Carless on the island: getting around…
Posted July 10, 2012 at 11:45 pm by Rebecca Leff
The way I see it, there are three categories of carless people. Teens who want a license but don’t have one, teens who don’t want a license just yet as they’ll have no use for it in college, and adults who don’t want a license. Unless one lives in town, what are the options out there for the people who don’t own cars or want to cut back on their use of a car?
I hate to state the obvious, but people really are built to walk around. It may be a bit time consuming, but it’s great exercise you can’t skip out on. Plus, it’s free!
Bikes are another great option for the summertime, especially if you live a bit too far to walk. Maybe this is the summer you’ll finally reach that goal of biking up Bailer Hill…dare to dream!
Only have the energy to go one way? San Juan Transit offers a $15 all day pass or $5 a ride; if you live close to the tourist sites (Roche Harbor, the Lavender Farm, English Camp) you can get in and out of town relatively inexpensively compared to paying for gas.
Carpooling is the most realistic for many, especially when combining more than 2 people. As far as going offisland- there is a San Juan Ride Share Facebook group which has people posting the dates they are planning to depart and if they have room to take another person. If you pay a bit to help with gas, there is usually someone headed a similar way to where you need to go!
Maybe we can all kick in and help the environment a bit this summer, while getting some great exercise and cutting costs!
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Categories: Around Here
3 comments:
3 comments...
Hey, the best deal is San Juan Transit’s 20 rides pass for $40. I bought one for my son and he gets from town to his lawn mowing job way out Roche Harbor road. Dan says if you don’t use them up, he has to buy them back (State Transportation Law) but I plan to use them all one way or the other!
Then there’s the Scenic Byway special that’s happening this summer: fill out the survey at visitsanjuans.com/scenicbyway and get TWO all day passes on San Juan Transit for the price of one! Use them on Orcas Island or San Juan Island….or both!
Good article, good comments! I’d also like to point out that there are folks that live in this county that cannot afford a personal vehicle or can no longer safely operate one. We actually have a relatively large proportion on folks in these categories. Don’t forget our state sanctioned hitchhiking group, San Juan Rideshare! Thanks for bringing attention to our island-based car-free transportation solutions!
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