Tell Us Your Story

Over the past few weeks we've gotten a surprising number of phone calls and emails from newspapers and t.v. stations from across Maryland. They always ask the same question - are people really driving less because of the high gas prices?

For me, and many of my friends and family, the answer is yes. Every other day I hear a story of someone I know that is walking, biking or taking mass transit in lieu of driving. Usually it's just a simple matter of changing one or two weekly trips.

The problem is, with the exception of AAA's prediction that Memorial Day car travel will be slightly down, the national statistics are not showing any real drop off in automobile use. Most people seem to think that the vast majority of us are just gritting our teeth and suffering through.

What we need is for the stories of people who are changing their habits to become public. That's where One Less Car comes in. We are starting a new section of our website to collect the stories of people who are refusing to get caught in the car crunch. We want to know if you are biking to work, hopping on the bus to school, or just hoofing it to the grocery store. How does it make you feel to not be strapped inside your car? Are you loosing weight? Saving money? Meeting new people? Spending more time with family and friends? Tell us your story.

We have set up an email address - mystory "at" onelesscar.org - where you can send us your tale of personal rebellion against our car culture. If you have a photo you want to share, send that along too. Our hope is to have these stories online in the coming weeks.

Thanks,

Richard Chambers, Executive Director