TMA newsletter

Department of Transportation sets tentative schedule for converting Freeport Boulevard and 21st streets from one-way to two-way

The City of Sacramento Department of Transportation has established a tentative schedule for converting portions of Freeport Boulevard and 21st Streets, after several years of planning and public outreach.

The conversion project will restore Freeport Boulevard, (from Broadway to Vallejo Way) and 21st Street (from 4th Avenue to W Street) to two-way traffic. The streets had been two-way prior to 1974.

Restoring the streets to two-way will improve pedestrian safety and neighborhood livability by reducing travel speeds and improving access to neighborhoods.

Pending the outcome of testing of the railroad crossing gates on 21st Street on February 11 and 12, and weather permitting, conversion is tentatively scheduled to take place during the following time frames:

¨ Freeport Boulevard, between Vallejo Way and Broadway, will be converted to two-way on or about February 7, sometime during daylight hours. Parking will be temporarily restricted on both sides of the street beginning three days prior.

¨ 21st Street, between 4th Avenue and W Street, will be converted to two-way in sections, pending the outcome of the testing and weather, beginning February 13. Again, parking will be restricted three days prior to each scheduled conversion.

¨ The conversion dates by section for 21st Street are as follows:

o February 13 - from Vallejo Way to railroad tracks

o February 18 � from railroad tracks to 2nd Avenue

o February 21 � 2nd Avenue to Larkin

o February 26 � Larkin to Broadway

o February 29 � Broadway to W Street<

Look for electronic message boards for exact dates and times of conversions on both streets. The City also will have police standing by to help ensure motorists are traveling in the proper direction.

The entire project includes dedicated bike lanes on 21st Street and shared bike/auto lanes on Freeport Boulevard, crosswalk safety improvements, a new landscaped island at Freeport and 21st Street, a new traffic signal at 21st Street and 4th Avenue and new railroad crossing gates.

For more information, please see the project web page and the approved environmental document at www.cityofsacramento.org/transportation under “special projects.”

Sacramento's average commute is 26 minutes

The average Sacramento area resident has a 26-minute drive to work, according to 2005 data compiled by the U S Census Bureau. This is nine minutes less than commuters in New York City, which has the nation's longest commute times.

About one in four commuters in our four-county region has a less-than-15-minute commute, while 36.5 percent spend 15 to 29 minutes driving to work. About 22 percent have 30 to 40 minute commutes and 7.4 percent endure 45 to 59 minute drives to work.

The average U S commute is 25 minutes which adds up to 209 hours of commuting a year. That's the equivalent of watching 70 professional football games.

Or you could live in Omaha, whose residents have the shortest commute of 65 metropolitan areas with at least 750,000 people. (Oct 2007)

Compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station available for all State dedicated CNG or CNG bi-fuel vehicles

The State Garage at 1416 10th Street (corner of 10th and N Streets), has a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station available for all State dedicated CNG or CNG bi-fuel vehicles. OFAM will bill agencies directly for CNG purchased at the State Garage.

State policy dictates that, to the maximum extent practicable, each State office, agency, and department that has bi-fuel natural gas vehicles in its fleet shall use CNG in those vehicles. The OFAM Sacramento State Garage is ready to help agencies follow this policy. For further information regarding services available at the Sacramento State Garage, statewide locations of other alternative fueling stations, and news about alternative fuel developments, visit the OFAM website at http://www.ofa.dgs.ca.gov/default.htm

Living without a car in Sacramento was the topic of a September 2006 Sacramento Bee article. The author featured people who decided they were better off financially and otherwise without a car, with the accompanying high gas prices and insurance payments, traffic and cost of parking. One person, a Sacramento County planner who lives in midtown, travels almost exclusively by bicycle, with assists from the city bus, light rail and Amtrak.

The person, who lives a mile from work, said, even if driving a car is faster, it's far more aggravating than cycling or walking. He would rather spend twice as much time getting somewhere by bike than sit in traffic. And he's definitely saving a lot of money."

The car-free lifestyle does appear to be catching on. There are car-free magazines, car-free chat rooms and car-free networks. The car-free crowd has its own Web sites, newsletters and clubs. A new book, "How To Live Well Without Owning a Car" (Ten Speed Press, $12.95, 216 pages), is getting national attention.

Every day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 6 million American adults commute to and from work without stepping into a car. In a recent Gallup poll, about half of Americans said they have cut back significantly on the amount they drive because of gas prices.

