Going "Car-Free" September 17-23
The Patrick-Murray Administration is encouraging residents who are able to leave their cars in the driveway and try going “car-free” – by bicycling, walking, public transit, carpooling or vanpooling for Massachusetts Car-Free Week, September 17-23.
Massachusetts joins over 1,000 cities in 40 countries across the globe in an effort to showcase the community, environmental, and quality of life benefits of reducing the number of vehicles on the road.
For the third year in a row, Massachusetts will be celebrating an entire week of going car-free or “car-light,” which includes carpooling or vanpooling instead of driving alone. No other state in the nation has proclaimed a statewide Car-Free Week celebration.
This year, those who take car-free and “car-light” modes of transportation during Car-Free Week and year-round can start earning discounts and incentives from area businesses through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s rewards program, NuRide, the nation’s largest travel rewards program for individuals who take greener trips, and is free for anyone who lives or works in the Commonwealth.
“Car-Free Week is a great time to remind individuals to sign-up for NuRide and be rewarded for their efforts to commute green,” said MassDOT Secretary Richard A. Davey. “NuRide is a free program, it is easy to use, and it enables MassDOT to reward travelers for incorporating sustainability into their daily commutes.”
Massachusetts Car-Free Week supports GreenDOT, MassDOT’s comprehensive environmental responsibility and sustainability initiative launched to support the Global Warming Solutions Act, signed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2008. The Act requires a 25% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020, the first step toward a required 80 percent reduction by 2050. The transportation sector generates more than one-third of the total greenhouse gas emissions produced in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Car-Free Week is a collaboration between the MassDOT, MassRIDES, the statewide travel options program, and MassCommute, the Massachusetts Transportation Management Association. For more information, visit www.mass.gov/massdot/carfree or email Johanna Blue, Johanna.Blue@state.ma.us
Chris Daley
11:02 pm on Saturday, September 15, 2012
What hogwash already. I cant even take a walk on my own street without being sideswiped by impudent motorists. More do gooder, reformer, socialist enviro two-faced, back-stabbing patronizing. Sorry, I'll fasten my seat belt instead, slowing down for pedestrians, instead of hurredily swinging wide over centerline. Westford ,other towns still build suburbs for cars, not walking and cycling.
Mike
8:28 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
Chris, you're right: Westford and other towns are still built for cars and nor for walking and cycling.
Over the past 10-12 years, nearly every suggestion to add sidewalks or bike lanes to town streets was shot down by angry homeowners who a) don't want taxes raised to pay for the improvements, or b) don't want the town to take a strip of land for the sidewalk easement.
Everyone's "for" the idea of sidewalks but no one steps up to pay for them -- except in the commercial corridors where few people walk. So slam all the "do-gooder, reformer, socialist enviro two-faced, backstabbing patronizing" that you want.
Anne Shirley
7:46 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
This would be a lot easier to do in an area that has sidewalks, bike lanes/paths, and public transportation. Regarless of whether one sees this as good or bad, Westford is lacking in all of these areas.
Dan D.
8:35 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
I think the reason Westford is lacking in those areas is that they only benefit a relative handful of people. The vast majority simply don't care or want bike lanes, sidewalks, etc. so they won't support tax money to build them.
Mike
9:43 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
Dan, sidewalks would benefit the 90+ percent of Westford residents who are upright and bipedal, and for whom walking is their primary mode of ambulation. Do I want to walk to work in downtown Boston? No...but it would be nice to be able to walk to different places in town without the very real chance of getting hit.
Dan D.
8:33 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
Thank goodness there are no more pressing issues in the Commonwealth than declaring a car free week.
Cars are wonderful machines. Using a car, I have the freedom to go just about anywhere at anytime, without being tied to a public transportation schedule and route. Not sure why anyone would want a "car free" week, except those whose fortunes are tied to public transportation ridership, and those who hate the idea of people being free to go where they want when they want.
Dan D.
11:53 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
I must have missed the poll that showed 90% of Westford wants to pay for sidewalks. It's amazing how many people make up facts to support what they want.
Mike
4:52 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
Dan, you might want to read the comments a bit more carefully. I said that 90+ percent of Westford residents actually walk.
Cheers!
Dan D.
9:04 pm on Monday, September 24, 2012
I stand by my comments. "90% would benefit"? Implies two things: 90% would actually use sidewalks, and 90% would actually pay for them. Both implications are totally made up and without proof. I can state that 91% would never use them or pay do them just as truthfully.