Chattanooga Pulse

It’s amazing how much of our time we spend sitting in cars. Some of those minutes or hours can be precious moments of our lives: traveling to loved ones, hanging our carefree hands out of an open window. However, a high percentage of those minutes tend to cause stress for people—and the environment.
Most of the pollution we put into the air comes from driving. We sit in cars to get to and from work, pick up groceries, get money, visit friends, and during all of those day-to-day commutes, we are burning gasoline and releasing exhaust into the air as we putter around town and curse the traffic.

The main obstacle the general public faces when trying to become less dependant on personal vehicles is the lack of education. People want to be independent, and so, depend on their cars to take them where they want to go, when they want to go. They are wary of riding a bike among cars and other traffic.

However, more and more people are discovering the beauty of the bicycle. This brilliant invention, dating back to the 1860s, is the primary means of transportation in many regions of the world. Bicycles outnumber cars by two-to-one. There is nothing like the freedom of riding a bike, using your own person-power to propel yourself through the breeze and to your destination, with no impact on the earth, only your tread marks in the mud. I often see drivers get frustrated when bikers slow down traffic on curvy roads, and I, too, am guilty of this frustration. But I try to curb myself and think how I should really give these bikers a wave and a nod as if to say, “You’re doing the right thing.”

With its natural beauty and mountainous surroundings, Chattanooga has long been a mecca for mountain and road bikers alike. The region is not only conducive to bike riding but also concerned about healthy lifestyles for its citizens and their environment. Since the early 2000s, many organizations have formed providing resources for people who want to make a change in their routines.

Activate Chattanooga is a partnership that consists of a long list of local members, including the Health Department, Regional Planning Agency, National Park Service, and City of Chattanooga Traffic Engineering. All of these partners work to fulfill different needs under the same set of goals: educating citizens about exercise, advocating policies and urban designs that promote active lifestyles, promoting alternative transportation, and using community assets to demolish obstacles to active living.

We are very fortunate to have the Riverwalk, which provides 12 miles of paved trails accessible to feet and two-wheelers alike. This path allows car-free citizens to get from North Chattanooga all the way to the Chickamauga Dam. The walk also includes a trip across the longest pedestrian bridge in the world, so whenever your gaze drifts down at the Tennessee River from the Walnut Street Bridge, remember that you are having an internationally unique experience.

Chattanooga stands out among Southern cities because of its resources for alternative transportation. For example, the Chattanooga Urban Area Bicycle Task Force (BTF) is a group made up of citizens, business representatives, and government agents who regulate planning that pertains to bicycling. The main goal of the BTS is to facilitate the safe use of bicycles for citizens of all ages and skill levels. The best way to encourage and ensure the use of safe bike paths would be to create connections from neighborhoods to other community centers such as schools, churches, and recreational areas. The group serves as an advisory to the Transportation Planning Organization, and the chair of the BTF serves as a voting member.

Another example of local initiative towards healthier, less harmful lifestyles is the Bike2Work group that meets on the first Friday of each month from 7-8:30 a.m. to share over bagels the blessings of riding bikes to work. This group provides a focus on the benefits of their choice: saving money on gas, maintaining personal health, improving air quality, and creating a social scene in which to discuss new ways to share their experiences with the community.

So next time you are sitting in your car, feeling the tension of the mid-day or late-afternoon traffic mounting in your shoulders, think of how you might be riding a bike and propelling yourself through the open breeze to your destination.

Victoria Hurst is a proud resident of the Appalachian Mountains. She has recently graduated from Warren Wilson College with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing.