This morning’s Oakland Tribune featured a front-page story on the Car-Free Challenge, the month-long community challenge to “drive less and live more” during June.  Sponsored by WOBO allies at Oakland-based TransForm, the Challenge recruited over 165 people to track their drive miles for 30 days and blog about their experiences.  The article by Denis Cuff of the Contra Costa Times followed car-free single mother Annette Gormley of Castro Valley on a shopping trip, describing how and why it’s better not to drive:

Transform said heavy reliance on automobiles has led to gridlock, stress, obesity, a lack of exercise, urban sprawl, a reduced sense of community, and smog and global warming.

Autos are costly, too. Americans spend an average of about $7,500 a year to own, operate and fuel a car, Transform says.

Gormley’s story shows that a suburban mother going to college and raising two sons active in Boy Scouts can get around without a car.

She said she never liked the stress and hassle of driving, and often commuted by public transit. Five years ago, she dumped the car.

Perhaps not coincidentally, on page 4 of the same paper a story entitled “Walking, biking to work linked with better fitness” offered some additional insights into why commuters should at least consider leaving the car at home on the way to and from the office.

Those active commuters did better on treadmill tests of fitness, even when researchers accounted for their leisure-time physical activity levels, suggesting commuter choices do make a difference.

For men in the study, but not women, the active commuters also had healthier numbers for body mass index, blood pressure, insulin and blood fats called triglycerides. Women walked or biked shorter distances and they may have done so less vigorously, the authors speculated.

With 78 Challengers from Alameda County, Oakland was at the epicenter of the Car-Free Challenge.  WOBO contributed to the Car-Free Challenge with a team of car-free avengers blogging about their Oaktown transit and bicycling adventures.  WOBO Challenger Lauren L noticed the positive side of walking and biking during her challenge:

My friend Ann and I were talking today about how when you walk and bike things happen that you would have missed if you had driven.  Sometimes it’s small–today I had someone I don’t know say “how are you?” from across the street. Two days ago I had a nice conversation with an older women who was watering her garden.

You can still support the Car-Free Challenge and WOBO by donating online at the WOBO Team Website – but don’t waste any time, the deadline is tomorrow!  Your contribution will be shared between TransForm and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland to advocate for better transportation choices in Oakland and beyond.  Click here to donate now!

Want to bask in bike love but don’t want to stray too far from Oakland? Or maybe you know you’ll be left wanting more after the Bicycle Film Festival – SF sounds the final (bike) bell and packs up its road show on Saturday. Worry not, because the party ain’t over till Oakland says it is!

The Bay Area’s final taste of the BFF is all Oakland. This Sunday, it’s BFF Oakland, an evening of bike films preceded by a bike polo tourney and group ride from San Antonio Park (18th & Foothill Blvd). Show your love for biking the Big O this weekend!

The Bicycle Film Festival hits San Francisco later this week, and if you’re a lover of bikes you’ll want to catch some part of it. (Right? Your BFF comes to SF and you don’t go see them? Doubtful.)

You’ve got music, art and films all having to do with our beloved bicycle, and did we mention parties? (Ain’t no party like a bicycle party!) Plus, if you want to bring your involvement with the BFF to a whole ‘nother level, they’re looking for volunteers.

Some of the film programs include the documentary short “Campaign to Double the Bike Lanes in San Francisco”, so expect those showings to have cheering aplenty. It’s going to be a biketastic week in SF!

Please come out this Thursday from 2 – 6 pm (whatever you can manage!) for a training at Oakland City Hall about the use of the SF Dept. of Health’s Pedestrian/Bicycle Environmental Quality Index tools (PEQI/BEQI).  This is a great chance to learn how WOBO can offer critical and timely comments on all types of projects and plans that can and should address bicycle and pedestrian needs!

Thursday, July16, 2009

2:00 pm – 6:15 pm

Fox Conference Room (outside Suite 5301)

250 Frank Ogawa Plaza (Dalziel Building)

Cynthia Comerford of SF Dept. of Health will demonstrate how to use these tools, including hands on data collection. This free training on the PEQI and BEQI (Pedestrian/Bicycle Environmental Quality Index) will take place:

SPACE IS LIMITED, SO YOU MUST RSVP TO lschaaf@oaklandnet.com

Feel free to pass this invitation on to other interested parties.  To learn more about the PEQI and BEQI visit http://www.sfphes.org/HIA_Tools_PEQI.htm (check out the user’s manual on the left hand side) and http://www.sfphes.org/HIA_Tools_BEQI.htm

Thanks to Vice Mayor De La Fuente whose staff set this up and who will be conducting a pilot project this summer where interns and volunteers will use the BEQI/PEQI to collect walkability and bikability data around the Central Estuary Specific Plan Area in Oakland (for more info visit www.oaklandnet.com\central_estuary_plan).

WOBO volunteers will have a number of opportunities to use this tool, including help with the Estuary Plan, the Lake Merritt BART Plan, Broadway Auto Row Plan, and the massive Kaiser project set for 20th and Webster.

WOBO is now on Twitter! Our username is walkoakbikeoak. We’d be stoked for you to follow our tweets. The benefit for you is that you’ll get up-to-the-minute information about what’s happening around town, what’s going on at bike/ped-related meetings and where and when you can find WOBO out and about.

What’s more, we’ve set it up so that our blog posts update to Twitter! The post’s headline (plus a link to the post) becomes a tweet automatically. This way, you’ll never miss what’s going on!

Here’s tweetin’ atcha.