Are you a user? I’m happy to say I am. I “use” almost every work day along with almost 1,000 others here in Island County. That’s nearly double the number of “users” registered on Rideshareonline since January 2011.
“Users” leave the car at home and take the bus, bike, walk, carpool or vanpool and use Rideshareonline to track their progress and register for prizes.
This year, Island County Transportation Planner Donna Keeler got enough grant money to offer $50 gift cards to four users each month. Though I didn’t win I know some who did. Arnie Peterschmidt is a co-worker who takes a bike or walks to work just a few miles from his home here in Oak Harbor. Janet Hall travels by bike and bus from Freeland to Coupeville to work.
Joshua Royek is part of a group of Navy air traffic controllers that won first place in the Cascade Bicycle Club’s Bike to Work Challenge last May for getting the most new riders on their team. They are all winners, and so are the rest of us really.
Rideshareonline is used statewide to track our miles not driven alone in a car. When you open a new account you give them information about your car, home and work address and they set up a personal calendar so you can track what mode of transportation you’re using as an alternative.
In the summer, I ride my bike part of the way and then take the bus. In winter I take the bus all the way. The website tallies up my miles, the money I’m saving and the amount of carbon that I’m keeping from going into the atmosphere. This year, I’ve saved over $900, saved 148 gallons of gas and kept 2,518 pounds of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. (I’m especially pleased about that since I just learned we’re expecting a new baby in the family.) But that’s just me. If you’ve ever wondered if your small efforts make a difference, check this out.
There are nine users on the Oak Harbor City staff who together saved 3,847 pounds of carbon. The 355 Oak Harbor residents that use Rideshareonline saved almost 380,000 pounds of carbon. In Island County, there are 982 users who have saved more than 2 million pounds of carbon from reaching the atmosphere. In Washington, with 46,593 users, we saved 23,511,419 pounds of carbon. Together, we lost over 23 and a half million pounds this year.
Speaking of losing weight, several studies have shown that leaving the car at home translates to more exercise and better health. Of course walking or biking to work is a good workout. But bus riders can also benefit. I have a 10-minute walk from my home to the bus and another 10-minute walk from the bus to my office. That’s 20 minutes in the morning and 20 on my way home. If I get off the bus with my friend, Louise, and walk her home, I add another 20 minutes and get a nice visit as well. I end up walking an hour a day. So I save money, gas, carbon emissions (and other pollutants) and I get social time and exercise whenever I leave the car at home. What started out as a New Year’s resolution has now become a habit because I’m a user. Are you?
Maribeth Crandell is Oak Harbor’s environmental educator.
