Mobility Lab Express
          August 15, 2013 - Issue 20
Hello Transportation Aficionado, 
Bike Commuter
Brett Jones
Brett Jones, Mobility Lab contributor
This summer, my office at Arlington Transportation Partners (a partner organization to Mobility Lab) is participating in the National Bike Challenge.
 
Since moving to the Washington D.C. region nearly three years ago, I have been an almost exclusive Metro commuter. But, wanting to be a good colleague and teammate, I volunteered to join the ranks of the passionate bicycle commuting posse in my office - albeit on a part-time basis.

 

And so, for the past few months, I've been trying to ride my bike to work 2-3 times each week. Some weeks are better than others. While I don't think I'll ever be a full-time bike commuter, I have certainly come to realize a number of benefits (as well as a handful of things I don't particularly enjoy about commuting by bike).

 

Read my "revelations of a part-time bike commuter" at Mobility Lab's website.

 

In This Issue
Lunch At the Lab: "Healthy Living: Active Transportation & Farmers Markets"
How Driving Loses "The Cool Factor" for Millennials
A Tourist is Surprised By San Antonio's Options
Partner Spotlight - Virginia Cooperative Extension
Quick Links
Hot Stat
While driving dropped among 16- to 34-year-old Millennials, they took 24% more bike trips, and traveled 40% more miles on public transit in 2009 than in 2001. 
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Mobility Lab In the News
Mary Hynes Chris Hamilton
 

Lunch At the Lab: "Healthy Living: Active Transportation & Farmers Markets"
Farmers Market
Tom Fairchild
Tom Fairchild, development director, Mobility Lab

We hope you join us Thursday, August 22 from noon to 1 p.m. for our next "Lunch At the Lab."

 

We'll have special guests from the Virginia Cooperative Extension (also see our "Partner Spotlight" below) to discuss some of their most exciting initiatives, and we'll have a robust conversation about how these initiatives connect with our transportation options and quality of life.

 

For example, is it possible to cycle or use transit on shopping trips? How might I carry my fresh tomatoes and ears of corn home with me if I don't drive there?  

 

We hope to see you next Thursday. Sandwiches and drinks will be provided. For more information and directions, go hereLike us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

 

How Driving Loses 
"The Cool Factor" for Millennials
Millennials Cool
For my 16th birthday, I was bestowed a beautiful piece of metal. This car symbolized to me one thing: freedom. 
 
Now, as one of 21.6 million American Millennials living at home with my parents, I am back to a car-dependent lifestyle in  suburbia, and I hate it.

 

Alex Cohen
Alex Cohen, Mobility Lab contributor
To get to my internship every morning, I avoid paying for parking and rely on my mother's timeliness to get me to the Washington D.C.-area Metro subway. However, once I step onto the long escalators of the Bethesda Metro, the sense of independence I desperately crave emerges. I used to get this feeling from driving, but now, whenever I turn my engine on, I am filled with anger and annoyance.

 

 

The cool factor of driving has worn off - click here to find out more reasons why. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

A Tourist is Surprised By San Antonio's Options
San Antonio

While in San Antonio recently for the Association for Commuter Transportation's annual conference, I was surprised to discover a range of livability elements I had not expected. 

 

A bikeshare system, a beautiful walking and biking trail, traffic-calming planter boxes, and people on bikes greeted us everywhere.

Elizabeth Floyd
Elizabeth Floyd, Mobility Lab health contributor

 

San Antonio is impressively making itself a more livable, sustainable place. It seems Arlington, Virginia (where I live, work, and play) isn't the only place that has figured it out!

 

I'm glad to see more major cities moving in the same direction. As a resident, and as a tourist, finding locations with these amenities makes me really enjoy myself that much more.

 
See a deeper dig into more of the reasons San Antonio is doing livability right. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Partner Spotlight - Virginia Cooperative Extension

VCE logo

Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) offers expert advice and programs in agriculture, food sciences and nutrition. Here in urban Arlington County, VCE offers programs for master gardeners, master naturalists, nutrition education, energy efficiency, farmers markets, and community viability. All of these programs help Arlingtonians lead healthy, active lives.

 

Mobility Lab is pleased to work with VCE as a key partner for building a healthy community. Our mission of encouraging active transportation options builds upon the foundation of good nutrition. One literally feeds the other, and together we aspire for a healthier, happier Arlington.

 

Please join us, along with VCE, on August 22 for our "Lunch At the Lab" to discuss how to gather nutritious food without traveling by automobile. Active, healthy lifestyles deserve some thought and planning. (See more about the event above.) And while you're at the lunch, check out the Rosslyn Farmers Market just outside Mobility Lab's door. 
 
For information and location of farmers markets across the U.S., check out our contributor Michael Schade's handy Market Mapper.
 
Please Send Us Your Feedback
We hope Mobility Lab Express, our events, and the research and case studies at our website will be go-to resources for you. In fact, we invite you to share your stories of how mobility improvements have been made in your communities. How are you "moving people instead of cars?" We'll publish your feedback, and together we'll strengthen mobility for all! 
 
Simply respond to this email or click here
with any thoughts or suggestions. 

Please check out much more at mobilitylab.org, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

 

Mobility Lab is a research-and-development initiative for "mobility management - moving people instead of cars." Based in Arlington, Virginia - which has one of the largest mobility-management programs in the U.S. and removes 45,000 car trips from the county's roads each work day - Mobility Lab seeks solutions, stories, and partnerships from all over the world.
 
 
Please feel free to share this newsletter with those who may be interested.