A Conversation with Cheryl Schmitt, Transportation Coordinator

Cheryl Schmitt is the Transportation Coordinator for the City of Santa Cruz Public Works Department. We interviewed her to learn more about the work she does, current bicycle projects that are happening in Santa Cruz, and her perspectives on the Rail Trail.

Photo source/credit

As Transportation Coordinator, Cheryl's work focuses on alternative-to-car transportation programs for the City of Santa Cruz. She shared that her job entails "grant writing, public outreach, and working with the community and non profits." In her work, alternative transportation includes "infrastructure designed for bikes, pedestrians, public transit, carpool, car sharing, and electric vehicles."

We asked her where her interest in transportation came from, and she shared that when she was in high school, the Santa Barbara oil spill took place. She shared, "It was a pivotal moment for me because I saw what happened in Santa Barbara. Environmentalism started to bloom at that time, and it became a focus in my life." Cheryl has her bachelor's degree in anthropology and health, and she said she is fortunate that "this job happened to align with my values."

One bicycle-related project that she's currently working on is the construction of the Arana Gulch path, which she says was "dreamed about for twenty years and is a hugely important project because it will create a link between sections of arterial roadways that currently dead-end for bicyclists." This new path will become a transportation coordinator for both bikes and pedestrians. 

Our IDEASS project has provided research and recommendations to install an automated bicycle and pedestrian counter at the new Arana Gulch path, which will provide valuable data about how many people use the new trail once it opens later this year. There is more information about this project on the Arana Gulch Multi-Use Trail Project blog here.

In addition to the Arana Gulch Multi-Use Trail Project, the "Rail Trail" is another transportation corridor project that will eventually connect Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties with a path along the railroad tracks that will be separate from car traffic. "Yes, I think that it will increase bicycle ridership in Santa Cruz," she said. "Any new facility brings users." 

Despite seeing the Rail Trail as an opportunity for increasing bicycling in Santa Cruz, she did express one concern about the project: "My own feeling is that it is a huge project requiring a lot of funding. There are many other projects on the table, and I hope that these other projects don't get pushed to the side and it all goes to the rail trail." It will still be many years before the rail trail becomes a reality, though much progress has been made already. In the meantime, it is important that the community and City continue to support other bike projects in Santa Cruz that create a more connected and safe bicycle network while also keeping the vision of the Rail Trail in mind.

The official name of the "Rail Trail" project is the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network, and fortunately "approximately $7 million of local and federal funds have already been secured for construction of initial segments," according to the Regional Transportation Commission. Learn more about this project on the website here. 

Cheryl also spoke about the upcoming bike plan update, which she clarified will be a "complete streets" approach to an update. The previous Bicycle Transportation Plan was produced in 2008, and Cheryl says the new one will take a more holistic approach that will focus not only on bikes but on active transportation as a whole--bicycles, pedestrians, and public transit. Complete streets is a relatively new approach to transportation planning that is designed to "work for the entire community, from ages eight to eighty," she said. 

"When you chop it up into user groups, it has this sort of discontinuous feeling, like pitting one user against another," she said of traditional plans that separate bike planning from pedestrian, public transit, and cars. "We're all using the streets together, so we should plan together." For community members interested in contributing ideas for the new update, which is happening within the next year, be on the lookout for announcements about community workshops and opportunities to get involved.

Cheryl concluded the interview by sharing some thoughts on the future of transportation in the Santa Cruz region. "It's exciting to see younger people interested in transportation and pursuing it. I encourage it as a career option, especially since nearly 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions in Santa Cruz are from transportation. We are also going to see a lot of growth in our area, in the Monterey Bay Area. According to a study by AMBAG (Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments), the urban footprint of this area is projected to grow 40% from 2005-2035, so we need to be thinking about how we are going to handle the increase in traffic."

What an inspiring conclusion to our interview, a challenge for the future but also an opportunity for innovative thinking. It's already 2014, which means we're 9 years into that potential 40% growth. In addition to a sense of opportunity through the challenge of increased volumes of people in this region, that timeline creates a sense of urgency that is hopefully fueling more efficient and effective decision-making when it comes to bicycle and sustainable transportation projects in this region. 

