Inner peace via public transit?

Even though we haven't been the best blog-posters, you must know that we have still been dedicated bus/biking on a very, very regular basis. The summer breeze rustling through our biking skirts/appropriate biking shorts (we are LADIES, thank you very much) has been amazing. The days that we had to drive (boo), traffic wasn't terrible.

UNTIL POST-LABOR DAY. 

Traffic mania. Lane closures. Cops actually patrolling downtown and pulling people over for going over the posted 55. 55!? I've been driving I-75 downtown for 10+ years and who knew? And then it started happening again. ROAD RAGE. 

Don't these people have any place to go? Why are we stopped? Where did all these people come from? Why are we in gridlock? WHY is it taking me one hour to go 13 miles??! And now I'm late for work. ARGH. Rush rush rush. 

And then: a bus day. Zen. Even when the bus is a little late or packed with people, I can just watch the world go by. Get lost in my thoughts. Oh hey - why is the bus driver stopping? Oh there's a lane closure? Oh ok. Back to browsing Twitter. Reading. Listening to music. Waving at the guy at the corner of Woodward and the Davidson with the sign that says 'you are special!' (I'm blanking on the exact words but it's similar - if anyone knows who I'm talking about, please feel free to share), all while he points and waves and smiles at drivers going by.  Is this a yoga class!? And now I'm 5 minutes early for work - time to grab a chai on the way in. Ahhhhhh. Starting the workday calm & happy. Thankful that the bus drivers will do the tough driving work. 

I know people get their stressors from different areas of life (and I'm maybe more road rage-y than the average commuter) but how would our work/school days be different if we, in SE Michigan, could commute using reliable public transit? Or will commuting, in no matter what form, always be stressful? Does the idea of using public transit bring out your inner Buddha...or badass?

#morelove #detroit #transit

Things that make you go hmmmm: Proposed road widenings in Detroit?

In the words of another classic from the late 80s: "I take two steps forward, I take two steps back" ("Opposites Attract" sung duet-style - Paula Abdul & a cartoon cat. How weird was that video, btw?)

We made serious progress last year in passing the RTA. Awesome. That's two HUGE steps forward.

And now, as SEMCOG is proposing $2.7B (yes, that's a B) to expand our roads and highways over the next 15 years. Two steps BACK, perhaps?

I am sure there are some legitimate road projects in this plan - especially those around fixing our already crumbling roads. And as someone that finds traffic to be the most consistent and yet I'm-totally-at-it's-mercy frustration in my life, one would think that I would support wider roads. However, studies have shown that if more roads are built, more cars will fill the roads. Simply stated, 'roads cause traffic'. The study also says that 'transit expansion' doesn't help congestion or travel times either, which I thought was interesting and worth noting. Ok, I can actually see that. It takes me longer to bus/bike than it does to drive/park, but oh lord, my sanity. There is NO price that I can put on my sanity, the health boost I get from riding my bike or the joy obtained by the amazing people/stories we come across (oh yeah - or this blog wouldn't exist. TRAVESTY.). Transit wins! 

Here's a great blog post and explanation to the study: 

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/05/31/study-building-roads-to-cure-congestion-is-an-exercise-in-futility/

SO. Back to Michigan. 

Ugh, wider roads again? What can I do about this?

Luckily, our friends at Transportation Riders United have put together some actions this week: 

Come to the SEMCOG Meeting this week Thursday and speak up during public comment before they vote on the new plan (2W4W is working to shift some schedule conflicts to make it): 

More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/148572431994388/

If you aren't able to make it on Thursday, please speak out online: 

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50450/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=10882

Together, we can work to make sure we continue to take two steps forward as a region! We should not accept our fate as described by Paula Abdul and that cartoon cat dancing up and down some stairs. Seriously, whose idea was that video?

Things that make you go hmmm: SMART bus pickups in Detroit

This is one of a series of posts that we're working on that only the classic Milli Vanilli song can describe. Going forward, these posts will be referred to as "TTMYGHmmm", which maybe isn't that much shorter but very fun to write.

