Ginny from the Blog

It’s Try Transit Week in the Triangle, which means public transportation officials want people who normally wouldn’t ride a bus to climb aboard.

I’m fortunate to have a car, so I don’t have to rely on bus schedules. Sure, I could ride the bus to save gas, save emissions and cut down on traffic by taking my car off the road. But suddenly this independent chick would have to rely on other people, something I do not like to do. I like knowing that the bus is there, and if I needed it, you can bet I would take a seat. I also have no issues with paying taxes and fees to fund our local public transportation system, even though I don’t really use it. I understand the value the bus system provides to our community and I absolutely support it.

But other than riding the R-Line downtown, I have no plans to participate in this week’s festivities (which include free rides, ice cream and coupons to bolster ridership).

That said, I applaud local transit officials for setting aside time to help bring awareness to bus ridership and encourage new riders to ditch their cars. I’m not sure how much these awareness events have on ridership though. Last Tuesday was World Carfree Day, and the Daily Tar Heel reported that there didn’t appear to be an influx of riders (although, the article notes that rain may have been a deterrent).

Last year, fellow Raleigh blogger Leo decided he would ride the bus from his downtown apartment to his office in Research Triangle Park for one week.

He thoroughly documented his experience on his blog. The self-described “ecogeek” concluded that while it was nice to be able to watch videos on his iPod while the bus driver steered him home, he would rather leave a slightly larger carbon footprint than endure the 2.5 to 3+ hour roundtrip bus ride. He wrote:

“We all live and work in different areas so your particular experience will be different from mine. With that and the experience I just shared I have decided not to continue riding the bus as the time factor is the real kicker for me. The bus is just too slow and it is not worth it to me to ride it for so long.”

Another Raeligh blogger, John, is a daily bus rider and he seems to enjoy it. Best of all, he embraces the people watching and blogs about the characters who board his bus. With names like “Sci-Fi Fantasy Man” for the guy who loves his paperback science fiction reads to “Waffle House Man” for the guy who boards the bus after his shift. His blog is a must read for a snapshot of buscapades (as he calls them).

So if you’ve been thinking about giving the bus a try, this is the week to do it. As always, feel free to share your thoughts, experiences on the Triangle’s bus system in the comments.

A lot has changed in downtown Durham since 2004. The nearly-complete Durham Station Transportation Center is just another gleaming example of the transformation happening downtown.

Back in 2004, the glass-encased building had not even been sketched by an architect. The site the new bus station now occupies on Chapel Hill Street used to be the home to the dilapidated Heart of Durham motel. The motel, built in the late 1960s, was once a cool place to stay. But after it turned seedy after it changed ownership, reports Endangered Durham. The motel sat empty for about 12 years before it was condemned by the city and seized through eminent domain. The city later bought the property to house a new bus station.

On Sept. 30, 2004, the city staged a cheesy demolition ceremony. Here’s the lead I wrote for the event (which had the theme “Jump Start the Heart”) when I worked for the Herald-Sun:

Three firefighters armed with a heart defibrillator dashed through the parking lot of a dilapidated downtown motel Thursday, but they weren’t there to rescue anyone. Instead, they used the device to jump start changes at the Heart of Durham motel, releasing a large, heart-shaped balloon into the sky. The scene was part of a city demolition ceremony that was more symbolic than destructive.

By February 2005, the site was cleared and designs for Durham Station were complete. At the time, the transportation hub was expected to cost $15.3 million, but that price has since climbed to $17.6 million, the N&O reports.

But the new building is probably worth the wait for DATA bus riders. Here’s how N&O transportation guru Bruce Siceloff recently described the current bus station:

The transfer center is crowded, littered and chaotic. Its unisex toilet is filthy and seatless. … The buses are packed headlight-to-taillight at the curb, so they cannot come and go according to their timetables. Ready or not, each driver begins a new circuit through town when the bus at the head of the line starts rolling.

Here’s a sneak peak of the lobby of the new center:

And, as you can see, there are plenty of terminals where the buses can line up:

It’s a shame that the planned February opening has been pushed back to March so the city can tackle some nearby street improvements required by the NCDOT. But when it opens, we can all look back on the Heart of Durham days and realize just how far downtown has come (even if it took more than four years).

So I was dog sitting a couple of weeks ago and I took the pooches for a walk at Raleigh’s Lions Park. It’s there that I happened upon a BMX track. I thought it was strange that a track would be allowed at a city park in these litigious times. But there it was. For the next few days I walked the dogs past the track, and finally managed to catch some BMX racers.

