It turns out that there are more Amtrak options available to get to Sacramento than the one I previously described. You just need to know how to play the system, and purchase a ticket from Chico to. . .Davis. Considering that in my previous post, I forgot to take into account the $72 fee for parking my car in the "Economy Lot" for a week at Sacramento Airport, I may just try this next time. Thanks to Greg F. for the tip. Read on. . .
The new bike map published at the beginning of the summer by the Butte County Association of Governments is slick. Laminated plastic slick. Colorful slick. Impressive slick.
The front features a street map of Chico, the reverse shows bike routes for both upper and lower Bidwell Park. Both sides are jam-packed with legends, safety tips, suggested scenic loops (including the ones depicted above, and even the locations of eight different bike shops.
The maps are currently available at each local bicycle shop, the university, and the BCAG office.
The most eye-opening item of note is the fact that the number of solid red lines appears to be equal to if not greater than double the number of blue lines. What does this mean? The red lines are designated bike routes--not lanes (blue), and not paths (green). This means that on these streets bicyclists don't even get a white line to separate them from the 4-wheeled entities.
But it looks slick on the map.
Many have called the United States the greatest country in the world, but our inter-city public transportation system is, well, a joke.
Nothing better illustrates this than the challenge of getting from Chico to the Sacramento Airport via bus or train. The Amtrak schedule provides a single travel option: Show up at the Chico train station at 3:50 in the morning, and then 2 hours, 25 minutes later you arrive at the Sacramento station, where you then hoof it two blocks to the bus station at 4th and L streets to catch the 7:08 a.m. bus to the airport, where you arrive 14 minutes later. At least the train ticket it cheap at $25 (the bus is another $1.50). Total travel time to the airport: 3 hours, 32 minutes.
Another other option is taking North Valley Shuttle, a van service which departs Chico for the Sacramento airport four times daily and takes 2 hours, 15 minutes. It costs $52 one way.
Finally there is Greyhound. It costs $33 to take Greyhound from Chico to Sacramento, departing at 11:25 a.m. or 7:10 p.m. It takes 2 hours, 15 minutes to get to 7th and L streets in downtown Sacramento, where you would again have to walk down to 4th Street to catch the shuttle bus to the airport.
For some perspective, I think back to when I had the opportunity to live in Switzerland for a couple of months in the small village of Lenk (population 2,300). This sleepy ski and dairy town lies at the foot of the Bernese Alps. It is on the rail-route to nowhere. In fact, the tracks end there; Lenk means "turnaround place."
It takes 3 hours, 8 minutes to travel by train from Lenk directly to the Zurich Airport, including two transfers. It is 131 miles from Lenk to the Zurich Airport, as compared to 85 miles from Chico to Sacramento International. Though the price of a one-way rail ticket is higher at about $70 US, this is still $10 cheaper per mile to Zurich than the North Valley Shuttle is to Sacramento. But the key difference between Swiss travel and American options is that the trains leave diminutive Lenk hourly starting at 6:30 a.m., with the last train leaving at 8:30 p.m., giving one maximum freedom and flexibility in arranging their travel itinerary.
In additional to being more fuel-efficient--Amtrak reports 39 passenger miles per person--travel by rail is much more relaxing (provided you don't have to be at the train station before 4 a.m.), and offers ample opportunity to read, write a letter, play cards etc.
On that note, I am off to Sacramento Airport to spend time with my wife's family in Arizona for a few days. My wife left a couple days before me; she took the 5:30 a.m. shuttle and had three hours to kill before her flight.
I will be driving myself: Cost of gas one way = $12.60, Driving time = 1 hour, 40 minutes.
I will not be reading, writing letters, or playing cards en route.