Back when SMART had their big schedule adjustment that only brought the bus into Detroit weekdays from 6-9am and 3-6pm (It seems like so long ago we enjoyed happy hour and bussing at all times so frivolously!), we noticed another adjustment. I can't totally say for sure it happened at the same time or if it was just when we happened to notice it.

In Detroit, south of Highland Park, when the bus is traveling southbound, it only drops off and doesn't pick up passengers until we reach the northern Midtown area. And the opposite happens going northbound (pick ups only, not drop offs). It also doesn't seem to be communicated clearly anywhere, because almost every time that I'm on the bus, we drive by someone trying to flag it down - and many times at a labeled stop. One time I actually yelled out (bus rider solidarity, yo) - "there was someone at that stop!" and the driver just said "drop-offs only".

I understand that DDOT services this area but why is only this somewhat specific area of Detroit not serviced by SMART? People going both directions have a reason to go in and out of the city, right? This is not a limited route either. Maybe funding-based?! Talk about the ultimate TTMYGHmmm!

I just can't get my head around any sort of logic behind this scheduling. As an accountant and property taxpayer (aka SMART funder) - show me the logic!

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?

Bus, Bike, Blog Post!!!

Say that ten times fast!!!! Now do it after you've had three or four drinks (Julie = 5, Melissa = 0. Not drinks, times we could repeat the bus/bike tongue twister after said drinks).

Welcome to the first real time blog post (coming from Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak).

We're enjoying this beautiful sunny evening of Pure Michigan weather and the fact that Melissa literally ignored actual Ryan Gosling in the streets of Detroit today in order to make the bus. Just a day in the life of 2 Women and their 4 Wheels, really.




This is us on the bus passing where Gosling was sited. See ya! Vodka and gin, we are coming for you.

We know we need to write more and more is coming, we promise!

Cheers, fans of 2W4W!

#timeforfroyo

Sub-zero green commuting

While we've been writing this blog since December of 2010, we've been pretty lucky as far as the winters go. By "lucky", I mean global warming has worked in our personal bus/biking favor (and really, that's the only positive), and we haven't had to navigate the snow much.

It was always fun to answer the question 'but, do you ladies REALLY bus/bike in the winter?'. We were always able to smugly say 'oh yes! of course' without having ever really living it.

Until the winter of 2012/2013.
Hello, sub-zero green communting!

And hello:

-Frigid winds
-Wind chills of below zero
-Black ice patches like nobody's business
-A newfound understanding of what municipalities are good about snow/ice removal and who needs, ahem, some work
-Teary bike rides (see also: "Frigid winds")
-A newfound love of my creepy face mask
-A newfound love of my heavy mountain bike and just how well it handles in the snow/ice
-Seeing just how quickly my bike tires get jammed up with snow
-Seeing just how quickly my behind gets covered with dirty snowmelt as I bike (next project: fenders!)

Alas.

I had a thought that maybe I'd have to take a break from biking this winter and try to just bus commute on the really snowy days. I would have to navigate a SMART bus transfer from my house, but always up for a good metro Detroit transit challenge, I gave it a shot.

The bus stop was about a 10 minute walk from my house, not bad. I then waited for the SMART 430 bus for TWENTY minutes (see also: "Frigid winds"), took the short ride to the Royal Oak Transit Center, and waited another 10 minutes for the Woodward 460. My total commute time, including walking from my house = 1 hour, 35 minutes. And I don't think I thawed out until lunchtime. This bus connection is good to know, but don't think this is going to be my sub-zero green communting answer. My normal commute time when I bike? 1 hour, 10 mins.

And what I realized: the underappreciated warmth that walking & biking provide as a part of this whole green commuting experience. It also takes me about a 1/2 mile of walking or biking to really warm up. That cold start is kinda brutal, but once you get rolling? Not so bad. And it's so much better than just standing in the elements. Oh and of course. Happy hour/vodka helps too. #nosurprisethere

So, please feel free to share your winter green communting stories here! What works/doesn't? How do you stay safe & warm during your bus/bike commutes?

Bike Summit: Information Station

Happy Monday, 2W4W fans!

I had the opportunity to attend the Bike Summit back in December at the Royal Oak Public Library.
A big shout-out to Tom Regan, our fearless Oakland County bike organizer, because this event was fantastic!

