The ReCyclery re-opening is Earth Day

This Saturday, April 21--also known as Earth Day 2012--is the grand re-opening of The ReCyclery at its new location at the intersection of Blaine Street and Kearney Street in Port Townsend.

A "bike parade" starts from the Farmers Market in uptown Port Townsend at 2:00 PM and heads to the new site adjacent to the community facilities on the Mountain View campus.

The mission of The ReCyclery is Positive Social Change Through Bicycles.

Visit The Recyclery website for details about the event and the organization.

"Walk Friendly Communities" program

On October 1, 2010, the US Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in conjunction with the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), launched Walk Friendly Communities (WFC), a new initiative to encourage communities across the country to support pedestrian safety.  Read the FHWA press release for details.




US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood described its benefits in a recent blog post.  FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez said, "Walk Friendly Communities will show how cities and towns across the country are creatively improving walkability and demonstrating leadership in addressing pedestrian safety concerns."

The program offers a comprehensive assessment tool to evaluate community walkability and pedestrian safety. Questions in the online survey cover a community's efforts in engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation, and planning. The program will accept applications until December 15, 2010.

Tesla, the Ferrari of electric cars, visits PT

Photo by Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News

Local enthusiasts hosted fellow members of an electric vehicle club this week in Port Townsend. The feature vehicle is the $110,000 Tesla, considered the Ferrari of electric cars and able to do 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds.

No need to shift gears. Quiet as the wind. 200-mile range. Sounds neat. Maybe someday these vehicles will be slightly more affordable...

Well, at least you can get the Nissan Leaf for around $30,000.

Report on "Driving and the Built Environment"

A recent report from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES), both subsets of the National Academies, analyzes the effects of compact development on motorized travel, energy use, and carbon dioxide emissions.

The results are presented in a full report (Special Report 298) and a four-page PDF summary.

Quoting from the study overview:

The committee that produced the report estimated that the reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), energy use, and CO2 emissions resulting from more compact, mixed-use development would be in the range of less than 1 percent to 11 percent by 2050, although committee members disagreed about whether the changes in development patterns and public policies necessary to achieve the high end of these estimates are plausible.

TRB will conduct a web briefing or "Webinar" on Wednesday, October 21, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT that will explore Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions. There is no fee to join this webinar. Space is limited, so they encourage participants to register 24 hours prior to the start of the webinar.

USDOT Transportation Secretary addresses energy & the transportation sector

The US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, spoke to the Council on Competiveness National Energy Summit & International Dialogue on September 23 about the role of the transportation sector in our energy challenges, and the steps the US Department of Transportation is taking to address those challenges.

See Secretary LaHood's blog entry about the event.

Thumbnail updates of his "Welcome to the Fast Lane" blog, as well as other transportation-related blogs, appear on the right side of this blog. Scroll down to see the list.

5 years of Washington State climate action summarized in one place

The Washington State Department of Ecology has summarized all of the legislation and executive orders passed or issued in Washington State over the past five years that serve to reduce our state’s greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise address climate change. The text of the bills and executive order are linked to the summaries. Here is a link: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/docs/2009_ClimateChangeActions_071509.pdf

Jefferson County, the City of Port Townsend, and other local partners have joined together to plan and implement climate action. Visit this webpage for more information:

http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment/ClimateChange.htm

Stop idling your car

After doing a fair amount of research, it seems that if you are going to be idling for more than 10 seconds, turn off your car. Don't idle your car in the morning to 'warm' it up. Driving your car gently to warm it up not only reduces pollution but warms up your car much more quickly and it warms up the drivetrain, transmission, etc. which idling doesn't do. There is a myth left over from 40 years ago that your car would last longer if you idled and warmed it up before you drove. That was before modern lubricants and electric oil pumps. It is now known that you are actually wearing out your car by idling.

Start watching and you will see people on the ferry start their cars before the ferry even docks! People dropping kids off at school (which is surprising in itself) idling for long periods of time, you people with kids- they are the ones inheriting this planet. Let's give them something worth inheriting. Cars in drive throughs, banks, food, etc., turn off those cars.

I grew up on a farm and some of our tractors had to be started with a hand crank in the front of the tractor but turning a key on from inside a comfortable car can't be that difficult.

Smart Trips Workshop 1/23/09

From the Sponsors' Event Flyer...