We purchased our first bike trailer last week, a sparsely-used 10-year-old Burley in near perfect condition. It has a payload capacity of 100 lbs, which further reduces our need to drive a car. We paid $250 for it, just over half of what it costs new. With the help of commutesolutions.org, I calculated that if we use it in place of the Subaru Impreza for 379 miles then it will pay for itself, when personal, environmental, and social costs are all taken into account. Here is the math:
Direct Costs
Fuel (based on $4.55/gal, 25 mpg): 18.2¢/mile
Maintenance and Tires: 5.3¢/mile
Indirect Costs
Accidents (government-paid cleanup, lost economic activity, etc.): 4.6¢/mile
State and Local Construction, Improvements and Repair: 1.1¢/mile
State and Local Highway Maintenance and Operations: 0.6¢/mile
Parking (commercial and employer-paid, including government tax): 6.4¢/mile
Waste Disposal (highway cleanup, tire and oil removal): 0.3¢/mile
Air Pollution Damage (health costs, crops, trees, materials, etc.): 5.3¢/mile
External Resource Consumption Costs (economic trade and natural resource use): 3.2¢/mile
Road Noise (property value decrease and abatement): 1.1¢/mile
CO2 Reduction (motor vehicles only): 0.5¢/mile
Water Pollution and Hydrologic Impacts: 1.7¢/mile
Transportation Diversity and Equity: 0.7¢/mile
Barrier Effects on Pedestrians and Bicycles: 1.2¢/mile
Land Use Impact Costs: 7.4¢/mile
Roadway Land Value: 3.2¢/mile
Congestion Costs: 5.4¢/mile
Total Cost Per Mile: $0.66
Purchase price of bike trailer
divided by
Cost of operating a vehicle per mile
equals
Number of miles required to use my bike trailer in place of my car to offset purchase price
$250/$0.66 per mile = 378.8 miles
That's just under 8 miles a week for a year. I think we can handle it.
By now I am sure that many Chicoans have seen the electric utility vehicles that roam around the CSU Chico campus. But more intriguing are the two GEM cars that I see occasionally around town, especially the 4-door white one with the black fabric doors.
I go back and forth between the value of a $15,000 golf cart versus a fully loaded bike with trailer. You can do a lot with a bike. Two bikes, including trailers and attachments, can take a family of four pretty much anywhere in town. A Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market will reveal dedicated individuals pushing the envelope of what a bike can handle, both in terms of kids and groceries.
But the 4-door GEM e4, made by Global Electric Motorcars (a subsidiary of Chrysler) does have its niches. When compared to a bike with trailer, it is faster, safer, and has definite advantages in inclement weather, especially when young children are taken into account.
Once more with the gasoline math.
This time its not hypothetical, its personal.
I took a sub job at Pleasant Valley High School yesterday, which, according to Google Maps, is 3.4 miles from my house, a 10 minute drive mostly on Cohasset and East Avenue at less than 35 mph.
Round-trip is 6.8 miles.
At 24 mpg, I would burn 0.28 gallons of gas getting there and back.
At $3.80/gallon, it would cost me $1.07 to travel just under 7 miles.
Did I mention that it is a pleasant 20 minute bike ride along Lindo Channel to get from my house to PV?
I saw the second most awesome mailbox yesterday (the most awesome one is pictured above).
It is not what the box looks like, but rather, its location--on the west side of the bike path between East and Lassen.
Hanging out by this mailbox will probably lead you to the most awesome mailman (or mailwoman) in Chico.
The public is invited to review and comment on the newest iteration of the Chico Area Bicycle Map that is currently being developed by the Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG). The map is in DRAFT form.
For me, the map brings up two key points about the bicycling landscape in Chico. One, Chico has tremendous potential to become a truly bike-oriented community. And two, we have a long way to go. For example, we have a great bike path that runs west from Bruce Road along Little Chico Creek, ending just as you cross under Highway 99. And then? The logical next step would be to designate Humboldt Avenue as a bike route into downtown, but for some reason this element is not a part of the City of Chico Bike Plan.
The map itself is looking pretty good. It will be a generously sized (22" x 28"), double-sided affair with a lot of information. Perhaps too much, as the various bike and bus routes are painted yellow, red, blue, and green on the map, which is a bit more than my 1980's-brainwashed mind can handle. But that's just me.
The map can be viewed online at the Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) website and hard copies are posted at the following locations and can been seen during regular business hours:
• CSU, Chico, 400 West First Street located in Kendall Hall 107
• Cycle Sport located at 222 West 2nd Street in Chico
• Pullins Cyclery located at 801 Main St in Chico
• BCAG offices at 2580 Sierra Sunrise Terrace, Suite 100 in Chico
Comments and suggestions will be accepted through February 8. The development of the map is scheduled to be completed by May 24, 2008.
It is all-too-easy to get the SUV blues as I bike around town, dodging one gas guzzler after another, each with a single occupant who always seems to be chatting it up on his or her cell phone.
But just when I think we are doomed, I turn on to Broadway and I am encouraged by the bikes in the bike racks. These aren't just any bikes, mind you, these are bikes with baskets. Or trailers. Or saddlebags.
In fact, I often think that bicycles in Chico that lack some sort of basket are in the minority.
Awesome.