Thank you so much, Cheryl, for your insight and thoughts on transportation and bicycling in Santa Cruz. 

To learn more about City of Santa Cruz Transportation Programs and the work that Cheryl does, please visit the website here.

Bicycle Outreach at UCSC Earth Summit (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

Last Thursday, our team joined a number of other student organizations in tabling at the Campus Earth Summit at UCSC. The event featured not only tabling, but also inspiring speakers, spoken word performances by the incredibly inspiring duo Climbing PoeTree, and workshops throughout the day. There was also free food and music powered by a bicycle generator! 

Fellow bicycling enthusiast Alex Hoffman (co-teacher with Melissa for the winter quarter People Power: Engaging Sustainable Transportation Solutions class) joined Aly and Melissa at the BTPT table. We promoted bike riding in Santa Cruz, as well as encouraged visitors to the table to take a survey about their bike riding habits. We also had a map of Santa Cruz that visitors could pin their routes on using tacks and rubber bands.

We were able to tell attendees about our project, answered bike-related questions, handed out materials for safer and more informed riding (provided by Transportation & Parking Services--thanks!), and asked visitors to our table to fill out a survey designed specifically for Earth Summit. Only 13 people filled it out, so we aren't counting the results as statistically accurate by any means. But if you're curious what folks said, check out the results below. Click the image for a larger view.

Mostly students, which we expected.

Because most of them are students, most are 18-24.

High bike rate among this crowd--they did, after all, approach a table proclaiming to be about bicycles. Future surveys we conduct will be at our bike commuting workshops where we imagine there will be a number of bicycle riders, too. We conducted the survey at Earth Summit as a way to identify any confusing questions and also see what kinds of habits UCSC bike riders have.

The campus bike shuttle is fully subsidized by Transportation & Parking Services through parking fees. Yes, you heard that right. Parking fees. So to continue to subsidize and make sustainable transportation methods cheaper for us all, people need to keep driving to campus and paying for permits. Hmm... Let's envision another model for funding, shall we?

Woah, we got some experts in the house! We still want those kinds of folks to attend our workshops if they're inclined to do so--they can share stories, tips, and maybe they'll realize they could learn a thing or two themselves!

With our stellar bus system in Santa Cruz to get to campus, it's no surprise that a lot of people bus it.

Mostly split between never and every weekday. 

Did you know that about half of all trips in the U.S. are three miles or less? Three mile trips are totally manageable by bike. I call that opportunity for change!

0 means no concern, and 5 means great concern. The following questions are all in response to "What keeps you from biking to work and/or school more?"

Given the high rates of bike theft in Santa Cruz, this is interesting. Get a good lock, use a bike locker, or park your bike in high visibility locations.

Bike racks with bags on the side are the way to go, especially with our hills. It's incredible how much easier it is to carry things when they're on your bike and not your back.

Leave earlier so you can ride slower and not break too much of a sweat. If you're going up to campus, there are showers available for bike commuters in Kresge College and Kerr Hall. Check out Janet Lafleur's blog One woman. Many bicycles. for more tips like this.

You don't need the most expensive bike in the shop to bike commute. Search Craigslist or ask friends who bike. 

If you're really far away, consider taking your bike on the bus!

Time management is key, and it is possible! Besides, if you bike to work, you can reduce your daily exercise routine and you'll inevitably feel more refreshed in the mornings. Daily exercise like this is really healthy for you, and it can soon become something you look forward to.

Weather-proof your commute! It's all about getting the right gear, some fenders, and waterproof clothing. 

Such great reasons to bike! Are you still on the fence about biking to work more often? Our workshops are designed for encouraging you to get out there more and feel empowered by your decision to bike to work instead of driving. Have questions? We have answers.

Workshops begin this Monday, March 17, from 6-7 PM in the People Power Office, 703 Pacific Ave. Learn more and register here for our free workshops!