Living without a car in Sacramento is obviously more challenging than in places such as San Francisco or New York, which are designed for walking and commuting by public transit. But people are going carless every day in the capital city.

According to the Census Bureau, about 9 percent of Sacramento residents commute without benefit of a car. That places the city in fifth place among California's larger burgs, behind San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Ana and Long Beach.

The key to living well without a car is having a home or apartment near work, restaurants, grocery stores and recreational areas. For many, midtown and downtown are good fits.

Sacramento TMA member, Erin Reschke plans to stay car-free for a while, too, at least as long as she's living in Sacramento.

For Reschke, this began when she crashed her Pontiac Grand Prix about six months ago. She lives and works in midtown and is concerned about the environment and the nation's dependence on oil, so she decided it was the perfect time to stop driving. "My life really hasn't changed at all," she says.

Reschke, who is 24 and teaches bike safety courses, uses a special carrier to haul groceries and other heavy items. Her employer, an architectural firm, provides secure parking for her bike and even gives her a $50 monthly incentive for not bringing a car to work.

"I had so many hassles with my car: having to move it for street cleaning, finding a place to park, all of the fees and expenses," she says. "All of those hassles are gone."

Reschke says she's not sure why more people don't abandon the driving life.

"Hardly anyone I know really enjoys owning a car," she says. "But they're just not confident enough to let it go."

Owen Howlett hasn't let it go completely, but he's close. Call him "car lite."

On weekdays, Howlett, who is 32 and lives near the UC Davis Medical Center off Stockton Boulevard, rides his bike to work at a research firm in Fair Oaks. But he also has a silver Volkswagen Beetle that he uses for errands and recreation.

"I'm not doing this to make any kind of political statement," says Howlett. "I just see riding my bike to work as the best and most pleasurable option for me. Why would you want to go to work in a car? You get no exercise, you're spending a whole lot of money and you're polluting the air."

If the weather is particularly foul, he confesses, he takes the Beetle. But most days he's content with riding to work in shorts and a T-shirt, then changing into office clothing.

"When I cycle to work, I get to see things along the way that I wouldn't see otherwise," he says. "This morning I saw a doe and a fawn, and I was able to stop and check them out."

Even a suburbanite can survive without driving, if they live near their work and within walking distance of favorite eateries and shopping, the bike trail, the library and a light rail stop. "It's all about location, location, location."

"In this country we've been conditioned to the idea of driving everywhere. But living without a car is not that hard. It's just different," according to one person.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend about 17 percent of their annual income on car ownership and operating expenses. Without a vehicle, on individual calculates he's saving $650 to $700 per month, allowing him to clear his debt, put the maximum amount in his 401(k) plan and go out to eat on a regular basis.

"That's great motivation," he says.

Chris Balish also gets by without a car. The author of the book about living the car-free life, he lives without an automobile in Los Angeles, the epicenter of car culture.

"I get all over the greater L.A. area by combining biking and public transit," he says. His main motivation? He figures he's saving more than $10,000 per year in car payments, insurance, gas and maintenance.

After four years of life without a car, "I'm 100 percent free of debt," he brags. A broadcast journalist, Balish has saved so much money that he's taking a couple of years off to work on books and to travel. Cycling has kept him physically fit, and he feels good about doing his share to curb air pollution and traffic congestion. Commuting by train or bus also is less stressful and more productive, he says, as he can read or work while he rides.

Granted, Balish is a healthy, 30-something single guy without children. He acknowledges that the car-free lifestyle is more challenging for parents with young kids, disabled people and folks whose livelihoods depend on driving, such as salespeople with far-flung territories to cover.

The key to navigating Los Angeles without a car? Balish lives close to transit hubs, plans ahead for trips to places such as the Staples Center, museums and Dodger Stadium, and does his errands and shopping close to home. Dating is often a picnic on the beach or a bike ride. For weekend trips, Balish occasionally rents cars, and once in a while he imposes on friends to take him places that are not easily accessible by bike or public transit.

"It definitely takes a little longer for me to get around than it did when I had a car," he says, "and in the early days, before I figured things out, I did get stranded a few times." Naturally, he gets sweaty when he cycles, and he sometimes has to carry a change of clothes. Once, he arrived at an important interview soaking wet after getting caught in a rainstorm.

"There's a learning curve and you're going to make mistakes," says Balish. "But when you consider all of the benefits, it's definitely worth it."