Looking for a bike basket or trailer? Can't find one on Craiglist in Chico? Not surprising, as they are in such high demand here. But here is a simple tip: Try the Bay Area. The next time you or a friend make the trip down, search Craigslist ahead of time. I plan on bring back ten or twenty and selling them up here and making a killing.
On a related note, I read in an article the other day that a bike is 53 times more fuel efficient than a car when comparing food calories to gasoline calories. Intrigued, I did some online research to see how accurate this was.
What I found was that a lot of people have spent a lot of time playing eco-math:
http://gotoes.org/bikestuff/index.htm
http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/bike_co2.htm
http://constructal.blogspot.com/2006/03/whats-mileage-on-that-bicycle.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm
But let me summarize: When you take into account the amount of energy that goes into making and maintaining a car vs. a bike, as well as the amount of energy required to manufacture and transport respective fuels for a car and a bike (gasoline vs. a breakfast burrito), and then take the average weight and biking speed of an American cyclist, and factor in the fact that a Prius is five times more fuel efficient than an H2, you will find that. . .
. . .a bike is indeed much more fuel efficient than a car.
Finally, my thoughts go out to Ed McLaughin and his family. As recent transplant to Chico, I have yet to meet him, though from what I have read our community owes a lot to his efforts.
A friend emailed me with a link to the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Communities website, and asked why Chico wasn't on the map as a "Bike Friendly Community." This surprised me, considering Chico's pride (now apparently dated) in being named "America's Greatest Bike Town" by Bicycle Magazine in 1997.
13 California cities are on the Bike Friendly Communities map, including Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose.
Provided that these organizations do indeed have their finger on the pulse of the biking community, what has happened to Chico since 1997?
I wasn't here 10 years ago, but I have some theories. My big one is that a late 1990's boom in development (both commercial and residential) emphasized the car, not the bike. And why not? After all, in February 1999 gas was 95 cents per gallon.
Meanwhile, the population of Chico increased dramatically during this time, bringing a larger proportion of drivers than bicyclists into town.
The end result--We have a town that is very good for biking, but could still be exponentially better.
For example:
--The crosswalk and island at the intersection of Cohasset and the bike path is great, but we could use similar ones along Oleander and Arbutus.
--The roundabouts on 8th avenue are just as convenient for bikes as for cars, provided the drivers remember that the person in the roundabout has right-of-way, even if that person is on a bike.
--We have a bike trail going out to the airport (and there is even a bike rack at the airport--how cool is that!), but navigating to any of the stores in SE Chico (20th Street and south) by bike is pretty hairy.
--There is ample bike parking at S & S, but the bike rack at Trader Joe's seems to always be hidden by some display (most recently Christmas wreaths) and thus can only handle two bikes.
--And the list goes on. . .
Perhaps some relief on the way? Today, (Tuesday Dec 18) from 3-4 there will be a special meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee which will review the newly updated City of Chico draft bicycle map in the Engineering Conference Room on the second floor of the Chico Municipal Building. The public is welcome to attend. I will be there.
Some City Council members and city staff are in the process of gaging the amount of community interest in having a regular Bicycle Committee, not just an ad hoc group. Showing up for this review of the proposed bike map is one way to indicate that you think that planning for bicycles is an important function of city government.
Taking my own advice, I kept my Subaru Impreza between 65 and 70 mph on my Thanksgiving trip to the Bay Area, 5 mph less than what I usually drive. There were a lot of cars passing me on I-5 and I-505. My fuel efficiency for the trip was 30.4 miles per gallon, 1.4 mpg better than the EPA estimate, and it took me about 15 minutes longer to make the trip to Mountain View.
This got me to thinking, what is the value of that 15 minutes? If slowing down five miles per hour on the highway improves your fuel efficiency by, say, 2 mpg, is the gas savings worth more than the time "lost" due to the slower rate of travel?
(Algebra teachers out there, what follows is a good real-world problem for your students).
Seeking an answer to this problem, I dusted off the 'ole 9th grade math skills and crunched some numbers.
Let's say you want to take a vacation from Chico to Yellowstone, 910 miles away. At 70 mph, you can make the trip in 13 hours. At 65 mph, it would take you 14 hours, but your hypothetical fuel efficiency would increase from 28 mpg to 30 mpg. Thus at the slower speed you would save 2.5 gallons of gas over the 910 miles.
At $3.40/gallon, this works out to $8.50 savings for an extra hour on the road.
