I didn't have a chance to share my final reflections about the Car-Free Challenge before and I decided to post here some of them today. 

Thanks to my parents for their generous $50 donation that they sent to me as a check - I submitted it myself to the CFC website, which is why there appears to be a donation from myself to myself :)

The Car-Free challenge proved especially challenging during the final 10 days, as my family went to visit other family in Chicago and New York.

148 miles driven for the whole month of June, which is 102 miles less than my goal limit!!!  This translates to only 4 car trips to work and plenty of bus rides, bike rides and lots of walking

So I didn't make my goal of staying under 50 miles.  Why?  I had a last minute trip to Washington, DC that I hadn't budgeted.  Actually, I hadn't really budgeted for what I would have spent in

Last time I checked in I had 78 total solo driving miles and 78 total carpool miles for a total of 158 driving miles.

And I did not feel deprived!  In fact my ferry boat ride from Marin to SF was delightful as was my bus walk adventure in the town of Alameda.

I had a blast participating in the just concluded Car-Free Challenge. My mileage target for June was 125 miles; at the end of the challenge, my total was 132 miles (just 7 miles over!).

So there's a car-free month for you, I'm amazed at how fast it went and how close to home I stay while going so far without a car.

My CFC month started with a couple big challenges: a mid-day doctor's appointment in Daly City, nowhere near BART, and a Saturday morning transbay trip to Hayward.  I had mixed success meeting

Zowie!!

So here we are at the end of the challenge. It has been a wonderful experience and I want to share my stats with you:

 Biking Total: 320 miles - GOAL MET!!

The month of June was great -- I did more errands on my bike, and when I felt lazy and wanted to drive I remembered the challenge and got on my bike.

My login had timed out so when I clicked submit on my lovely entry about biking and bussing to North Berkeley and East Oakland in a single work day was lost.

Living, Working and Playing in the Transit Rich, Walkable and Bikable Parts of Bay Area

I traveled 606 miles in June:

74% Transit Miles

12% Car Miles

I made it through the month driving fewer miles than I had predicted. I managed to be completely car free for seven of the eleven days following my return from Colorado.

Omg!  I'm so sore from all the riding I did this month.  I made my goal though (Barely,)  I had to make up for it this last week though...  I'm also going to try and get more supporters over

On the final day of the car-free challenge, I just want to say a quick thank you to TransForm for the past month of inspiration, support, and great stories!

I have a new game to make the 4.6 mile ride to work at 7:30 (way too early) in the morning more entertaining. I try to beat the bus that runs down international.

I admit it: I'm glad the challenge is going to be over.  It was a great learning experience, and I didn't have to put gas in my car all month, but I'm ready to drive again.

So as the month is compng to a close i've been deciding whether my choices to get in a car or not will be more influenced in the future. This is a hard thing to look at for myself because or

Well the challenge is almost over. I dont have all that much to say, except that i had such an amazing time.

Rejoicing:

 

Totaled all my driving (including with others in their cars e.g., did not include miles when my daughter used my car). Even with the glitch in missing my train I managed to stay at ~ 175 miles.

A lot of Car-Free Challengers have written about Uptown Unveiled.

 

For a family of four to go from our house in Alameda to, say, Embarcadero Station in San Francisco the BART fare is $3.30 a head. That's $13.20 to get to the city.

On Saturday the Seashore Hobson clan headed down to Hayward for a wedding. That's normally a car trip, particularly in our wedding finery.

This weekend, I noticed a pattern with my CFC attempts: when I choose to take transit for the bulk of my driving but add just a few miles of car support to improve convenience, I'm much happier t

Figured out my daily commute is actually 20+ miles, whcih means I've (so far) done approx 440 miles just commuting, not including my "training" miles (another 20 to 90 per ride, three t

I hope so!

Wednesday afternoon Kim and I began a 27-hour date to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

Had a wonderful hike this past Saturday all via public transit using the new site: www.transitandtrails.org.

You can see the trip details here:

For that final push, here are two more videos to motivate and inspire!  (For additional inspiration, Critical Mass is tonight in SF...)