Thanks for reading about experience at Earth Summit! We hope to see you Monday!

"Transportation in the Post-Carbon World"

One of our guest speakers from yesterday's class, George Dondero, Director of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, shared this reading titled Transportation in the Post-Carbon World to pass along to you all. It's optional, but it directly ties into the work of this class. You can access it online here by downloading the PDF or reading it online.

The excerpt on the site reads

"Successful post-carbon transitions will benefit from understanding the dynamics of transport revolutions. We define a transport revolution as being substantial change in a society's transport activity--moving people or freight, or both--that occurs in less than twenty five years."

And here's a video that gives you a sense of the topic being addressed in the reading:

My Multimodal Adventure to the Silicon Valley Transportation Choices and Healthy Communities Summit (Green Gal)

This was originally posted on Green Gal's blog here on Saturday, February 22.

By 6:15 AM today, I was biking down the hill from campus, enjoying the moments of stillness right before the sun rose. Lights twinkled in the city below, a familiar view that has been part of my experience at UC Santa Cruz for the last four years. Most of the time when I see the city's twinkling lights, though, it's at night.

Seeing it this early in the morning dispelled any lingering desire to be in my warm bed, and it prepared me for a day of engagement with transportation issues. I was on my way to the Silicon Valley Transportation Choices and Healthy Communities Summit in Palo Alto, and this 15-minute bike ride was leg one of a multi-modal journey!

After biking fast down the hill with my bright yellow jacket on, I arrived at the Santa Cruz Metro Station downtown with about 5 minutes to spare. I put my bike on the bus rack, paid my $5 for the trip over the hill, and sat down to breathe. I promptly closed my eyes and half-slept while sitting and not letting my pannier bag fall over for the next hour on my way to San Jose.

As the bus pulled into the San Jose Diridon Station, I saw Green Guy's adorable red BMW 2002 (Rojito) parked in the circle waiting. (You may remember Rojito from this story!) Vehicle number three for my multi-modal journey! We took the wheels off my bike to store it in the car and then drove to the store for breakfast ingredients and coffee. We spent some of the morning with his family, and he made everyone yummy egg cheese ham muffins modeled after the Egg McMuffin but much tastier. Then we were off to Palo Alto!

Upon arriving near University Avenue, I asked Green Guy to take some photos of me with my bike for my new column "It's Wheely Easy Being Green" on Pedal Love. I modeled in front of some flowers for a few minutes, striking different poses with my beloved bike. Helmet on, or off? These are serious fashion considerations, so we took a ton of different pictures.

I still haven't decided which one I'm using for Pedal Love, but perhaps this one?

Once I felt we must have at least one good photo, we said good bye and he drove off to his job at Tesla Motors. Evidently, we're both advocates for the coolest methods of transportation, bikes and electric sports cars--but let's be honest, bikes are way cooler. I headed into the conference, which took place at the Avenidas Senior Center in downtown Palo Alto, and found a seat.

For the sake of space, I won't go into too much detail here about the conference. I will say, though, that it was awesome to be around that many transportation advocates, and it was a perfect opportunity to meet people who are working on bike advocacy and other transportation topics in the Silicon Valley. I learned about local organizations, met some new friends, and discovered potential opportunities to pursue after I graduate in June.

To learn more about the conference, please view my photo essay here.

After the conference, I biked to the Caltrain station in Palo Alto. It was only the fourth or so time I've used Caltrain, and my first time bringing a bike onboard. I had read the information online about it, but I still gravitated toward some other folks with bikes waiting at the platform. They showed me what to do, and it was so easy!

As I sat in the bike car, I glanced around at the other bikes and noticed a really cute red one (above). I snapped a photo of the bikes, and a few stops later, a fashionably dressed woman in dark purple tights, black heels, and a red coat approached the bike. I instantly recognized her as the blogger for One Woman. Many bicycles. Of course, I couldn't remember her name or the name of her blog at the time, so I didn't approach her to say hi. I receive her blog posts in my email, and I knew she lived in the area and used Caltrain between bike rides. It was cool to see her in person, especially because now we both write for Pedal Love, and she's one of only three or so Northern California writers for the site.

