Transportation

After the first reading by Seth Zeren I coincidently had to ride my bike and on my way to South Davis I realized that there really is a ton of “space” designated to cars when their not even being used. The title of the article speaks for itself, “Free Parking isn’t Free” I’ve heard the argument that the air we breathe isn’t free either but riding my bike around the residential area of Davis in comparison to urban areas of San Francisco really struck a cord. Anyone who has ever visited San Francisco should know how much parking really costs. On average it’s about 20 for a few hours and on holidays, such as new years, I have seen parking go up to $60 plus.

Virtually in all modes of transporting myself the biggest observation was actually realizing how much space we actually delegate to parking cars and the concept that most cars spend 95% of the time in a day parked was another surprising realization. I currently do not own a car and it doesn’t bother me on a personal scale because biking in Davis is relatively easy and commuting back to the Bay Area is also very convenient in the form of Amrtak. It’s hard to view the world in any other way than the current status quo but people are so reliant on their cars. It seems like the only way that people would eventually start caring and doing more would be by passing the expense onto the individuals who choose to park their car.

When I first came to Davis I rode my bike strictly because it was the fastest and easiest way of getting around as a freshmen. With this said it’s safe to assume I biked because everyone else did but this changed of the years because it’s just so easy to bike everywhere now I have no problem biking up and down this town. I embrace the community and then biking seemed like a way of life. To be honest I don’t see myself biking very much post Davis but I’ll see how that goes.