Changing Driving Habits and Informed Decisions; The Auto Industry

I am pro cycling, but that doesn't mean that I am anti-automobile. After all I do drive a car. In fact I drive a car many more miles than I ride my bike. In trying to promote cycling I do not want to be anti automobile, but rather focus on the advantages of cycling. However, today I have a beef against the automobile industry.

I have been researching devices that can help you monitor fuel consumption costs and help improve your driving habits. (See my previous blog) These devices are available for just about every car manufactured after 1996, using the cars' on board computer. There is all kinds of information that is tracked with these computers. It seems to me that the North American auto industry feels they should keep this information away from the average car driver. (Some of the European Auto manufacturers like VW have been making basic fuel  consumption info available for years)

Imagine if all cars showed you how efficient you were driving in terms of fuel efficiency and what each trip cost you. Maybe people would improve their driving habits, use less fuel and even drive less altogether!? The auto and oil industry wouldn't like that! Anytime the "Check Engine" light comes on you need to take the car to a mechanic, and they plug in one of their computers to tell you what is wrong.  (usually charging you significantly just to do that) These devices like the Scanguage can give you that same information. Don't tell me that it would be too expensive to include all this type of information in the standard gauges at the time of manufacture.

Why do the auto manufacturers feel they cannot trust a car owner with this information? Seems like another example of keeping information away from the consumer, and not letting people make informed decisions.

I would like to suggest to our politicians that they enact new legislation that requires all new automobiles to have these gauges incorporated into the standard instrumentation of all vehicles. I have already spoken to the Green Party about this and it has been received very positively. What about our other political parties? I will be interested to see which one is willing to take on the auto giants!


I will be ordering a Scangauge for myself and will be happy to lend it to people to see how it works.

If you read the reviews of the aftermarket devices available now (Like Scangauge and Econodriver) you will see that people find it changes their driving habits for the better. It's part of the solution!

A $ way of encouraging people to ride a bike

There is technology out there that will help people see what each trip they take in their car costs. Check out the Scangauge and EconoDriver. Scanguage is available in Canada here
Can you imagine how it might change people's habits if they had a cab meter in their car and they could see their money spent on gas vaporizing each trip they make?! It could be a great tool to compare cost of public transit to a private vehicle. After all we can't convince everyone to ride a bike because it is fun and healthy for you. Some people will react better to the dollars and "sense" approach.

Encouraging people to drive cars less

Here are some ideas floating around that I believe have merit for helping to encourage people to drive less.

Pay as you drive auto insurance; This would pro-rate your premiums based on how much you drove in a year. Check out this website and sign the petition if you think it is a good idea.
Some opponents say it is too complicated and requires sophisticated tracking devices in vehicles. Not so! It can be quite simple. When we lived in New Zealand we had to pay road user charges for diesel vehicles based on mileage. It was a simple card that was purchased and displayed in the windscreen and based on odometer readings. Here we could just have the insurance broker check the mileage. This can work!

The other idea is to have a scanguage or similar device installed on all new vehicles and to have some incentive to have people retrofit existing vehicles with one. What this does is to help you monitor your fuel economy and to put an actual fuel cost to every mile or trip that you drive. It would raise people's awareness of the cost of driving and hopefully encourage them to bike, walk, or use public transit!

An idea to encourage people to get out of their cars, and to Cycle, Walk or use Public Transit

Just about everyone agrees that we need to start weaning our society of our excessive use of the personal automobile. We need to encourage use of public transport, car pooling, cycling and walking.

I believe that one very effective way of doing this is to start making people aware of the cost of each trip that is taken. Most of the population is still more likely to be motivated to change their habits when there is a direct impact on their wallet.

The technology for this has been around for a while now. One such device is called a Scangauge. It can measure your actual fuel economy at the moment or averaged over a trip. The current cost of fuel can also be programmed to give a cost per kilometer or per trip. These devices can be very useful in helping people adjust their driving habits to improve their fuel economy. (Volkswagen has been making this sort of gauge as standard in most of their vehicles for years) If the cost per kilometer is displayed it would act something like the meter in a cab, making people very aware of the cost of a trip. This tool could help someone see that it might be cheaper to take public transport, or perhaps instead of spending $2.50 in gas to go to the grocery store, to take a bicycle instead. Even many small trips of only a few blocks end up getting costly over a period of time. The short 5 minute trip we make to drive our daughter to school costs us about $0.80 round trip. That adds up if we were to do it every day!

I believe our government should take the step to legislate the auto manufacturers to make these sort of gauges standard equipment in all new vehicles. This could have a huge impact in fuel savings as people start to adjust their driving habits, and it could potentially improve peoples health if it encourages them to walk or cycle! For existing vehicles there could be some kind of promotion and subsidy to encourage people to purchase and install them on their vehicles.

We must start changing our habits of the free and easy use of motor vehicles. I believe this is one way the government has the power to make it happen.

Stephen

5 Reasons to Ride a Bike

Here are some different reasons to ride a bike, other than the more obvious that everybody knows....

Scientific American Articles

I have received an email about an article in Octobers' Scientific American about"how cycle paths have to be safe enough for the risk averse female of the species and organized around her usual destinations: "to the supermarket, the school, the day care center". The piece says the female cyclist is the "indicator species" for bike-friendly cities." Well ladies, I bet you never thought of yourself as an "indicator species" !
Here is that article online. Also I came across this short clip worth reading or listening to.
The bottom line is get out there on your bikes and start making yourself seen! Way to go Cyclopaths and all you other folks getting out there!
Thanks for that Heather and Brian!

Walk and Bike for Life; Gil Penalosa Talk

Lee and I attended the talk by Gil Penalosa that was put on by BC Transit. A very inspiring and informative presentation. Check out the website for some really good resources. I had hoped some of our council members would have made it there, but unfortunately none were able to make it. If we are serious about making this town pedestrian, cyclist and tourist friendly, we need to pay more attention to this sort of information. We have an excellent team of planners and some really good plans in the OCP, but we need to make sure the commitment and desire is there to follow through. I know that some of our councillors are fully behind this goal, and I believe our Mayor is as well from what I have heard her saying recently. It is very easy to get caught up in the day to day operation and politics of running a town, but we all need to remember to take time to step back and look at building our vision of a community that we want to be part of. We need to take the time to find inspiration!
I hope to be able to speak to the council soon at one of the meetings to share some of what I have learned and some ideas to keep us on track.

A vision we can borrow from Copenhagen

Here is an article Don Brown sent me. Check it out here.
This gives us an idea of what it could be like when cyclists start getting out there!
Thanks Don!