When I arrived in San Jose, I waited in line for my second to last leg of my journey: the Highway 17 Express back to Santa Cruz. I fell asleep on this one again, too.

Upon arriving back in Santa Cruz, I considered biking back to campus... but given my sleepiness and the paper that I have due Monday (0/5 pages complete), I opted to save my energy and waited for the bus. Fortunately, I got a spot in the bus bike rack, and then I was headed home to my dorm.

Wow, what a day filled with transportation, connections (between people and modes of transit), and a sense of community that spans the Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley communities. I feel myself being pulled somewhat toward my future in the Silicon Valley area where I'll likely move after graduating, but I also feel rooted in Santa Cruz. This morning's sunrise and a walk around my college before the sun set tugged at my heart and sense of home. It is beautiful here, the air is fresh and full of natural sounds, and I know this place. I have lived and learned and loved life in this forest for four years.

Yet, I know that I need some adventure in other places and communities, and I want to bring what I have learned and experienced on this campus and in this community to other communities. Today's conversations taught me that there are so many people in other places that are working for sustainable and just solutions; Santa Cruz is not the only place. There are dialogues and people and struggles happening in the Silicon Valley that I want to learn about and be part of, so I look forward to the future, yet I am doing my best to remain present in this coastal, redwood filled world.

A Woman's Perspective on Walking and Taking Public Transportation in the USA and Iran

I am an Iranian-American woman born and raised in Northern California. After more than a decade, I finally had the chance to travel to Iran again last Summer. I have used various modes of transportation to travel throughout the United States as well as Iran. This post focuses on some of my experiences and observations walking and using public transportation in California and Tehran.

Tehran is the urban capital of Iran, home to over 12 million people, and can get very congested so public transportation is allocated differently. In an extremely conservative society where it is unacceptable for a random man to stand so close to a woman, Iran has dealt with crowded cars on the metro by segregating them. Some buses have different entrances for men and women, where men use the front door and women use the back door. This often separates men and women who are traveling together. When the buses get crowded during rush hour here in Santa Cruz, California, it is somewhat acceptable when other people get in your personal space because of the circumstances. You don't particularly like it but you deal with it.

A sign on a segregated metro in Tehran, Iran

In Iran women must wear loose fitting clothes covering all their body as well as a scarf to cover their hair. A recent YouTube video of a young woman walking around the streets of Tehran with jeans and a t-shit without her hair or arms covered went viral. This is considered controversial because there could be serious consequences. She could be arrested, taken to jail, fined, interrogated... you never know. When extreme regimes get challenged they may fight back more viciously to make examples of challengers. 

My typical outfit traveling around Iran: simple and conservative

In Tehran, it is more convenient to walk to local shops. When I would get dressed to go out in Iran, I planned to wear long flow-y clothes that hid my curves because I didn't want to attract attention when I walked down the street. In the US women can wear whatever they want when they walk through the streets. All around the world, some women feel more comfortable dressing conservatively and some women prefer to show more skin but a major part of how comfortable a woman feels walking in public is how much freedom they have to wear certain clothes. 

Recap of the Last Couple Weeks

We're overdue for a recap of class! Between reading for class and preparing the lesson plans and learning about the awesome projects everyone's doing, Alex and I haven't had a chance to write about what we've been doing in class--which is important so that people who aren't there can learn about the cool stuff we're doing.

Two weeks ago, Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power of Santa Cruz County, and Tawn Kennedy, Director of Green Ways to School, visited our class to talk about the work that they do in the community and how students in the class can get involved. It was awesome to learn about the projects they're currently working on. Both of them spoke about transportation issues in general, as well, which framed their work within the larger issues of transportation that we're facing. Tawn spoke about climate change and the importance of encouraging young people to bike. Thank you both for attending and sharing with us!

Tawn speaking about his work with Green Ways to School. 