Pardon the shaky camera, but I was holding onto the leashes for two dogs who weren’t as interested in the race as I was.

So it turns out the track is run by Capital City BMX Association, a volunteer organization made up of the parents of local riders and adults who race at Lion’s Park. It looks like this may be the only BMX track in the Triangle (correct me if you know of others).

Coincidentally, I’ve received several e-mails in the past couple weeks from the Amerian Bicycle Association saying BMX racing made its Olympic debut this year. I watched some of it on TV last week and it was a little exciting, especially when riders fell. I couldn’t help but think how disappointing it would be to make it all the way to the Olympics and then fall of your bike. Or worse, have the rider next to you knock you over on their way down.

If you want to check it out for yourself there are races scheduled for Sept. 7 and Sept. 14.

So anyone want to give BMX racing a try? I’m not sure my beach cruiser would do so well on the track.

Just a note to let you know I’ll be away from my beloved Triangle for a tiny bit. I’m headed to southern Illinois to meet my baby nephew and spend some QT with my 13-year-old sister. So I’ll leave you with some scenes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. I wanted to snap a few shots of how the Triangle is displayed to the many visitors who travel through our airport every day.

And just so you know. If you want to take a picture inside the ACC store. You have to get permission AND show the photograph to the guy behind the counter. Weird.

Keep the Triangle cool for me. I’ll be back later next week.

I find myself longing for a day I once lamented. The day was March 5, 2008, when I posted a picture on my blog of the gas prices at a local gas station. I was complaining because I paid $3.25 for a gallon of gas. My how I miss those days.

Now that gas prices are right at the $4 mark, I find I never fill up my gas tank. I just pump in$12 and then make it last as long as possible. Luckily I can afford to put more in, but it’s the principle of the matter. When I bought my VW in college, it only cost $14 to fill her up. I find I drive less when I know I’m almost out of gas.

Stretching my $12 worth offuel has almost led to my car puttering out of gas a couple times already. Merging onto Raleigh’s Capital Boulevard is never fun when you think you’re about to run out of fuel.

Looks like I’m not the only one stretching my fuel as far as it will go. I found out today that the amount of North Carolina residents running out of gas on the highway soared 43 percent during the first five months of 2008 compared to the same time last year, according to a news release the Allstate Motor Club sent out today. The release goes on to say that NC residents called the motor club 179 times for fuel delivery between January and May 2008.

“We can’t directly correlate this rise in the number of people running out of gas to the rise in prices at the pump, but anecdotally we know that consumers are trying hard to stretch their dollar and sometimes that means stretching fuel into fumes,” said Allstate spokesman John Heid. “Drivers should remember running out of gas on the highway can be a lot more than an inconvenience; it can be hazardous.”

With higher fuel and food prices (CVS advertised a gallon of milk for $4.09 yesterday), I’m looking for ways to save my money. I imagine other Triangle-area residents are too. The TV Station I work for, NBC17, is seeking feedback from local folks about what they’re doing to save some extra money. People who offer particularly interesting or helpful tips may be featured in an upcoming news broadcast.

So if you’re doing something special to conserve gas, consider clicking here and posting a comment on my story about the upcoming series.

Or if you’re saving in other ways, take a look at this other article I wrote and consider sharing your money-saving tips with others. Your ideas could land you a spot on TV. And if being on TV isn’t your thing, then just think about the other people who may benefit from your ideas.

Meanwhile, do you think I’m crazy for only pumping $12 into my car? How much are you pumping in when you fuel up?

The Triangle needs some form of reliable, timely public transportation to connect us. Sure you can catch a bus in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. You can even catch a bus between the cities (though as downtown Raleigh blogger Leo recently discovered, there are some issues with it). But efforts to bring other mass transit to the Triangle have stalled mostly because it’s super expensive.

But if you’re interested in finding out what speed bumps really stand in the way of bringing enhanced transit to the Triangle, then steer yourself over to N.C. State University next week for a forum aimed at raising awareness about transit issues.

The event is called “Transit: Is Wake County Ready for It?” and is being sponsored by Wake Up Wake County, a group of residents who educate others about the effects of local growth. It runs from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday June 26 at NCSU’s McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh.

The keynote speakers are Carol Coletta, who leads CEO’s for Cities and hosts an NPR syndicated program called “Smart Cities” and Keith Parker, CEO of Charlotte’s CATS, the city’s new rail service.