As Gas Prices rise, commuters turn to public transit, change cars, or... (July 2006)

For a 29-year-old father of two, the $3-a-gallon threshold was the tipping point. He switched from his Toyota Camry to a Regional Transit bus and light-rail train for the commute to his job in Sacramento's midtown from his Citrus Heights home. He figures the $200 a month he had spent on gasoline could be used better elsewhere.

However, most U.S. motorists are unlikely to break their gas-guzzling habits until prices climb higher, experts say. Some believe substantial change won't come until prices rival the $6 to $7 a gallon charged in Europe.

Experts once believed $3 per gallon was the breaking point. Over the years, however, U.S. consumers have become accustomed to wild price fluctuations and learned to absorb the higher cost. Moreover, experts say gasoline spending amounts to only a small part of the average family budget.

Gasoline isn't your typical consumer product, though. Nothing generates more irrational behavior than the price of gas, experts say. Consumers love to grouse about it -- much like the weather. Moods can be swayed by the daily price swings.

U.S. consumers have followed this road before, when gasoline stayed fixed over $2 a gallon two years ago. Motorists then vowed to unload their SUVs and pare travel and finally end their addiction to gas.

"We've been dependent on cars since the 1920s. People are unlikely to change automatically," said Dan Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. "People are waiting to see if these are permanently high prices. If they are, we will see major changes."

Once again, numerous consumer surveys report that more families are planning to reduce summer vacation travel, cancel trips, eat out less and trim spending for clothing and other discretionary items.

Locally, an online poll from the Sacramento Transportation Management Association reported 38.3 percent of commuters are driving less and 15.8 percent are taking public transit more often because of higher gas prices.

"There is a lot of anxiety about gasoline prices. We may be on that threshold … where consumers are modifying their driving behavior," said David Portalatin, an analyst with NPD Group, a consumer research firm.

Yet, the nation's thirst for gasoline hasn't abated. U.S. gasoline demand for early July rose 1.1 percent from a year ago, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

"We built this country on cheap gasoline," said Christopher Knittel, a UC Davis economist. "We're very limited in the ways we can alter our habits. Prices would have to be really, really high to have immediate effects."

This year, U.S. consumers are expected to shell out more than $300 billion to fill up their tanks, double what they spent five years ago, a U.S. Conference of Mayors report said.

For the average household, 4.6 percent of expenses, or $2,229, will go toward gas in 2006, up from $1,951 last year, said John Felmy, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute.

"People will get absolutely crazy about gas prices. It's really a big deal with people emotionally," said Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

A fall survey by AAA of Northern California reported many commuters felt trapped by the high pump prices. Thirty-four percent said they would continue driving even if prices climbed to $4.99 a gallon.

"For many people, there are not a lot of realistic alternatives to driving your car," said Sean Comey, a spokesman for the California State Automobile Association in San Francisco.

Paula Orlando of Nevada City is one of those commuters with few options. There is no direct public-transit link to ease her 63-mile trip to work in Sacramento. "It's a tossup whether you want to save time or money," said Orlando, office administrator for Camp Dresser & McKee, an environmental engineering firm.

If prices climb toward the $4 to $5 mark, Peter Castles of Rosemont likely will give up his car and board light rail to his job at the Hoyt Co., a Sacramento transportation consulting firm.

"The cost of gas is pinching (the budget) more than we ever expected," he said. "As it gets closer to $4 a gallon, that probably will be the shifting point for me."

About half of Americans say traffic in their area is worse now that it was five years ago, and about half expect it to be worse still five years from now — both about 10 points less negative than they were in a 2000 survey. Westerners, suburbanites and people with long or often-delayed commutes are most likely to say traffic has gotten worse, and to expect it to worsen further.

Almost a quarter of Americans get stuck in traffic jams on at least a weekly basis. That's the same as it was five years ago — no worse — but still it represents about 50 million adults stuck on the road with something better to do. Among commuters, more, nearly a third, get nailed by traffic jams at least weekly.

Commuters report an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles). But the variance is huge: On the best days, the average commute is 19 minutes; on the worst days, 46 minutes. That means traffic, at its worst, can double the average commute time, adding 27 minutes each way.

And on average — not at its worst, but just on average — workers estimate that traffic congestion adds a half-hour a day to their drive, 15 minutes each way. That's an impressive time suck.