I love Marin County - its beautiful hillsides and landscapes, the great hiking opportunities.  Greenbelt Alliance is working on a cool initiative in Marin to plan for more affordable homes so pe

Check out this charming short film about a couple in Hong Kong deciding on whether to take the subway or the ferry.

The weather's been lovely, and it's been a joy to ride down Alameda's tree-lined Central Avenue with my seven-year-old to soccer camp.

It's hard to believe that the Car-Free Challenge has less than one week left!

I have been riding my bike so much, that I finally wore down my pants right where they rub against my seat. I felt a slight breeze when I arrived at work.

Over the past couple years I've gotten quite used to using bike+transit for my work commute, and it is no longer all that remarkable.

Exactly two weeks in, Total stats: drove 95.5 miles, walked 26.2 miles, rode the bus 20 miles.

THE GOOD: I've been walking to work again which equals out to more than 4 miles round-trip each day

Last week I started to enjoy a two-week vacation in Bolinas, CA - my "backyard" (I live in San Rafael - 40 minutes away by car).

This weekend I drove down with my family to Los Angeles for father's day, so thankfully I get two car-free breaks, because that would have shattered my mileage goal - 375 miles in each direction!

yay! it feels so good to be home at the end of a zero mile day.  and only a week left of the challenge! 

Well, I guess my calculations proved overly optimistic for the trip to Hood River.  When all was said and done on Sunday, we pulled into the rental car return at PDX with over 200 miles on the o

The main challenge for me so far is keeping an acurate account of my miles ridden, and miles driven.

I took a little tumble on my bike on Saturday -- nothing bad, but my skinned and bruised knee was a bit stiff on Sunday and Monday.

We have six tickets to see Diablo Light Opera Company's Hello Dolly this weekend in Walnut Creek.  Check it out: http://www.dloc

Last Friday I participated w

On Saturday, I volunteered to work an exhibit at CraigsList Boot Camp for my job. I decided to BART but also bring my bike to ride home.

Hey Challengers!

Oliver's in soccer camp this week, so that means 10 pick up and drop off's over at Washington Park, just under three miles from our house.

Last Friday, my cousins Lang and Joss and I went into San Francisco for the day to get some lunch and do some shopping.

From reading my earlier blog entries, you might have the impression that this challenge is a "piece of cake" for me and wonder why I didn't set my goal closer to zero.

Friday was a big travel day, and a day when we definitely challenged ourselves to change our normal habits.

Today I encountered a situation that would have been completely avoided if I taken a car back from San Francisco. I wouldn't have known it, but I would have missed out on a great BART trip.

 Muni 38 Geary - On the way to Jtown Kabuki for StarTrek.

I fell off of it.  I'm sorry!

This weekend I will wreck my heretofore impressively low mileage count by driving from PDX to Hood River, OR, a 120-mile round trip excursion.  But the Car-Free Challenge doesn't make me count t

I recently downloaded an iphone application called DoGood that encourages people to complete one random act of kindness a day.

Going to hit up San Jose Bike Party tonight. Best thing going on in the South Bay! Come and join the ride! Check out the route at: http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

 

So, today will be one of my vacation/freebie days since I'm carpooling to Tahoe for the weekend -- but I am taking my bike so I don't have to drive once we get there.

Well...it's about four days into me being car free, and I've already broken my goal of zero miles. My cousins and I went to dinner with their dad and I drove.

In previous blog posts, I've bemoaned the fact that most of my driving during the summer months comes from carting all of Rafael's and my gear down to our roller-hockey games.  "How can I p

I seriously wondered this as a Walnut Creek squad car rolled by the bus stop Leila and I had been waiting at for an hour+ three separate times!

 

Rafael's brother, sister-in-law, and their three kids ages 10-14 visited us this past week, and I got to undertake a new food-related project: grocery shopping for seven people!  When I was grow

Our friends with Rock the Bike are throwing a mobile, completely human and pedal powered music event on Saturday! All the info you need is here:

www.rockthebike.com