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Bike Commuters Enjoy Benefits While Keeping Family Car

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By SUSAN HEMMINGWAY The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2007

TAMPA - Keep your car, but use it less. It's an option known as "car-lite," which is green-speak for relying on a bicycle, public transit or your own feet most of the time, instead of cranking up your automobile.

It can be a more practical choice than giving up your car completely, says Julie Bond, an associate researcher at the University of South Florida's Center for Urban Transportation Research. She recommends staying car-lite in Tampa. The lack of a rail system or much mass transit means it's harder to get around without a car.

Instead, start shrinking your trips, she says. Keeping a car in park can add up to significant savings. The AAA estimates today's driving costs equal 52 cents a mile. One less car on the road also cuts down on smog emissions and the use of petroleum.

Here's how a single guy and a family of four do it in Tampa.
Mike Riley
The only reason Mike Riley purchased a car was because it takes too long to cycle to mountain-bike trails south of Ocala. He bought a used Ford Taurus for $1,000 in September and drives the blue clunker infrequently. A tank of gas doesn't run dry for weeks.

Riley, 27, commutes by bike from his home in Wesley Chapel to his job in New Tampa, 10 miles down car-clogged Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. He earns bucks as a bike-commuter: The owner of Oliver's Cycle Sports in Tampa Palms, where Riley works in repairs and sales, pays employees a dollar each way for commutes over five miles.

A love for cycling, and not just the bonus, puts him in the saddle. He also can feel restless when imprisoned in a car that's crawling because of traffic. "It's gridlock at rush hour and stop-and-go traffic at all other times," he says about Bruce B. Downs. "If I'm just going to be sitting in a car that whole time, I'd rather get on a bike and get some exercise."

Riley understands the hazards of cycling on many Tampa roads but says he has been hit "only once." The collision occurred on 46th Street near the University of South Florida in June 2006. "There are no bike lanes, and it's a pretty busy road. A lady pulled out of a parking lot and didn't look. I had a concussion and had to go to the hospital."

It didn't stop Riley from cycling. At home, he and his girlfriend, who shares his enthusiasm for bikes, may drive to a movie or to visit friends across town. They cycle most everywhere else, including the grocery store.

Meanwhile, owning a car as a backup can be nice, Riley says. His Taurus gets him to the bike trails, and when he's sick, he can drive to work.

The Griffiths Family

Nicholas Griffiths and his wife, Johanne, moved to Tampa from their native Canada in 2004 with two children and one car. They are from Winnipeg, where people rely on public transit, even on frigid days.

They settled in New Tampa suburbia and chose not to buy a second car. Didn't they know? Families living among the strand of subdivisions along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard have two cars, at least. The public transit is sparse.

Griffiths, 47, decided to commute by bicycle to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, where he works as an analyst. They stuck with one car, even when Johanne got a job in Vero Beach. She and their Nissan Altima stay on the east coast during the workweek.

That left Griffiths, daughter Paige and son Parker to get by without it. "At first it was to save money," Griffiths says.

Generosity from neighbors and co-workers helped. Paige wasn't always happy about not being able to drive but caught rides to her high school and dance classes with friends. Her younger brother, Parker, got to soccer practice with a teammate.

"It was not difficult when we needed rides. Co-workers are always willing to offer a ride home if the weather is bad, even if it means going out of their way," Griffiths says. "The same thing with our neighbors. ... I was told if I ever needed a ride to work or if the kids needed a ride to or from school or had an appointment, just to ask.

"And we did ask. The neighbors have been great."

When Paige recently enrolled in Hillsborough Community College, the Griffiths bought another car because of a skimpy public bus schedule. Paige couldn't easily take the bus to classes in Ybor City.

It came in handy last month. Paige drove her dad to Moffitt when he was suffering from a severe cold and a sore foot. Griffiths since has resumed bike-commuting. It keeps him in shape, and he enjoys it.

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