Arlington's Car-Free Diet
Arlington’s Car-Free Diet is not an actual diet, but rather a lifestyle. It encourages Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) drivers in Arlington County, VA and the Washington, DC metro area to leave their cars at home, and instead use alternative modes of transportation in an effort to save money, improve their health, and clean up the environment. These alternative modes of transportation include riding the bus or metro, biking, walking, carpooling, vanpooling and teleworking. Arlington County is nationally recognized for its walkability, bikeability and smart growth planning.
Seven-Day Diet Plan
On World Car-Free Day September 22, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia, the Seven-Day Diet Plan was launched. Arlington was just one jurisdiction within the Washington Metropolitan Area running car-free programs
The plan offers SOV drivers an easy step-by-step guide with tools and suggestions to help kick start their car-free diet. Each day has an easy goal (e.g. Take a small trip on bike or foot to run an errand) and an advanced goal (e.g. Make your entire commute a workout by biking or walking all the way to work or school). By the end of seven days, dieters should be able to use the Car-Free Diet Calculator, read a transit schedule, try several different car-free options, explore/suggest car-free options at the workplace, and customize their own car-free plans.
Car-Free Diet Skeptics Challenge
On January 4, 2010, the Car-Free Diet Skeptics Challenge kicks off. The goal of the challenge is to find Arlington’s biggest “Car-Free Diet Skeptics” – people who love driving their cars and couldn’t ever imagine giving them up for a bus, train or bike ride – then challenging them to go on Arlington’s Car-Free Diet for 30 days.
Potential Skeptics can submit video applications to carfreediet.com from January 4–February 28, and visitors can vote on them from March 1–31. The two chosen Skeptics will begin their 30-day challenge on Earth Day, April 22, and chronicle their experiences online via blog entries, videos and pictures.
As of March 8, the submissions period has closed and there are six car-free 'skeptics' video applications. Voting to select two winners will run through March 31.
History
Arlington County Commuter Services(ACCS) launched the Car-Free Diet in fall 2007 to encourage the use of non-SOV travel, decrease road congestion, air pollution, and dependence on fossil fuels, and improve quality of life in Arlington, VA. In fiscal year 2008, the Car-Free Diet eliminated :
38,000 vehicle trips' in Arlington County each day (as a point of reference, the portions of I-395 and I-66 that run through the county carry a combined total of 37,000 passenger vehicles during a 3-hour morning rush hour).
- More than 542,000 vehicle miles of travel (vmt) per day, helping reduce traffic during peak and non-peak travel periods.
- More than 64,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 105 tons of pollutants, improving air quality and the environment.
- The use of nearly 23,000 gallons of gasoline every day.
Events
2009, October 17, Washington, DC ¬– Bike DC – The DC and Arlington Community Bike Ride 1. An all-day community bicycle ride and sightseeing adventure (the Capitol, the White House, the Pentagon, George Washington Parkway, Twin Oaks Estate, etc.) on car-free streets, cleared just for this special event, in Washington, DC and Arlington, VA. Two different routes were featured: the Family 12-mile ride and the more challenging Capitol 25-mile ride.
2009, September 22, Washington, DC – World Car-Free Day. A dual celebration for the world event and launch of the Seven-Day Diet Plan was held at Mister Days Sports Bar & Cafe in Arlington, VA. Free food, door prizes and trip planning services were given away. The Car-Free Diet video “Cadillac Lover Goes Car Free” 2 was shot to commemorate the event.
Awareness
In a study performed by the Southeastern Institute of Research 3 and LDA Consulting in the fall of 2009 among residents of Arlington County, it was found that 35% of residents are aware of the Car Free Diet program in some shape or form and 3% have visited the Car Free Diet Web site. These are just preliminary facts and more will be available about Car Free Diet when the study is officially released in early 2010.
About Arlington County Commuter Services
Arlington County Commuter Services 4 (ACCS) is a bureau of Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services that helps make it easy for people to live, work, shop and play in Arlington without a car. Since 1990, ACCS has served as the primary transportation information and educational resource center for Arlington County, Virginia, providing transportation information and assistance to residents, employees and other travelers in order to encourage their use of public transit and SOV alternatives for trips they make in Arlington County and the greater Washington metropolitan region. In addition to the Car-Free Diet, ACCS offers the following products and services:
- Commuterpage – detailed maps, bus & rail schedules, bike & walk routes, carpooling options & more
- Commuterdirect – order tickets & passes for all regional transit providers, including MARC, VRE, WMATA, DASH, Georgetown and others.
- The Commuter Store – a one-stop shop for all your transportation needs – located at Ballston Common Mall, Crystal City Shops North, Rosslyn Metro Center Mall & the Shirlington Bus Station All stores are open Monday through Friday from 10am to 7 pm for your shopping convenience.
- The Mobile Commuter Store – the Commuter Store® makes regularly scheduled stops throughout Arlington
- Arlington Transportation Partners – a complimentary business consulting service that helps employers lower salary taxes and improve productivity by offering employees car-free commuting options and benefits
- WALKArlington – an initiative to encourage Arlingtonians to walk more often
- Bike Arlington – an initiative to encourage Arlingtonians to bike more often
Arlington County Commuter Services is committed to using research to back up their claims and to improve their services. Almost all of their services have been studied with specific focus on customer satisfaction and impact. A Web site has been set up to house this research and is available to anyone who may be interested at Arlington's Research Database.
Further Reading
- Car-free days
- Car-free cities
- Effects of the automobile on societies
- List of car-free places
- Sustainable transportation
- World Carfree Network