Obviously, in a more realistic scenario 910 miles might be stretched over a few weeks of commuting, and the hour would broken up into smaller chunks (for example, driving the 62 mile stretch of I-5 from Orland to Redding at 65 mph versus 70 mph would take 4 minutes longer).
Also, though reducing one's highway speed is certainly one of the most basic ways to improve fuel efficiency (most conventional cars reach their peak fuel efficiency between 45 and 60 mph), I have mentioned in previous posts that there are certainly other ways to save on gas.
I would be irresponsible if I didn't mention that the impact on one's wallet is by far not the only reason to reduce gas use, as less gas being burned means fewer emissions (= healthier air) and less money being spent on foreign oil.
But for those folks that look at their pocketbook first when making such choices, I ask, at what price will the cost of gas begin to affect how we drive? Or for that matter at what point will the cost of transporting food from the other side of the country (and beyond) affect our choices in the supermarket?
Oh, and FYI, here is the average cost of premium gas per gallon (with taxes) on November 12 in various European countries, according to the Energy Information Administration (U.S. Department of Energy). For comparison, the U.S. average was $3.33 per gallon.
Belgium: $7.88
France: $7.40
Germany: $7.97
Italy: $7.46
Netherlands: $8.39
United Kingdom: $7.87
Back to our original 910 mile trip to Yellowstone, at $7.50/gallon that extra hour of driving would be worth $18.75.
The cost of gas at a Chevron station in Chico was at $3.40 per gallon yesterday. For those traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, here's the amount of fuel you will need to go 300 miles and how much it will cost at this price, depending on your fuel efficiency:
12 mpg. . .25 gal. . . .$85.00
15 mpg. . .20 gal. . . . $68.00
18 mpg. . .16.7 gal. . .$56.67
21 mpg. . .14.3 gal. . .$48.57
24 mpg. . .12.5 gal. . .$42.50
27 mpg. . .11.1 gal. . .$37.38
30 mpg. . .10 gal. . . . $34.00
33 mpg. . .9.1 gal. . . .$30.90
36 mpg. . .8.3 gal. . . .$28.33
39 mpg. . .7.7 gal. . . .$26.15
42 mpg. . .7.1 gal. . . .$24.29
45 mpg. . .6.7 gal. . . .$22.67
48 mpg. . .6.3 gal. . . .$21.25
51 mpg. . .5.9 gal. . . .$20.00
54 mpg. . .5.6 gal. . . .$18.89
57 mpg. . .5.3 gal. . . .$17.89
60 mpg. . .5.0 gal. . . .$17.00
The good news is,that you CAN improve the your fuel efficiency by lowering your speed 5 mph on the highway and by accelerating gradually from stops. Note that even a 3 mpg improvement from say, 24 mpg to 27 mpg can save you $5 over 300 miles. Consider this portrait of Abe Lincoln as my holiday gift to you.
And just for the sake of reference, 300 miles is equal to:
10 round trips from Chico to Paradise
7.7 round trips from Chico to Orland
3.2 round trips from Chico to Yuba City
2.1 round trips from Chico to Redding
1.7 round trips from Chico to Sacramento
Round trip distance from Chico to San Francisco: 346 miles
Some call it "hypermiling," but for me it was my first real concerted effort to drive in a sustainable manner, following as many of the tips as possible the I gave in my post of September 1 ("Fill'er Up. . .Less Often").
I own a 2000 Subaru Impreza Wagon with a 5-speed manual transmission. EPA mileage estimates give it 23 mpg for the city, 29 mpg for the highway. I went 330 miles on my last tank of gas doing mostly in-town driving. It took 14 gallons of gas to fill the empty tank, and some basic math (330 miles/14 gallons) revealed that I had averaged 23.6 miles per gallon for that tank.
Since then I have been making a conscious effort to drive sustainably. Specifically, I--
--took 3 minutes to remove my after-market "roof cargo basket" to cut down on drag. I don't use it very often, and it will be easy enough to replace when I need to. (I also tried to remove the two crossbars that are part of the roof rack, however I found the threads on one of the screws was stripped which kept me from being able to remove it, thus thwarting my efforts).
--went in for an oil change (the car was due) and had them make sure the tires were appropriately inflated.
--am accelerating gradually from complete stops at traffic lights and stop signs, keeping my rpm's as low as possible without straining the engine.
--have tried to be in the highest gear possible without straining the engine.
--have tried to anticipate stops, removing my foot from the gas pedal as soon as possible and letting my momentum, rather than the engine, propel me the last few hundred feet before braking.