After hearing from Tawn and Amelia, Alex presented about bikes, which is evidently our class's favorite topics since we talk about it every week even when we aren't focusing on bikes. The presentation that Alex showed is here if you want to review it.

Last week, we focused on public transportation. We started class by going around and sharing the funniest, best, or most interesting experiences we've had on public transportation. The stories ranged from drunk, boisterous men on buses in the Central Valley to silent connections made by eye contact on buses to realizations about socioeconomic inequalities and why we feel how we feel when we take public transportation. (If anyone from class wants to share what their story was, please do so in the comments!)

We transitioned into talking about the readings and reviewing a presentation that I put together the night before. You can review it here. We ended that portion of class with a TED Talk by Enrique Peñalosa titled "Why buses represent democracy in action."

After this, we welcomed a guest presentation by Erich Friedrich, Senior Transportation Planner with Santa Cruz METRO. He spoke about the history of METRO, current struggles the transit district faces, and exciting opportunities happening in the future. Students had many questions, and it led to an interesting conversation about Santa Cruz transportation issues and possible solutions. We may have more details on this coming soon in a blog post from Alex!

As always, you can look over our syllabus to see what readings we're doing each week and what the topic and plans are for future weeks. Tomorrow, we're discussing walking, and we have two guest speakers, Jessica Pearson from Transportation & Parking Services and Dr. Paul Lee, founder of the Chadwick Garden and Homeless Garden Project and advocate for trails like Pogonip. You're welcome to join us any Friday from 8 - 10:40 AM in the Kresge Seminar Room 159.

Enjoy this rain!

Why I Love Public Transportation (A re-post from Green Gal)

This was originally posted on Melissa's Green Gal blog here on September 14, 2012. 

Sure, sometimes you end up next to the smelly guy on the train or you wind up getting the bus with the loud cell phone people or the crazies. But the more you take public transportation, the more skilled you become at selecting seats, using body language (like angry faces and glaring to avoid conversations!), and just learning to deal with it because there are plenty of reasons--I'm about to name five--why public transportation is awesome. Here's why I love public transportation, and why I encourage you to utilize it as often as you can in your daily life.

1. Public transportation reduces the number of polluting, traffic-causing cars on the road.
Every time you take public transportation when you might otherwise have taken a car takes one car off the road. Think about people who take PT every day to work, school, or wherever they going when they could have driven. Certainly a bus requires more fuel than a compact car, but if you fill a bus with people and take the cars the passengers would have been driving off the road, you're saving a ton of gas and reducing pollution and traffic congestion.

2. Staring out the window when you're a passenger and letting your mind wander is really good for your brain, particularly when the scenery is nice.
When I take the bus and train home from college, I almost instantly find myself glancing up to the window and letting my thoughts wander for awhile before returning to my book or computer. Most of my commute is through forest and then through open space, so my mind has nothing in particular to grab ahold of and capture my attention--I'm free to explore whatever aspect of the universe of thought that my brain has the capacity to access. Often, I recognize how much I need that unfocused thinking to the passing world in order to let my mind wander, and I put my book or computer away. Pretty soon, the notebook comes out and ideas for things I should do at work, school, or on my blog come pouring out. I outlined the plan for this blog post while sitting on the Highway 17 Express yesterday, for example. I write best when I'm inspired after some unfocused gazing off into space, like on the bus, and I often do my best thinking when I'm the passenger of a moving vehicle without distraction. It's this unfocused attention that allows our brains to recharge, and the same kind of thing happens for me when I'm surrounded by nature and am able to simply think. Turns out, it's not just me. Richard Louv discusses this and something called "directed-attention fatigue" (28) in his book The Nature Principle:

Over time, the Kaplans [who conducted a study with a group similar to Outward Bound in the 1970s] developed their theory of directed-attention fatigue. As described in a paper by Stephen Kaplan and Raymond DeYoung: "Under continual demand our ability to direct our inhibitory processes tires. . . . This condition reduces mental effectiveness and makes consideration of abstract long-term goals difficult. A number of symptoms are commonly attributed to this fatigue: irritability and impulsivity that results in regrettable choices, impatience that has us making ill-formed decisions, and distractibility that allows the immediate environment to have a magnified effect on our behavioral choices." The Kaplans hypothesize that the best antidote to such fatigue, which is brought on by too much directed attention, is involuntary attention, what they call "fascination," which occurs when we are in an environment that fulfills certain criteria: the setting must transport the person away from their day-to-day routine, provide a sense of fascination, a feeling of extent (enough available space to allow exploration), and some compatibility with a person's expectations for the environment being explored. Furthermore, they have found that the natural world is a particularly effective place for the human brain to overcome mental fatigue, to be restored. (Louv 28)

Along these same lines, it has always bothered me when parents have their kids watch DVDs in the back of the car on long drives. I was never that child, and I'm so incredibly thankful to my parents for forcing me to sit there and gaze out the window. Occasionally, I read a book or colored or sang songs with family, but after awhile, I would get bored of doing anything and start to watch the orchards go by (you know what I'm talking about if you've ever gazed out a car window in an agricultural setting--the rows are so fun to watch, it's addicting), or start day dreaming. Those poor kids who have their eyes glued to a television in the backseat aren't developing the habit of day dreaming and thinking without being focused on something. How are you supposed to think about your life as a whole if you're always sectioning it off into "projects" or "subjects" or "to-dos"? Sometimes you need to literally just sit and stare in order to put things together in your life, and while we all know this and have had experience with it, being aware of how important this is and acting on this every single day will make us all more clear-headed. Having these experiences as a child in a car or on a bus or train set the foundation for us to be able to be creative with our thinking and learn to entertain ourselves. Being able to simply be, think, and enjoy the ride without being entertained is so important, and this is why I will never let my children (if I ever have any) watch DVDs in the back of my car--oh wait, that's because I won't have a car! :-)

3. How often do you get to be the passenger? You can get work done as you travel when you aren't driving.
While I recommend gazing out the window for a good portion of your trip, you can also get work done when you aren't the one driving. Some buses and trains have free wifi, or you can read or use a computer without the internet. You can also nap, which I call getting a lot of good work done.

4. Public transportation costs significantly less money than owning and maintaining your own car, and you don't have to worry about parking or the stress of driving.
Even if you do own a car, using public transportation whenever you can reduces the amount of mileage you're accumulating on your car and means you don't have to pay for gas at the pump as often. You don't have to pay parking fees or even find parking in the first place. You can enjoy a drink without worrying about driving yourself anywhere (a college student's best designated driver is often the bus driver).

5. You gain some perspective on life by observing those who have no other option but to take public transportation.
While I do not own my own car, I have parents who do own cars who've driven me back to campus before. I have friends with cars who could drive me places if I really needed a ride. Eventually, I will probably own a car--though I'll fight getting one as long as I can. I use public transportation largely because I'm a college student and everyone takes the buses, but I also do it because I know it is less polluting in the long run than using a car to get everywhere. But the fact is, most people who use public transportation have no other option because they have no car. Spending time on public transportation and realizing this fact can give you some perspective on your life and make you thankful and grateful for the privilege you have in being able to even make public transportation a choice rather than a necessity.

It can open your heart a little and make those uncomfortable moments on public transportation that I mentioned at the beginning of this article a little less of an issue. We're all just people doing the best we can, moving from one place to another. Maybe the smelly guy is homeless for reasons beyond his control; maybe the loud person on their cell phone is going through a rough time in their life and they need to have that conversation with whomever to make it through the day; and maybe the "crazy" people aren't really crazy after all. They just see life a little differently than you.

Hopefully this article makes you more inclined to take public transportation the next time you have an opportunity to do so. If not, I'm curious what your hesitation is, and I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Thank you for reading!
Have a great weekend!

