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“You want to walk over for lunch?”
“No way, it’s too hot.”
And so begins any conversation between a Tampa Bay area resident who thinks it is never hot in Florida and one who sweats looking at the weather report. No matter how much we promote the health and economic benefits of transportation options, some of us are married to our air conditioned cars, even if it means pulling out of one parking spot and into another across the street. But as the weather cools and summer turns to fall, consider trying transit and other transportation options.
In Virginia, they have challenged their residents to use an alternative form of transportation once every 10 days. Virginia’s “Try Transit Week” counts significant savings for residents’ wallets as a reason for taking the bus or rails, finding a buddy to drive to work with or working from home. For Virginians, transit has become essential to commute into Washington, DC, where an additional 26 lanes would be necessary if it was not for buses and trains linking Virginia to DC.
In Tampa Bay, our bus services continue to experience record ridership, as people rely on them for transportation to work and school. Pinellas County is still rolling along with their innovative Alternative Analysis study, which is currently seeking public comment.
One tremendous area of growth in Tampa Bay has been in bicycling. Between the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail, Starkey Wilderness Park, the Gulf Coast Cycle Fest, and the work to create the regional Bicycle Area Mobility Network, there are more bicycles on the road than ever before. The work of our cycling advocates and the partnerships they have developed with local elected officials have been crucial in correcting our region’s terrible record on protecting cyclists.
With the cooler weather, consider taking your bike to dinner in downtown Dunedin or shopping in Hyde Park and St. Armand’s. Take a walk at lunchtime, and you’ll get some help in burning off that burrito you just ate. And don’t be shy in jumping on a bus with some new friends or asking your neighbor if they want to carpool to save some money.
The important thing is to try something new. Who knows? You might like losing some weight by being active and trying new things, while gaining weight in your wallet.
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