We'd like to do our part to help Vancouverites in their quest to make this city the greenest city in the world by 2020. Here's a little reality check documented on the city of Vancouver website Talk Green Vancouver webpage,
"Air pollution and climate change – Motor vehicles are among of the largest sources of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, causing global warming, ecological damage, and reduced air quality. In Vancouver, light duty vehicles accounted for over 30% of GHG emissions in 2008."
Of course this isn't a revolutionary concept, but lets just put it out there once again, yes, yes it's true, we are strangling the life right out of the very foundation which sustains us.
Now that we are all on the same page, let's offer some interesting, creative and in some cases "fun" solutions and tools to help in your quest to reduce your carbon footprint. We'll start with the basics invented by our clever ancestors the neanderthals; its called 'walking'.
Walking Vancouver
At www.stepwhere.com you can find, or add your own, suggestions for walking and running routes through the city. Another site that holds a database full of routes with a Google Earth view is www.walkjogrun.net. The CBC has been promoting walking 10,000 steps a day through their "Live Right Now" challenge as a way to fight Canada's rising obesity rates. If you're interested in giving it a bash you can find some great tools for tracking progress like www.bodybugg.com and, of course, there's an app, the iphone pedometer.
Cycling Vancouver
It goes without saying that the above-mentioned run/walk sites can be used as cycling routes as well, but if you want to reference cycling routes specifically, UBC has a website that maps-out cycling routes called Cycle Vancouver. We are going to suggest they add a layer that shows Cycling repair and rental outlets throughout the city.
Buses Vancouver
Translink has a great new quick-reference map on their Travel Smart site here. You can select an area and easily find the bus routes, cycling routes, businesses and community centres etc. that operate in the area in which you are travelling, or you can look at the city overall. It's really an excellent little tool. Our recommendation to Translink is to develop and app.
Taxi's Vancouver
We all know the taxi companies so let's try and offer something with a little value here. There's an interesting little tool to help you estimate taxi fares called Taxi Fare Calculator. A test showed that its about $25 from downtown Vancouver to the airport and this is pretty close to accurate in good traffic. Also, this is an app that helps you hail a cab from wherever you are, Call a Taxi. It appears to have some good reviews.
Care Share Vancouver
Car share opportunities are growing in this city, we won't go over the plans for each company but we'll list the companies:
More information on car sharing in Canadian cities at www.carsharing.ca
Carpooling Vancouver
There some great solutions for carpooling throughout the city. You can check and see if your company, school or organization is listed on this site Jack Bell Ride Share. Alternatively, if you want to start your own car-share community you can purchase cheap software to facilitate your endeavor here at Carpool World.
Summed-up
We hope that you find this creative little list useful and send some links our way to encourage others to jump on the bandwagon. The Green Party has a Car Free Challenge on the go at the moment so if you can avoid the evil, emission machine altogether this month up until September 22nd, you can brag about it here.
Happy Trails!
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