Arlington's Car-Free Diet Blog

Car-Free, Like It Or Not

A few years back, one of the major TV networks had a slogan they used for their prime-time lineup: "Must-See TV." They used that same slogan for several years, and I got a kick out of it when a comedian that starred in one of the shows added, "This year, they're enforcing it."

Well, we're always encouraging people to go Car-Free, but on Inauguration Day many will have no other option. There will be no access for personal cars to drive from Virginia into D.C on January 20. All of the bridges will be reserved for buses, emergency and other authorized vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. (The Key and Chain Bridges will be open outbound -- you can leave D.C., but you can't go in.)

Even roads that are not officially closed may be closed in effect by heavy volume. For information about transit options, see the CommuterPage.com Inauguration page. There's also plenty of useful information on Arlington County's Inauguration page.

Now that locations for WABA's bike valet service have been pinned down, biking is looking like a good option, as Paul DeMaio notes in his post.

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Joe Chapline is Web Manager for Arlington County Commuter Services

Living Car-Lite in Crystal City

I recently moved to the Crystal City area of Arlington. My wife and I have lived in Arlington for about 16 months, but have never lived in an area that was close enough for one of us to walk to work. Now that I both live and work in Crystal City, I have the option to walk to my office each day! This is a welcome change from having to pay an average of $10 per day for  parking; not to mention filling my car up each week with premium gasoline. In the event that I'm running late and don't have the time to make my short walk, the Metrobus 9S is just off my door step! Between my wife driving a hybrid (she works in Arlington too!) and choosing to leave my car in the garage -- we feel pretty good about what we're doing to help the environment. Oh yeah, the weekly savings of not driving my car every day are pretty nice too! My wife and I definitely appreciate the benefits of living in Arlington.

Lloyd Bowers, Arlington, VA

Cross-Train While Commuting

I'm training for a marathon, so several days per week I use part of my commute as a cross-training exercise. On those days, instead of driving to the MARC train station, I bicycle to the Germantown station to commute down to Union Station and then take the Metro to work. Also, each day I walk almost a mile to my office from the Metro stop.

Lori Stone, Germantown, MD

Carpool and Walk to School

I now carpool with three other people in the morning on my way to school and walk with friends home from school -- it's nice to know I'm helping the environment and myself and saving my parents' money! Thank you car-free diet!

Katie (age 13)

Run to Work

I thought that the events of the 9/11 Memorial Dedication at the Pentagon would put Crystal City into one of its traffic gridlock days, so I decided to run to and from work -- Arlington Heights to Crystal City!

As it turns out the traffic for the day was not bad; but neither was running up the "hill of death."

I was also pleasantly surprised how little extra time (for clean up, extra time running, etc.) this cost me out of my day. There is a lot to be said for organization and having everything in one gym bag.

Cathy Camp, Arlington, VA

Walk and Shuttle to Work

I have lived in the Courthouse area for a number of years after previously being in Ballston. I started walking plus using a company shuttle from Rosslyn to avoid wear and tear on my car and myself. Now the shuttle is FREE and my car, a 1990 (still getting 35 mpg on highway) has only 60,000 miles!

Diane Kelly, Arlington, VA

Live Near Your Work and Walk

I have been commuting to the office in Rosslyn via my own two feet for many years (10 minutes away). These days, people at my  office are in envy of the short commute...but before people would say "how could you live so close to the office?" I would not have it any other way, it's stress free, with the exception of the drivers who drive way too fast!

Lori, Arlington, VA

Car Free Since 2000

I gave up my car way back in November 2000 -- and I haven't looked back since.

I walk everywhere I go, except for my morning commute to Capitol Hill when I use Metro (not a fan of getting up early!). But I do walk 5.25 miles back home and over the years I've become quite knowledgable about the tourist spots, downtown D.C., Arlington County and all it has to offer. Living car-free has kept me in shape and better tuned to what's really happening in communities and has given me money in my pocket.

Andrew Blasko, Arlington, VA

Gave Up Our Car and Haven't Given Up Anything

For the past two years, my wife and I lived in separate cities. I lived here in Arlington and she lived 200 miles away in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. We made do with only one vehicle even though we had a 400 mile roundtrip excursion to take every weekend. Often, I took Amtrak all the way to Norfolk or I shared a ride with another long distance commuter. Most importantly, both my wife and I made lifestyle choices to live within walking distance of work. We each had a 10-minute walk to work and were steps away from all of the services and goods one needed most days.

Last month, we moved back in together in a brand new apartment building in Crystal City. Without the weekly long-distance commute and in order to avoid $100 per month parking fees, we decided to ditch the car and reward ourselves with the savings! Zipcar helps us to fill in the gaps of our driving needs and we rely heavily on walking, biking, Metro, and taxis for weekend travel needs. The proximity of grocery stores, two Metro stops, and other world-class shopping, makes it feel like we have not given anything up! What a relief!

Robert Mandle, Arlington, VA

Walking in Arlington

It took me a year-and-a-half but after searching for the right place to live, we finally decided on Arlington specifically because we can walk everywhere to do our errands and visitors can too! What a youthful place to live!

Hania Qutub, Arlington,VA