The Final Lap

Number of Miles Ridden

I am very excited about the number of miles I have ridden over this semester as a commuter. The bike computer really helped me have an excellent measurable on how well my project went. On September 3rd, I started with 208.24 miles on my bike computer, as of November 26th, I am on 280.86 miles! That means I rode 72.62 miles just by commuting! I loved checking my mileage to see how far I had ridden. That number of miles is really incredible when you think about it.

Gas

What I really hoped to achieve was to reduce the amount of money I spent on gas. Unfortunately that did not happen. Although overall I drove my car much less than I did last year, I also went home more this year. To compare, I used my credit card statements from August, September, October, and November of 2011 and compared them to the same months in this year.

First let me explain how I used my car this year versus last year. Last year, I was carpooling to RedStepper practice with my roommates probably every other day for all of first semester. I also drove to the library because I had a lab at night and did not want to walk. Because I was consumed with RedSteppers (that's the IU dance team if you did not know), I pretty much did not go home until Thanksgiving in 2011. Now this year I pretty much only drive my car once a week, but I have gone home more often, and this requires a full tank of gas for round trip. I went home twice in August, did not go home in September, went home in October, and then home for Thanksgiving in November.

So unfortunately, this graph did not turn out as I hoped, but also the price of gas could also be a factor. The number of gallons purchased would have been a better comparable, but I do not have that specific information. Overall then, I rode my bike more, drove my car in Bloomington less, but drove my car home to Illinois more.

What I Learned and the Future

Basically I am very happy with the overall result of my personal project. I learned a lot about biking in Bloomington and commuter biking in general. At times it got frustrating or annoying when it was raining or when I was just plain tired and did not want to ride my bike. But overall I knew biking would be so much faster then walking, and I had to do it. Unfortunately, I did spend more money on gas and I never did go buy groceries on my bike. 

Now that it has gotten colder, I still ride my bike to work, I just have to bundle up a bit more. Wind is definitely a bigger factor on a bike. Once it does start to snow (and I really hope it does this year, I love snow) I probably will just start to walk to work. I do not want to subject my bike to the slush and salt on the streets and then track that all back into my apartment. 

Next semester I definitely will be riding my bike to work and elsewhere for two reasons. One I really like it, and two I basically do not have the option to drive because I cannot park anywhere without that pass. I guess that is how it should be. If we disincentivize parking, that only leaves 3 other options: the bus, the bike, or our feet. I would rather rely on myself then a bus, so its active transportation all the way for me.

This project really helped solidify my love of biking and really helped confirm that I hope to work in active transportation one day. I have basically been stalking all sorts of active transportation groups for jobs for after graduation. I have been really intrigued by The City of Chicago Bicycle Program, The Active Transportation Alliance, The Alliance for Biking and Walking,  and The League of American Bicyclists.

Bike The Drive, an annual event put on by The Active Transportation Alliance.  No cars here. Only Bikes.

My boyfriend, Kevin, and I riding down Lake Shore Drive on our Little 5 bikes. 

Bike the Drive is an event put on by the Active Transportation Alliance, where Lake Shore Drive is closed down to cars and open only to bicyclists. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done in the city of Chicago, and I would love to be involved with stuff like this. Hopefully my unique personal project will make a great experience for me to use when job hunting this winter. Wish me luck!