When some folks detect any threat to our automobile-dependent lifestyles, they fret over the prospect of not driving everywhere they go. This morning’s Vox Populi gripe line in the Savannah Morning News provides a good example:
“If automakers and dealers go bankrupt do we ride bicycles, use Mopeds, a mule or a horse-drawn wagon to go to work, shopping and to our other destinations?”
I’ll admit the mule idea is a little out there, but does this person truly think shopping by bike is such a wacky idea? Maybe our Voxer has a health condition that prevents him or her from riding a bike. Maybe this person lives in a suburban enclave and a car is the only way to reach the outside world. Still, is it really so hard to imagine using bicycles for daily transportation? Looking at life through the windshield makes us blind to other possibilities, I suppose.
The City of Savannah, on the other hand, is clearly looking to the future. An event scheduled for later today will showcase its alternative vehicle fleet, which includes bicycles and the first hybrid streetcar in North America (but not mules, as far as I know). Summer Teal Simpson offers an enthusiastic preview on The Creative Coast’s “Relocated Thinking” blog.
Photo Credit: Jim Forest via Flickr
Thanks for the shout out. I heard the event was really successful. Another event that I was at this past week that was a success was the Savannah Market Bazaar, held in the parking garage at Montgomery and York. What was particularly cool about that was the idea of parking garages as public spaces, worthy of pursuits beyond parking cars. If we apply this same idea to our streets then we really can begin to envision a dual purpose for automobile infrastructure. Should roads, parking lots, etc. exist only to get us from point A to point B in our cars or should they exist to connect us in more ways than one?
This sense of “connectivity” is one reason why I really support bike and (hybrid) streetcar transportation. Cars are so insular. So gated community. To me, the bicycle and the streetcar (not to mention walking) open you up to your surroundings and make you part of the community – as opposed to just something moving around oblivious.