Discussion Units Tackle Latest Forum on Kicking Carbon

by Pat Patterson, with Caryl Terrell and Ralph Petersen

Author’s note: I’ve been guiding the discussion unit leaders for two years now, have attended my own discussion unit and been a resource person at several others.  Please join us! Most meet by Zoom for now (Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge, open to residents only, meets in person). See the discussion unit schedule here.

Discussion units have been meeting for many years, initially for researching and developing League position statements about governance, natural resources, and social issues. Now, the units serve as forum extensions. Many have a core group of attendees plus those who pop in or out depending on the topic. Resource materials, available on our website, include discussion questions.  

November’s Kicking Carbon forum featured speakers from Dane County discussing local actions to get carbon out of our transportation systems. Forty-eight forum attendees chose to enroll in the Transportation Options Challenge, an easy way to get us all thinking about how we get to work, childcare, recreational activities and run errands—drive, walk, bike or take a bus?  What are the options, and can we opt out of our personal vehicles sometimes? Are there actions you could suggest to city planners and neighborhood developers?  

It matters how we get to the library, the grocery store, how our sheets and clothes get from Malaysia and Bangladesh to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond, and how our out-of-season fruits and coffee get to us from Central and South America. All these activities emit the greenhouse gases causing climate change.

Some of us, especially those with low incomes, have fewer options. We can’t afford newer cars that pollute less, and we live farther away from our jobs and shopping. We are dependent on mass transit routes and bus schedules that will need a lot more riders to make them more efficient. Case in point: my daughter, who has a physical disability and can’t drive, lives on the near west side of Madison. She would like to take a bus to her job on the far east side, a trip that takes two hours each way. Finding ride-sharing opportunities has been unsuccessful. So, family members make two round trips, five days a week.

In the Milwaukee area, I-94 cuts through a once-vibrant African-American neighborhood. That decision severely impacted the vibrancy of that community.  To this day, I-94 continues to make getting from home on one side of the interstate to good-paying jobs north of I-94 extremely difficult and impractical, especially if you ride a bus. 

Reflections of unit members on Kicking Carbon: 

Why it matters: globally, the transportation sector produces almost 30% of all carbon emissions today.

Choosing where to live based in part on alternative transportation options—easy access to the city bus system or shuttles to get to events or shopping.  

Downtown means good walking opportunities due to sidewalks. Services and entertainment are close by, including the farmers’ markets, Madison Central Library, Overture Center, State Street shops and restaurants. Added bonus—easy to bring a small shopping cart to hold bags.

Prairie Ridge Retirement Community in Sun Prairie allows many seniors to leave their cars in the garage while a shuttle bus takes them shopping, to events in downtown Madison and on errands around the growing neighborhoods in Sun Prairie.  

A recent retiree and long-time resident in the Atwood Neighborhood noted that biking is easy, and buses run frequently.  For years she would take one child almost everywhere on her bike. But that changed with a second child and family schedules that became more complicated. She still does grocery shopping by bike when she can.  She joined the Transportation Challenge as an incentive to extend her bike riding further into winter.

But many cyclists note they are not willing to bike more than a few miles from home and somewhat more with e-bikes. They have difficulty crossing the Beltline for shopping or following the seemingly complex intersection bike-lane markings at major intersections.   Older participants say they feel safer using e-bikes or e-tricycles, especially if trailers are available for shopping trips. 

My street is a bike lane, meaning bikes have the right of way. There are a growing number of bike models with interesting kid-toting contraptions riding on our street, many of them imported from Europe, where transporting kids by bike is common.

Attendees commented on the wide variety of facts and options they learned at the forum. For example, rather than carpools, kids in elementary schools in Madison ride buses on field trips . . . my 5-year-old granddaughter proudly insisted on swiping my bus pass and pulling the cord.  

Another option is combining modes of transportation, for instance riding part way on a bike and then taking a bus, or parking on the outskirts of Madison and taking a bus to work or school. Many businesses are increasing carpooling, creating ride-share incentives; and installing locking e-bikes. UW parking rates disincentivize employees from driving on campus. They also provide low-cost or free bus passes.  

City planners are looking at many adaptations to accommodate those with low incomes, to develop easy and free access to alternative transportation in case of illness or family emergencies, to improve signage between bike paths, bus routes to increase the efficiency of crosstown commutes, and to develop more “park and ride” options.

Many were surprised that driving 75 mph increases fuel use by 30% over driving 50 mph. One discussion unit thought Wisconsin should reconsider its ban on speed cameras and institute a carbon-related “speed fee,” charged to owners of cars observed exceeding the speed (and thereby carbon) limits. Rather than being a violation of traffic laws involving possible license suspension, speeding would lead to a fine for the car owner for excessive carbon production.

Splash photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash.

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