Yes, that topic again! Our local paper, the Northfield News, asked me to do a column on green transportation for their first “Living Green” page, and I focused on our newly created city Nonmotorized Transportation Task Force (which met for the first time this past Tuesday, by the way). The page features an article on local business owner Jesse Streitz, who gets all his home electricity from wind and solar. (Streitz, by the way, is a conservative who’s concerned about global warming and is taking action. I’m a customer, and his company newsletter has tips for reducing carbon emissions.)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a link to my column online (the News does not consistently put everything online), so I’m pasting it in here. It has a graphic and some references that aren’t in the published version. I’ve also added some hyperlinks.

A New Northfield Task Force Advocates a Green Approach to Getting Around

by Bill Ostrem

We’ve heard about green building design and even green chemistry, but what about green transportation? It turns out that a New York City nonprofit, Transportation Alternatives, has created a “green transportation hierarchy.” It consists of an upside-down pyramid with pedestrians at the top, bicycles below that, then public transit, and on down to single-occupancy vehicles at the very bottom.

To give you a sense of why the hierarchy is ordered as it is, consider the energy use of different transportation options. To walk one mile, a 150-pound person burns 70 to 100 calories of renewable energy, whereas biking uses 25 to 65 calories. Driving the same distance in a Toyota Prius uses 585 calories, or 2,375 in a Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle—both generally using nonrenewable gasoline.[1]

What might this green transportation outlook mean for Northfield? On May 7 the Northfield City Council took an important step toward boosting the city’s commitment to the two highest rungs of that transportation hierarchy—pedestrians and bicycles—by creating a one-year Nonmotorized Transportation Task Force. The group’s mission is “to enable and promote walking, cycling, and other human-powered activities as safe forms of transportation, thereby creating healthier, more vibrant, and more energy-efficient communities.”

You’ll notice the plural word at the end the mission statement: “communities.” As part of its mission, the task force is meant to foster cooperation between Northfield and the surrounding communities.

The task force goals include the following:

• holding public meetings to gather input,
• obtaining grants from the federal Safe Routes to Schools program and other sources,
• recommending actions for local governments and nonprofits,
• working with local organizations and employers to encourage nonmotorized commuting, and
• applying to the League of American Bicyclists for the Bicycle Friendly Community designation.

I’m particularly interested in that last goal. Northfield had gained the Bicycle Friendly designation several years ago but has since lost it, probably because it did not reapply. Communities that receive the bicycle-friendly designation are ranked as “bronze,” “silver,” “gold,” or “platinum.” By committing to this program, Northfield could get feedback from experts on what we need to do to improve conditions for biking.

I also like the categories that the Bicycle Friendly Community program uses to assess communities. Those are the “five E’s”: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation and Planning. Attention to each of these areas—engineering for an effective infrastructure, education to promote safe cycling, encouragement of those who might otherwise not bike, enforcement of laws for both cyclists and drivers, and evaluation and planning to lead the way forward—is needed for a city to be truly bicycle friendly.

The Northfield Park Board has already selected ten task force members. They are myself, Bruce Anderson, Anne Bretts, Kirsten Cahoon, Dan Kust, Neil Lutsky, Randy Perkins, John Stull, Richard Vanasek, and Peter Waskiw. They represent a number of groups, including the school district, colleges, Park Board, Rotary, Friends of the Mill Towns Trail, RENew Northfield, and interested citizens.

The task force is eager to get to work and to hear from the community about how we can best achieve our goals. If you would like to contact us with comments or concerns about nonmotorized transportation in our area, you can send email to nonmotorized@gmail.com.

Bill Ostrem works in the field of educational assessment and lives in Northfield with his wife and daughter.

1. Halvorsen, Dan. “Biking, walking increase with ‘destination exercise.’” Center for Transportation Studies Report, February 2007. Page 3. University of Minnesota.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Autobiography, Biking/Walking, Northfield, Upper Midwest.