--haven't let my speed get over 60 mph on the highway (pretty much the only highway driving that I did on this most recent tank of gas was on Highway 99 between Skyway and East Ave)
--have done my best to keep a list of errands that require a car, so as to plot efficient routes that maximize the use of my vehicle (rather than making multiple trips).
A couple of months later I found myself back at the pump, and reflected on the last 300 miles. I wasn't late to any appointments, nor did I need to figure in extra time to arrive at engagements promptly. I found that I was a safer, more aware driver. Nobody gave me the bird. And yes, my fuel efficiency did improve by 1.8 mpg to 25.4 mpg, a 7.6% increase. No, this is not earth-shattering, but at $3.15/gallon, it does translate into a $2.84 savings in gas over 300 miles. You can do the math regarding what that works out to in an annual savings. And I think I could have done better.
Of course, a truer account of my fuel efficiency would have added in the number of miles I covered while bike-commuting during the same period, as well as the number of times I was in a vehicle with another person.
I have been reading up on traffic circles, and have come to the conclusion that they are pretty good idea. The ones I use most often in Chico are along West 8th Avenue. It has been recommended that the city add more in the upcoming decades. Here is why I think they should:
1) Studies show changing 4-way stops to traffic circles improves safety. A 2001 study of 23 intersections in the United States reported that converting intersections from traffic signals or stop signs to roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 80 percent and all crashes by 40 percent. Similar results have been reported in Europe and Australia.
2) Traffic circles reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. Why? Because the traffic is kept moving, and is not required to come to a full stop (except to yield). Much of our fuel use and car exhaust comes as a result of idling (0 mpg) and then accelerating from a full stop. In one study, replacing a signalized intersection with a roundabout reduced carbon monoxide emissions by 29 percent and nitrous oxide emissions by 21 percent. In another study, replacing traffic signals and stop signs with roundabouts reduced carbon monoxide emissions by 32 percent, nitrous oxide emissions by 34 percent, carbon dioxide emissions by 37 percent, and hydrocarbon emissions by 42 percent. Constructing roundabouts in place of traffic signals can reduce fuel consumption by about 30 percent.
3) Traffic circles can be landscaped to look pretty. It is nice to see a small island of green in the middle of an intersection, a big improvement over a patch of asphalt.
You can read more about traffic circles and roundabouts from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.
When I began biking to substitute teaching jobs last October I was still new to Chico and I did not yet have a grasp of the best ways to navigate the city on pedal power. Assignments at Pleasant Valley High School were the worst, as all-too-often I found myself risking life and limb on East Avenue or Esplanade.
Thankfully, I have since discovered there are better ways, and I have been impressed with the convenience afforded by navigating Chico's bike paths. Though I enjoy a creekside cruise through Bidwell Park as much as the next Chicoan, here are three of my favorite routes based on their more utilitarian merits:
Little Chico Creek After a quiet ride east up Humboldt Avenue past Cafe Coda and the Square Deal Mattress Factory (there is great blackberry picking in the park across the street), the actual bike path starts at the end of Humboldt where it makes a left turn and becomes Clover Street. After ducking beneath Highway 99, the path runs along Little Chico Creek out to Bruce Road. This route allows one to avoid the intersection at Humboldt, Highway 99, and 9th Street, and provides access to the police station and doctor's offices on Humboldt Avenue, Marsh Junior High, residences off of Forest Avenue south of Humboldt Avenue, and the future Merriam Park community.
11th Ave & Esplanade to the Airport I have been told that this path follows an old railroad line. Though I haven't made it all the way out to the airport yet, I have been using this route extensively to head out to the North Valley Plaza for banking, food shopping, and movies. Conveniently located along the way are Grilla Bites and the Chico Sports Club.
Holly Ave at Lindo Channel to Mission Ranch Boulevard This lovely 1/2 mile stretch isn't on the BCAG Chico Bike Map yet, but it is a good route especially for folks living in the vicinity of Holly Avenue and Lindo Channel. It feels like a slice of Bidwell Park, with a handsome grove of massivevalley oaks and sycamores draped with wild grape vines. And for a bonus, the path drops you off on Mission Ranch Blvd behind Raley's and Orchard Supply Hardware, providing access to those and neighboring businesses without having to flirt with disaster on East Ave or Esplanade.
