2011
