Like sand through the hourglass...
The office has been fairly quiet this week, with Corinne exploring the great frozen North and Ernesto in Minnesota at the Safe Routes to School conference. With nobody to boss around, I've been trying to get out of the office as much as possible.
On Monday, I trekked all the way down three flights of stairs for an El Camino Corridor advocates meeting hosted by TransForm and Greenbelt Alliance. At the meeting, environmental advocates, transportation wonks, and neighborhood committee representatives listened to a presentation by VTA about plans for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on The Alameda and El Camino Real. VTA is taking a pretty progressive approach on the project, working with the cities to do a total streetscape makeover that includes dedicated bus lanes in the middle with bike lanes on the sides. Not all the cities along the corridor are convinced that bike lanes are worth it if on-street parking would be affected. If you live in one of the El Camino Corridor towns, I suggest you contact your City Council member and share your thoughts on the topic.
On Tuesday, I had nothing scheduled outside of the office, so I mostly goofed off and watched Justin Bieber videos on the internet and ate Good & Plenties. I don't know which was dreamier, the candy or that dashing young man!
On Wednesday I was invited to speak on a commute alternatives panel hosted by the City of San José Green Team. I was joined by other sustainable transportation speakers who discussed the virtues, challenges, and tips for carpooling, buses, walking, and rail both light and heavy. It was great to see people making a real effort to wean their colleagues off of their cars. It's also always great to tell people that I spent the afternoon at City Hall, because it makes me sound like a big shot.
And now, it's Thursday, named after the Norse god and summer blockbuster star Thor. In honor of Thor's heart-healthy lifestyle and apparent penchant for free weights, I headed to a health fair in South San Francisco to work the SVBC table and talk up bikes. It was a beautiful day up on the Peninsula and I had the opportunity to speak to several cyclists who know the area much better than I. Apparently, BART is not a cyclist's best friend, fog can make one too depressed to ride a bike, and the recently announced bike lane through San Francisco Airport is a good idea in pretty much everyone's book. Thanks for getting me up to speed, workers of The Industrial City!
That's it for now. I'm pretty excited, as tomorrow is Friday. Friday. Gotta get down on Friday. Fun fun fun fun...