My residence lies three houses down from a stop sign on a 35 mph street that heads out of town. After cars come to a complete California stop, you would think there is a man standing at the corner vigorously waving a green flag. By the time some of the vehicles pass my house they are well on their way to reaching a cruising speed of 80 mph.
I must say that there are some impressively loud engines in Chico.
If I had a dollar for every unnecessary pedal-to-the-metal decibel, I would be a rich man.
Conversely, those folks could all likely save a couple of bucks each time they fill up by removing some of the lead from their right foot.
There is quite a bit of information out there on how to bump up your car's fuel efficiency by as much 30% or more over the EPA's official estimates (depending on your car, that's roughly a 5-10 mpg improvement). One Butte College student I spoke to mentioned that a little bit of patience and extra driving awareness earned him 75 miles more miles on a tank of gas, a savings of about $9.
So, for the times that biking simply isn't a feasible option, here are the seven fuel-saving tips that make the most sense to me. I encourage someone out there to try some (or all) of these tips for the duration of a tank and report how many more miles they are able to go. I am going to do my best as well, and will report back when my tank is empty.
1) Drive slower. In addition to being safer, the closer your speed is to matching the speed limit sign, the more gas you save. Most cars achieve their top fuel efficiency when in the highest gear at about 45-55 mph. Being realistic, I don't expect that everyone will drive 55 on the highway, but dropping one's top speed 5-10 mph can still make a difference (like setting the air conditioner to 80 degrees instead of 78).
2) Go easy on the accelerator. On a level highway, use cruise control. In town, accelerate in a leisurely fashion after a stopping at an intersection*. And when driving through downtown Chico, I have found that the traffic lights on Main and Broadway are timed at around 21-22 mph. When I go this speed, I almost always make every light and I rarely need to slow down or speed up. The bottom line is, the less you need to stop or slow down, the less you need to accelerate, and accelerating is what burns gas.
3) Keep your tires properly inflated. Though the gas savings is minimal, it is still an easy thing to do, and also improves the safety of your vehicle and increases the life of the tires.
4) Keep your car maintained.
5) Remove the luggage rack or bike rack when not in use for long periods, to decrease wind resistance. (Yes, even those sleek-looking cargo pods cause drag, which reduces fuel efficiency). Especially at speeds above 55 mph, wind resistance is one of the biggest factors affecting fuel efficiency.
6) Link errands into a single trip, and plan your route accordingly.
7) Carpool. A mid-sized SUV with four adults is more fuel efficient than a Prius with a single driver, when figured in miles per gallon per person. Better yet, figure out which of your carpool buddies has the most fuel-efficient vehicle, and try to use that car most often.
*According to the Toyota website, Prius owners should "accelerate moderately" from a stop, as the gas engine won't kick in until the car reaches about 15 mph. This is one reason why the fuel efficiency of a hybrid is better in the city than on the highway.
I saw something similar to this photo today on the Esplanade: a red pickup towing a trailer outfitted with a canvas advertisement for the Chico AirFest. The advertising company, I found out, also sells ad-space on bicycle-towed billboards. That's a pretty cool idea--If I see one of them, I may be more inspired to check out the AirFest.
As it was, however, I did what I felt I needed to do: I called both phone numbers on the billboard (one for the ad company, and one for the Chico Chamber of Commerce), and politely expressed my disapproval of this type of advertising, as I see it as a waste of roadspace and gasoline, and an unnecessary reason to add the emissions of yet another vehicle to our air.
I went on to mention that seeing the AirFest advertised in this manner actually made me LESS likely to want to check out the event, despite the fact that Chico Velo will be offering valet bike parking.
Post-Script:
A few hours after leaving my voicemail message to the ad company, I received a message on my phone from the gentleman towing the billboard. A clear attack on his livelihood, my voicemail had certainly touched a nerve. In his message (which was civil) he called me a "liberal" and "treehugger" (both true), and he expressed his conviction that the whole global warming "panic" is just a "bunch of hype" and that he is "not hurting the Earth at all."
I, of course, respectfully disagree. In my mind, it may be his livelihood, but it is my life.
On the flip side, he also pointed out (as I also mention in this post) that he has a "bicycle billboard" option as a part of his business. So enough criticism, and time for a plug:
All of you folks out there in need of advertising--Use this gentleman and the "bicycle billboard" part of his business! Overwhelm him with requests! And in process, perhaps we can convince the him that despite his opinions regarding global warming, using bikes exclusively (or perhaps a combination of bikes and neighborhood electric vehicles like the GEM) is a more lucrative option for is business than using his pickup.