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Taking Action

Over 8,000 amazing people read the blog posts for CAR-FREE MEMPHIS — and you’re amazing too! 

Introduction 

Ok --- it is common knowledge that gas prices are going up up up! 

Who is doing what about it?

No one is, not really!

Political promises are hardly enough anymore.

Citizens are broken into three groups. 

Group One is growing tired of high gas prices. 

They are protesting on TV nonstop, but they are still not willing to give up their vehicles. 

Becoming car-free is the furthest thing from their minds.
What might be on their minds is joining a vigilante group of car drivers who march themselves
all the way to the White House saying, keep our cars up and running and drive those gas prices
back down, or we will start another damn war. 

Hope it never comes to that!   

Group two is seeking alternatives to driving their own personal vehicles.

Some of them are car-pooling.

Some people with more than one car have been selling off those cars that they cannot
afford anymore.

The one car they do keep remains parked in the driveway more often than not.

What is truly sad is that they know public transit is not reliable.

Yes --- this second group is faced with the fact that this city is not designed for them to walk or
ride a bike to meet all of their essential needs in a timely fashion.

Nonetheless, the second group remains passive and hopeless.

Of all people, why is this second group not mad enough to join up with Car-free Memphis
and force the powers-that-be to redesign our city.   

Group three, the one's considered to be at the bottom economically, are truly car-free people.

They are 10,000 strong, the working poor, and they are the main one's who must use
mass transit, bike, or walk.  

They have never had any choice about this matter, nor have they had any power to move
 the powers-that-be to redesign our city just for the poor.  

But times are changing fast it seems, as the middle class is becoming poorer
and poorer by the day.

Certainly, this will cause a shift in public thinking between group two and three.

Perhaps they will finally form a bond; and together, they will do something positive
about their common problems.

Car-free Memphis will be here for them as this shift in thinking takes place. 


What to Expect From Reading This Blog
  
Here, people will find alternative information and solutions for their transportation needs:
walking, biking, and public transportation; and, how they can create and maintain a car-free
community that fully supports their new lifestyle regardless of income level.

Here, they will find nationally known organizations that promote grassroots political
movements and  retailers who provide products and services that car-free citizens will surely need.

One of those nationally known organizations is the Congress For The New Urbanism . 

One of the local organizations is Livable Memphis

One of those retailers is Tony's Trailers from out of Vancouver, Canada.   


Sympathy For the Car-Free Cause 

Car-free Memphis will sympathize with all those people who come across its' path who
want to become  car-free citizens.  
     
Car-Free Memphis will sympathize with the plight at the pump and with the fact that
our public transportation system is failing to provide adequate service. 

Moreover, there will be a place to share your experiences with each other. 

You will learn from each other and begin to resolve your problems together.  


A Personal Story       

I have been car-free for several years. 

I have faced every scenario possible since giving up my vehicles.

I have bought clothing, bikes, push carts, and all sorts of other gadgets to make walking
and biking easy and simple.

Some things have worked for me, while other things have not.  

For example, I had to replace the plastic wheel and rubber tire set of my push cart several times.

The brand name of this push cart:EASY WHEELS. 

 It is distributed by the Narita Trading Co. Inc.. 

The cage section is nearly flawless in design and it has served me well for many years.

However, the wheels crumbled into pieces, while I was out in the street with a load of groceries.

The rubber tires also wore out easily or rolled of the wheel.

I finally resolved this whole problem and replaced the wheel set with hardened
steel lawn mower wheels.

To get the full story read my other blogs.  

Taking Action

Prior to all the recent protest on TV, many people would always laugh at me for being
car-free, but they were grossly misguided. 

I did come across a few people just like myself, who wanting to do the same thing that
I am doing, but they were embarrassed to do it, much less ready to form an
organization to storm the steps of congress.  

I did write a long graduate level paper on the walk-bike topic.

I am doing all the right things right: I am following other blogs; I have set up google alerts;
and, I have made a few posts on related blogs. 

People do call to me from other parts of this country and even from other parts of this world.

In fact, I talked to Tony Hoar from Canada several times and we discussed his design
for his Transit Pup bicycle trailer.  

He sent me his designs and we discussed several changes to improve the trailer. 

Then, Tony began seeking a manufacture overseas.

Hope this bike trailer goes into full production around the world

On another note, I did show up to speak my mind at some face-to-face meet ups
concerning the bike lanes on Madison Ave.

And now, we have got those bike lanes, but not all the way down the street like we wanted.

A grassroots movement has also started up recently.

In fact, I showed up and spoke up at one of their meetings and joined their group, the
Memphis Bus Riders Union. 

Together, we are going to force Memphis Area Transit Authority to provide better
services for all of us.

This type of pressure seems to work best.

MATA started a new bus route, the 5 Central.

The 5 Central now gets me to the University of Memphis faster than ever before --- 45 minutes.

They could at least run the 5 central until 2:00 A.M. in the morning, but they stop it at
5:oo P.M. every afternoon.

Conclusion

Car-Free Memphis is providing a place to share one's thoughts and opinions with
like minded people.

Feel free to make positive comments. 


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