Jefferson Smart Trips -

A Visioning Workshop

*

Friday, January 23, 12- 2 p.m.
Masonic Hall, Jefferson & Van Buren, Port Townsend

Featuring

Vicki Steigner for WA State Dept. of Transportation

Dave Turissini for Jefferson Transit

Josh Peters for Jefferson County

Rick Sepler for City of Port Townsend

What could a Smart Trips program look like in Jefferson County?

Whatcom Smart Trips uses an innovative rewards campaign to get people walking, biking, sharing rides, and taking the bus. Although the Whatcom Smart Trips program is designed for the Bellingham metropolitan area, we could be the test case for a program in a rural area. Our goal would be to decrease congestion in the SR 19/20 Corridor. The program would dovetail well with the new commuter-oriented bus routes being planned by Jefferson Transit. We need to figure out better ways to incorporate bicycles with buses, to encourage use of park-and-rides, and promote transit and ride-sharing alternatives for trips between Port Townsend, Port
Hadlock and points further south (particularly ferries). Here are a few more ideas:

Walk
Installing complete streets, more trails and better interconnections

Bike
Bike commuting classes
Free bike repairs and tune-ups

Share a Ride
Promoting Rideshare Online for commuters
Providing Emergency Ride Home for commuters
Subsidizing the Vanpool program
Developing a Community Car Share program

Ride the Bus
Improving routes on Jefferson Transit, especially for commuters
Relieving congested sections of SR 19/20 corridor
Subsidizing transit passes for employees
Better provisions for bicycles, on-board folding bikes

Exhibits: Come early at 11:30 a.m. to learn more about folding bicycles, ride-sharing programs, walking and biking trails, and proposed transit commuter routes.

Sponsored by the Transportation Lab, Local 20/20 & Jefferson Transit

Contact 360-385-6579 or info@JeffersonCAN.org

For complimentary transportation to meeting, call Jefferson Transit at 360-385-4777

#

PRESS RELEASE

January 14, 2009

*

JEFFERSON SMART TRIPS – A VISIONING WORKSHOP
Joining forces to reduce congestion

A public workshop on January 23 will offer a look at a program of innovative alternatives for getting around East Jefferson County efficiently. Whether commuting on State Route 19/20 or taking a shopping and entertainment trip, Smart Trips can help. Successful implementation of a Smart Trips program in this area will provide choices beyond reliance on a single-occupancy vehicle (SOV).

The Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) is in the beginning stages of planning to address safety and congestion issues along the SR 19/20 corridor from SR 104 to the Port Townsend ferry. Traffic forecasting for the year 2031 shows that during the "peak hour," which is generally 4:30-5:30 p.m., we could see 50-70% more traffic volume on the State Routes and 60-75 % more traffic at the major intersections along the corridor.

Traditional solutions to this type of volume-to-capacity problem have involved additional travel lanes and traffic signals. Widening the highway may not be what this community desires for the future. If we are to create an alternative solution to our challenge, it must involve transportation demand management (TDM), including innovative programs like Smart Trips, which help reduce the number of SOV’s on the roadways. The sponsors of this workshop, with the support and encouragement of DOT, are undertaking to bring a Smart Trips program to Jefferson County.

Vicki Steigner of DOT will present the Smart Trips program as pioneered in Whatcom County as a strategy for reducing congestion and increasing safety on Highway 19/20. Ms. Steigner will show how the program has significantly increased ride-sharing, transit use, van-pooling, walking and bicycling in four years.

Dave Turissini of Jefferson Transit will present possibilities for commuter routes and Park & Ride locations as part of the effort to reduce congestion.

Josh Peters for Jefferson County and Rick Sepler for the City of Port Townsend will facilitate discussions about the transportation alternatives needed to help commuters, residents and visitors get where they need to go in the next couple of decades without facing gridlock on the highway. The workshop discussion will generate ideas for putting together a Smart Trips program suited to East Jefferson County.

Port Townsend Transportation Lab, Local 20/20 and Jefferson Transit are co-sponsoring the Jefferson Smart Trips Visioning Workshop. If you are concerned about gas prices, want to reduce the congestion on the roads and reduce your carbon footprint, Smart Trips can help.

The workshop will take place on January 23 from Noon to 2 p.m. at the Masonic Hall located at Jefferson and Van Buren Streets. As a lead-in to the workshop, information will be available at 11:30 a.m. about a variety of alternative transportation modes including Jefferson Transit’s proposed commuter routes, folding bikes for convenient use on Transit, walking and bicycling in Jefferson County and how to use rideshare online and van-pooling.

For complimentary transportation to the workshop, call Jefferson Transit at 360-385-4777. For information, contact Marion Huxtable at 379-9527.

#