Reading comments on PM Summer's post about "tryparkingit.com," I looked real hard and finally found the NCTCOG comment page. I'd only looked at the tryparkingit comment page before which was just an email link. Here's what I sent. I hope I've partially redeemed myself. If nothing else, I did get my front derailleur working properly tonight...
Some of your "tryparkingit.com" stuff mystifies me. Specifically:
#1 Why is ONLY bicycling combined with an unrelated transit mode - namely roller blading? Does NCTCOG have some evidence that the two modes share some sort of demographic? Are there a measurable fraction of roller bladers that commute 40 miles RT to work as I do on my bike? The questions go on and on but I'm sure you get the idea. Maybe combine telework centers with roller blading. My personal theory is that it's the "drive alone" types that are secret roller bladers and you're missing a major trend. I admit I've roller bladed in my life, but it took NCTCOG to make any connection with cycling. I suspect that if I actually tried to roller blade up Westport Parkway in Fort Worth, I'd not live to try it a second time. The drivers would all avoid me, but the washboard surface would do me in.
#2 How do the various "did not work," "started commute after 10AM," and "brown bag lunch" items actually reduce pollution one iota for people commuting via nonmotorized means? Might it be simpler just to have three categories - motorized, public transit, and nonmotorized? If you want a little better refinement - you could break public transit down to those that get to the bus/train by motorized versus nonmotorized means.
#3 Your savings are somewhat disingenous. As long as the commuter retains a car AT ALL, most of the costs are constant regardless of the daily commute mode. That's clearly shown at the AAA site. Though I ride my bike to work nearly 70% of the time, my auto insurance, loan and other costs remain essentially unchanged. At least be honest. Encourage people to do an alternative commute because they want to, not under the false illusion that it'll save them one red cent - unless they dump the car completely.
#4 This comments page isn't real obvious for people using "tryparkingit.com." I've been using that site for over a year, despite all its warts, and I had to deliberately HUNT for this contacts page.
#5 I think Bell Helicopter has as many cycle commuters at its Alliance campus as at its site listed at "tryparkingit." Do we get "extra credit" for being halfway to Denton? Does Bell lose credit for splitting its cycle commuters amongst more than one campus? Inquiring minds want to know!
#6 This one doesn't bother me, but it bothers some people I know - there's still no way for people to easily account for to-from errands they make on their bikes. That saves one heck of a lot more miles than some "brown bag" factor.
All in all, I personally like the site more than I hate it, but it's really time to make it a little less "Cutsey PR" and a little more "real."
3 comments:
Just curious, what benefit do you expect would result from making this data more realistic?
IOW, is tryparkingit.com just about making people feel good or is NTCOG doing something useful with the information collected?
Making the data more useful makes it more credible. Credible data helps sell better programs than dopey & useless data. That's true even if NCTCOG is basically a political pressure group. That's not incompatible with making people feel good.
I'm not sure what benefit would accrue to NCTOG if tryparkingit.com's only purpose was to make people feel good. In the current economy, there's other stuff I'd rather see my tax money support than such a purpose.
Follow-up. So far no response beyond some cryptic note wanting to know if I'm Bell's coordinator.
I did see the "Bike to Work Day" results from the site - you'll all be proud to know I accounted for 12.9% of all recorded miles all on my own! Perhaps the other 87.1% were rollerbladers...
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