Commuting to Work: the Agony, the Ecstacy
Commute Time: Average	26 minutes
On a good day	19 minutes
On a bad day	46 minutes

Commuting to Work: the Agony, the Ecstacy
Like commute	60%
Dislike it	36

As an example of how much conditions vary, average commute times range from 19 minutes for people who work in towns to 34 minutes for people who work in big cities. And where people say the traffic is OK, it's 24 minutes; where poor, it's 32.

Views of traffic conditions over time have been unstable. In four Roper Organization polls between 1976 and 1992, anywhere from a low of 42 percent to a high of 59 percent said traffic in their area was good. The average was 49 percent, not far from the 53 percent measured in this poll.

One difference: A fortunate 14 percent now say their traffic is "excellent," the first time it has cracked double digits. About as many, 15 percent, give their traffic the worst rating, "poor."

Strategies

Traffic engenders impressive avoidance strategies. Two-thirds of Americans sometimes take a less direct route to avoid snarls. Six in 10 sometimes leave earlier or later than planned to duck the worst traffic. Two in 10 have moved homes mainly to improve a commute.

A quarter have changed their work schedules, and 10 percent sometimes work at home to avoid a commute — obviously not an option for many workers. This rises to a fifth of people in high-congestion areas, and a quarter of those who really don't like the drive.

Fourteen percent of Americans say they've taken the ultimate commute-avoidance measure: Changed jobs, or simply left a job, primarily because of the commute.

Traffic Avoidance Strategies
Take a less direct route	68%
Leave earlier or later	60
Skip a planned stop	40
Changed work schedule	24
Moved closer to work	20
Changed/left a job	14

Among some of the most-discussed options, the public is somewhat skeptical about high-occupancy vehicle lanes and downright hostile toward adjustable-rate or city-center tolls. Solutions such as quickly hooking and hauling breakdowns, retiming traffic lights and providing prompt traffic alerts are seen as the best choices, and automatic cameras to catch traffic offenders get 2-1 support. About half see building roads as very effective — but most oppose gasoline taxes to fund it.

For most people, public transportation and carpooling remain far outside the fast track. While six in 10 Americans have public transit available, just 10 percent use it regularly, and just 4 percent of workers use it for their daily commute. (Ninety-three percent call driving more convenient.) Eighty-four percent drive alone to work, 8 percent drive with someone else and 80 percent of solo drivers aren't interested in car pooling.

Alongside the traffic, there's the other kind of congestion: Two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the effect of auto exhaust on their health, although fewer (four in 10) concede that their own driving is much to blame.

Your Commute - Like it / Love it

60 percent of people who work outside the home say they like their daily commute.

Happy commuters tend not to work in cities, report below-average travel times and distances and say their local traffic isn't bad. Among people who work in towns or rural areas (four in 10 commuters), 71 percent like the commute; but among those who work in big cities (three in 10 commuters) it's 24 points lower.

The Commute: Liking it
All	60%
Work in rural/town	71
Work in suburb	56
Work in city	47
<15 min. commute	74
>30 min. commute	42
<5 min. traffic delay	74
>15 min. traffic delay	40
Good local traffic	71
Bad local traffic	46

Enjoyment is 32 points higher among people who spend 15 minutes or fewer each way on their daily commute, compared with those who take more than a half-hour. Similarly, people with a long-distance commute are 22 points less likely to say they like it.

About a quarter of commuters say the main reason they like it is because they're blessed with a short or easy route. More, nearly four in 10, like the quiet time alone or the break between home and work. And others report simple pleasures such as the scenery or listening to music or the radio.

Detroit may enjoy one finding: By a 10-point margin, people who "love" their cars are more apt to like their commute. Environmentalists may dislike another: It's SUVs that win the most affection. Among the one in six Americans who drive an SUV, half love it. Among sedan drivers, by contrast, just 35 percent love their cars.

Behaving Badly

One common experience on the road is bad behavior. Majorities of motorists say they often see other drivers speeding (reported by 82 percent), driving inattentively (71 percent) or driving aggressively (64 percent).

Four in 10 often see others run a red light or stop sign; 34 percent often witness "impolite gestures," and 27 percent often see other drivers exhibiting road rage — "uncontrollable anger toward another driver on the road."

Traffic plays a big role. Among people who give the worst rating to their local traffic conditions, many more — 41 percent — see road rage, and 54 percent often see other drivers making angry or impolite gestures — double the number who see it in good traffic.