The forum will provide an evening of open dialogue about the real potential for transit’s success in Wake County. WakeUP hopes that the event will propel the community to action as it evaluates the recommendations recently made by the Special Transit Advisory Committee and the state’s 21^st Century Transportation Committee. No other citizen group in Wake County is organizing a similar public education event on transit.

A panel discussion on transit in the Triangle will be moderated by Nina Szlosberg, DOT and 21^st Century Transportation CommitteeBoard member. Members of the panel will include Smedes York (STAC co-chair), Courtney Crowder (SE Raleigh Assembly), Mary Ann Baldwin (Raleigh City Council), Matt Christiansen (KB Home) and other business leaders in Wake County. There will be no admission charge.

I think I have more paddle boating experience than most people my age. Growing up, my best friend Kelly and I would paddle around her parent’s small pond in their yellow paddle boat. My dorm at Southern Illinois University was just a few feet away from the campus lake, where paddle boats and kayaks provided ample distractions on warm days.

So I was thrilled when one of my friends suggested we spend Memorial Day on a paddle boat. We rented one from Lake Johnson in Raleigh for $7 an hour then pedaled the next three hours away. We saw a giant snake, a heron and many young couples snuggling along the shore (*gag*).

There are several public lakes in Raleigh and Durham where you can rent boats. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially since these lakes are likely subsidized by local taxes.

I’m also big on swimming holes. I’ve heard there are some good ones around here, especially along the Eno River. If you know of any that are worth checking out, please fill me in. Also, let me know if there are other cool local spots where you can rent boats.

I was shopping at Target Saturday, when this man pass me on these bouncy-stilt thingys. I smiled politely and then pulled out my camera and snapped this picture. I should have asked him what, why and how, but I just let him bounce out of my life as quickly as he bounced in it.

Poweriser running and jumping stilts will enable you to jump to heights of 5-7 feet and run at speeds of 17-21 mph!

I was about to write it off as absurd and unnecessary (at least inside a Target, right?) but then I remembered my love for the Pogoball in the 80s. But then again, I was also like 7-years-old.

Seriously, why would anyone need to wear these PoweriZers, especially to Target or the mall? Is there something I’m not getting?

I arrived at World Beer Festival promptly at noon on Saturday. Organizers had caged off nearly every sliver of downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square with a chain link fence, and all I wanted to do was be inside it. But as my friend Graham and I rounded the corner, we saw the line of the other thirsty festival-goers snaking around a parking lot. We stood patiently in line waiting for our chance to turn over our tickets for one of the small, plastic beer glasses that would be holding our brews all day. The line moved quickly, and soon we were ushered into a tent lined on both sides with brewers ready to pour us as many different varieties of beer as we were willing to drink.

Soon we were sipping on stouts, pale ales and porters from the likes of the Starr Hill Brewery in Charlottesville, Va. to Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colorado. And by sipping, I truly mean chugging. We walked downtown to avoid the inevitable parking hassle a festival-filled Saturday would bring and because of the inevitable beer buzz created by four hours of drinking. So after making the trek in the heat, we were thirsty. The day was punctuated by the sound of volunteers emptying recycling bins causing the glass bottles to clank together a medley that made the crowd erupt with cheers (take a listen below).

As 4 o’clock rolled around, we were tired, bloated by beer and ready to go. I called Raleigh Rickshaw for a ride, and we rolled to the furthest edge of downtown, then stumbled the rest of the way home. Here’s a clip from the ride home:

I rode my purple beach cruiser to work today. You may remember that I took it to the bike shop a few weeks ago to be repaired, and even though they didn’t do a very good job, I decided to chance it and give up my car for the day.

It cost me $35 to fill up my VW Golf yesterday, so something has to change.

So I filled up the Scooby Doo book bag my sister gave me a few years ago and hit the streets. It was pretty fun, especially when I was going down hill.

I can’t promise this biking to work thing is going to become a regular part of my routine. First, my bike is one speed, which makes getting up the hills a bit of a challenge (though avid-biker Donald swears it’ll get easier after two weeks). Second, I was a little sweaty by the time I got to the station, and it wasn’t even hot or humid out this morning. So I can’t imagine how icky I’d be during the summer. There’s no shower at work.

It took about 30 minutes, but of course I had to stop and take pictures. I think if I stick with it, I can make it to work in 20 minutes, which isn’t bad.

(I took a pic of my Scooby Doo bag because I think it’s too funny that it’s the only book bag I own).

If any of you can offer some tips on how to bike to work on warm mornings and still manage to look somewhat fashionable, I’m all ears. I know I’ll need a bigger bag, but cramming clothes, shoes, make-up and all my work gear into one bag might become tricky.