Buy a Car, Gain Weight; It's That Simple

Lynn Sloman, in her book "Car Sick," mentions a study performed by Colin Bell, Keyou Ge, and Barry Popkin in China, which analyzed correlations in obesity paired with car ownership.

The study included 4,700 adults, all who previously hadn't owned vehicles. What Sloman mentions is the findings of the study: "If you buy a car, you will put on weight. You will be twice as likely to become clinically obese, and this will lead inexorably to poorer health."

I've always had mixed feelings about car use. Whilst living in Japan, I would think about the places I needed to go. Because the public transportation infrastructure in Japan is so developed, I could get to literally anywhere via public transportation. Time was a consideration, however. I could drive, spending money on gas, or I could spend my money on the train and/or bus.

I would most always take the public transportation route because, even if it took me longer to reach my destination, I saved carbon emissions and never had to worry about parking. Because of parking costs, I almost always saved money by taking the train/bus.

Back to weight gain, though. I knew that by not driving, I would need to walk between train stations and/or bus stops, to/from my departure/destination places from/to the train stations or bus stops. Let me make this clearer by illustrating a typical journey:

By Car:
Drive for 20 minutes to my destination, pay only for gas, no parking.

Time: 20 minutes
Calories Burned: 10
Cost: $1.50 (¥170)

By Train:
Walk to train station for 20 minutes. Wait for train avg. of 5 minutes. Pay train fare and ride train for 13 minutes. Walk to destination for 20 minutes.

Time: 58 minutes
Calories Burned: 210
Cost: $1.05 (¥120)

Obviously a lot more sweat is exerted by the latter means of transport. As you can see, driving cost more, but required far less effort. Essentially, you're paying for the luxury to drive. But, clearly you'll be hanging on to much more weight by driving. How about the much more sensible solution of bike riding:

By Bicycle:
Ride 25 minutes to destination, pay no parking.

Time: 25 minutes
Calories Burned: 150
Cost: $0.00 (¥0)

This is ideal. Don't pay a penny for gas, parking, tolls, or otherwise. And, you still burn the calories. A bicycle is a much smaller investment than a car; at least you're not going to have to take out a mortgage. Because this scenario took place in Japan, between small towns where you cannot drive too fast, bicycling was almost as fast as driving. In this case, bicycles actually have the upper-hand on cars because they can quickly travel back roads and navigate shortcuts.

Clearly there are much more sensible alternatives to transportation than driving a car. In this case, mass transportation could even be avoided. So why don't more people ride bikes or take the train? Apathy. Not driving means moving more than just your arms for a brief period of time, a task which seems to too many overly burdensome. Hence, the weight gain.

I'm not one to enjoy paying for gas, or even for public transportation on occasion, but calories? That's a price I can pay. Rather, a price I'd prefer to pay.

**If you live rurally, then you're a special case, to which special transportation alternatives apply.

The Win-Win: Mass Transportation To/From Major Cities

True, buses use a lot of gas, but they save just as much gas. 45 bus riders save 45 cars' worth of gasoline, and the trade-off? Just one bus worth of gas.

So here's a dilemma that is interesting because of its myriad solutions: traffic congestion. How do you get cars moving again? Well, the simple solution is to build more lanes, right? More lanes decongest the traffic. But... in a few years the same problem will be back. It seems like highways are always being widened because they're never large enough.

Instead of making more lanes, what we need to do is make more public transportation. Now, while this concept is not ideal for long distances, say across the country, think about the places where you really are likely to hit the most traffic: around cities. People commute into and out of cities the most. What most cities don't have, but need, is effective public transportation systems. To the suburbs and back, trains and buses need to run on efficient routes where usage is likely to be high. If effective public transportation systems are implemented, people will be enticed to take them. Assuming they're clean, cheap, efficient, and on-time, there's nothing not to like.

So, as Lynn Sloman, in her book "Car Sick" suggests, why not dedicate a lane, or build a lane, on major roads into and out of cities that are reserved specifically for buses? If a bus can peel 45+ cars off the road, then there's no need to build more lanes for traffic. Less cars will be used, and remaining traffic congestion will encourage people to ride the buses. Not only are there monetary savings, but the dedicated lanes will actually make bus transportation just as fast as it would take for people to drive their own cars into the city for work. What's more, commuters who opt for the public transportation option never have to worry about finding, or paying for, a parking space. Throw in the reduced carbon emissions and, therefore, less pollution, and it's clearly a win-win for everyone involved.

Save Something... i.e. Yourself, Earth, Money

We're addicted to cars and oil in the United States. I say "we," however there are many of us, while a minority, that do not follow the rest of the country's consumption habits.

Essentially, part of the problem that is 'natural resource overconsumption' includes a lack of public transportation infrastructure. Likewise, the spread-out nature of our cities, towns, and suburbs promote the use of individual cars as modes of transportation. For many people, there is no option but to drive your own car. How about those that live in cities, or suburbs that have public transportation available into the city?

It is the responsibility of people who have the ability to go green, by commuting to work via public or shared means, to do so. The world's oil supply is running dry and growing demand from India and China are not going to make the supply any more abundant. Rather than 45 people driving their cars to work, think about the effort, gasoline, frustration, and lack of productivity that those 45 people could save by taking a bus. Think about how much more productive our society could be, given the functionality that Blackberry and PDA devices provide nowadays. By the time you get to work in the morning, there are probably a dozen e-mails awaiting your immediate response. Why not see to them all during your commute, and relieve the stress placed on the rest of your day?

If you can take public transportation, dump your car. There are means of getting around not having a car. Live near a public transportation station, either rail or bus, that can get you to work. Carpool with a friend to work, or drive to the nearest bus/train station and commute from there. When you think about it, you'll definitely save money because public transportation is much cheaper than each gallon of gasoline that you must pump into your car to make it get you to work every day. It is a luxury to drive a car.

If you're not seeing the light yet, consider this: you'll be proactively saving your own life by not driving. The benefits here are multifaceted. Going green by taking public transportation saves gasoline and, therefore, carbon emissions, sure, but do you have any idea the ridiculous number of car accidents that occur each year? It's not a matter of whether or not you will be in an accident, it's a matter of when. A car accident can cost you your life, and in two different ways. Firstly, an accident can be perilous. Secondly, if you're at fault, then you may have committed a serious crime. Therefore, your life is, in a sense, comparably over. Accidents happen, sure, but why take the risk of being in one? A fender-bender is a lot of hassle... especially if someone is injured.

So do yourself and society a favor: take public transportation if/when you can. If you're in a bus and it gets rear-ended, you don't have to worry about being at fault. You can rest assured that all the problems associated with an accident rest with the drivers of the vehicle-i.e. not you.

Take the money you save on gasoline by not driving your own car, and get a Blackberry or an iPhone. Then, during your commute on public transportation, use the device to get work done! You can be very productive! It may get you out of the door earlier at the end of the day, and back home where you [hopefully] want to be. Help yourself take back your life and the planet at the same time. Kiss your long drives goodbye and know that you're saving money, saving the planet, and saving yourself.

*muah*