Engaged Discussions on Santa Cruz Transportation 1/17/14

Last Friday, our class met in the Common Ground Center, Kresge Room 166. Our normal classroom, the Kresge Seminar Room, was full of California Student Sustainability Coalition students who were at UC Santa Cruz for their winter convergence. Having class in the smaller space allowed for a more intimate discussion on Santa Cruz-specific transportation issues, and although we'll return to the Kresge Seminar Room for most other weeks, we may venture back into that space if we feel that our discussions on particular days require that closer intimacy.

We spoke about Santa Cruz transportation statistics, things to celebrate, issues to find solutions to, and also discussed our first blog post experience of writing our transportation histories, which can all be found on this blog. Students expressed having trouble getting started writing about transportation history because it's such an integral and typically changing history of our lives. Most people discussed the multiple modes they've used in their lives--cars, bikes, buses being the most common methods. We discussed how our experiences, comfortability, and perceptions of each mode affects how we view other modes and other people using other modes.

After spending some time reviewing local Santa Cruz information and hearing a brief presentation by Brenden Fant, a UCSC alum, former Impact Designs: Engineering & Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) bike transit intern, and former Student Environmental Center Transportation Campaign Coordinator. Brenden went through his report from his IDEASS project that surveyed people who bike to and from the UCSC campus to identify where people are riding and what the barriers are to people riding bikes more. Brenden had us brainstorm the benefits of cycling since we had touched upon the reasons why bicycling is an effective and healthy mode of transportation, but we hadn't articulated in one place what those reasons were. Here's what we came up with (click the image for a larger view):

Then we brainstormed as a class what kinds of visions we have for the future of transportation at UC Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz in general. This ranged from more people perceiving walking as a good way to get around to double decker bridges for bikes on campus to zip lines to less crowded buses. I took some photos of the board before class ended so we could review them later:

Thank you everyone for participating in great conversation and bringing your perspectives and experiences to class to share! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, when we select project topics and hear from Amelia Conlen and Tawn Kennedy of People Power of Santa Cruz County about the work that they do and how you can get involved!

Documents from January 17 class:

• View the presentation slides from 1/17
• 2012-13 IDEASS Bicycle Transit Study (Brenden's project)
• Read the Community Assessment Project, which contains statistics about Santa Cruz issues

Hasti's Transportation History

Write your transportation history - Think about the various modes of transportation that you've used in your life at different times and places. How do your experiences with these modes affect your perception of the world, your community, etc.? Have you had pivotal moments on buses, bike rides, car trips, etc. that have changed how you see the world?

Sitting in the backseat as a child during my pre-drivers license days, I remember watching the world go by and observing the different people in their cars going all sorts of places. It fascinated me that there were so many cars filled with individuals in transit with their own destination in mind. Although I was observing the outside environment, I was unaware of the infrastructure encompassing all these vehicles. It wasn't until I obtained my driver’s license that I became conscious of the legalities and logistics of our roads. I looked at each vehicle in a whole new way and better understood the responsibilities of being a driver.

But before I earned my driver’s license, I was dependent on someone else to drop me off and pick me up from the places I wanted to go. Riding public transportation in the Bay Area for the first time forced me to figure out how the Caltrain and BART systems worked. From each stop, I learned more about the geography of the area. Public transportation in the Bay Area is that is fairly inefficient though. Most of the time, it requires more than one mode of transportation to get somewhere. Someone would have to drop you off at the Caltrain station and then you take the Caltrain all the way to the Millbrae Station to switch onto the BART. A major limitation of public transportation is that it is not always there right when you need it.

Bicycling helped me gain independence because I could hop on my bike and head to a local spot at any time. I could fuel the bicycle with my own energy and was on my own schedule. Currently, bicycling is my main method of transport in Santa Cruz. When I tell people that I don’t have my car in Santa Cruz they usually respond sympathetically as if I’m missing out. In a car, encased by metal, you are isolated from the world, whereas on a bike you are exploring and engaging with the environment. It’s actually relieving to not have my car here with me because I prefer biking around town. I don’t have to buy gas, I don’t get stuck in congested traffic, and I don’t have trouble finding parking. I love the scenic routes, the fresh air, and accelerating my heart rate.