Did you know our car town is in the middle of an annual, city-sponsored campaign known as " Strive Not To Drive Week," the last day of which is tomorrow? Mayor Chávez is encouraging less convenient forms of transportation such as biking, walking, riding the bus and carpooling. Not owning a car, most weeks I strive TO drive, as being carless in Albuquerque is like being a horse at a unicorn party. Though vast improvements have recently been accomplished in the realm of New Mexico mass transit, most must rely on cars in Albuquerque, a city still organized according to the postwar oil company/auto industry plot to plan communities around the use of single occupancy vehicles. Encouraging transportation alternatives nowadays is not unconstructive, but until those alternatives function reasonably and have a symbiosis with the urban environment (late-running or 24-hour mass transit, sensible infill rather than sprawl and “upscale” lofts unsupported by basic amenities, the cultivation of non-creepy foot traffic, to name a few things), this is merely a charade.Anywho, tomorrow, Friday, May 15 is National Bike to Work Day. ABQ RIDE, Bike ABQ and The NM Rail Runner have invited the public to the Alvarado Transportation Center and the Los Ranchos Rail Runner stop from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for (early freaking morning) “food and fun.” You might find me there wearing a shirt that reads, “We vant a Wuppertal Schwebebahn, and we vant it now.”
It’s “Strive Not To Drive Week” In Car Town, U.s.a.
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