Standing room only.

Representatives from various local groups, companies, the county and SE MI cities sharing tons of great info.

People really rallying around this whole nonmotorized city thing = whoo hoo!

So, this is an information-sharing post highlighting ways you can kick off 2013 by supporting non-motorized transport in SE Michigan.

From Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways coordinator: 
Great news about biking in Detroit! 

Fun fact: 45 miles of bike lanes in the city as of year-end 2012, 70-80 miles total slated for 2013. NICE.

Bike share feasibility study at WSU: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/detroit-bike-sharing-service-share-program_n_1900951.html

Birmingham multi-modal public hearing, Thursday January 17th 8:00 pm, Baldwin library
If you live in, bike through, or walk through Birmingham you will want to attend this hearing.  A large, enthusiastic crowd at this hearing will boost efforts by city staff to build a walkable, bikeable Birmingham:
http://wearemodeshift.org/visioning-workshop-multi-modal-transportation-birmingham

Gran Fondo (Woodward bike event to be held this summer) - to be discussed at the Royal Oak City Commission Monday January 28th 7:30pm Royal Oak City Hall.
Birmingham's city commission endorsed the Gran Fondo.  Heather Carmona of the Woodward Avenue Action Association plans on speaking to the Royal Oak city commission again on Monday, January 28th.  Royal Oak has not yet decided if they will endorse this important community biking event.  Please join us at the city commission meeting at speak up during public comment to urge the city to endorse this great community biking event.

This event is causing some debate locally, here's some more background: 

http://wearemodeshift.org/gran-fondo-bike-ride-more-debate
http://royaloak.patch.com/articles/gran-fondo-big-ride-or-big-headache-for-royal-oak

Modeshift

Achille Bianche of Modeshift was one of the speakers at the summit, he wrote an article on it at the Modeshift website:
http://wearemodeshift.org/bike-summit-outlines-2013-advocacy-and-policy-efforts-woodward

Work at Beaumont?

If you work at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital and are interested in joining their bike-to-work campaign contact Matt Faraday at faradayrn@gmail.com.

Facebook group

If you live in, bike through, or walk through Royal Oak, definitely check out the non-motorized Facebook group to stay informed on great events like this:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/116745178378727/?fref=ts

Bike Gadgets & Directions

Happy New Year!!!  In preparation for my first bike/bus commute of the year with Julie, I decided to install some bike gadgets I received for Christmas from one of my family members.


Despite feeling kind of badass riding around Detroit and the metropolitan area with my headlamp to light my adventures, I decided to install my first bike gadget, a new bike headlight.  It was pretty simple.  I started by taking the old one off with a phillips screwdriver.  An aside - I finally found where the spiders that created webs last year on my bike hung out - in the cracks of my old headlight!  Back to the story - after I took the old gadget off, I installed the new one without any tools.  It was a piece of cake and I felt super kick ass that I installed it in just minutes while also preventing future spiders from spinning their webs all over my bike in 2013.



Feeling pretty confident, I decided to install my other new exciting gadget.  It's one of those neat bike computers that calculates your distance, speed, time, and who knows what.  Well, it was neat until I went to use it.  Do you see the directions in the picture?  Unfortunately, they are not well written and I was lost within minutes.  Actually, the only thing that seemed to work was that the computer now kept time, which meant it was keeping track of how long it took me to figure out the directions.  AHHH!!!  The pressure!  After an hour and twenty-one minutes, I gave up and decided to write this blog.  The good news is that I didn't completely give up.  The better news is that I went to the manufacturer's website and found a very easy video to follow that has directions on how to install this gadget (thank goodness)!  In this day and age, they should have just saved the paper and wrote that on the box.  Hopefully, I can wake up early enough to install it in the morning before the big bike/bus commute of 2013!


Lastly - just out of curiosity - if you have a bike computer, how many miles do you put on your bike a year?  I'm not talking about the miles from biking on a trail for fun - I'm talking about commuting.  I ask because I want to set a goal for 2013.

Cheers to new bike gadgets, more bike/bus adventures in 2013, and a regional transit authority (that hopefully works)!