No Thanks for No Sidewalks!

You know what people who drive can take for granted 100% of the time? Having a system of roads connected all the way from starting point to destination. I can start from my driveway in Olympia and go all the…Continue Reading

Graphic of Intercity Transit System Map. Routes are color-coded to distinguish one line with 15-minute service from other lines that have 30-minute or 60-minute service.

Thank Heavens for Kind Strangers and Transit

Ride #1 of 2024: Sunny, happy, delightful. Ride #2 of 2024: The reason I’m glad Olympia has transit. A few days after ride #1 I set off in the sunshine for a trip to a meeting with Lee Lambert, executive…Continue Reading

Photo of a path through flat, empty land with hills and pinkish clouds in the distance ahead. Text on the photo: “If you are in a bad mood go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.” – Hippocrates

Walking Poems

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” –Steven Wright Walking comes up so often in poems it’s nearly a cliché. Poems inspired by taking a walk. Poems about things noticed on a walk. Odes to walking, the original…Continue Reading

Photo of folding bike with bags on back rack parked in front of giant metal sculptures of a banjo. In the background, stairs and escalator in front of glass walls and a high cement ceiling.

Setting My Own Pace

Bicycling offers a unique combination of attributes in the array of transportation modes: The ability to choose your pace while getting places efficiently. This came to mind as I pedaled slowly home from an appointment that I had pedaled toward…Continue Reading

Photo of a man and two children with darker skin walking down a dirt road lined with trees on either side. All 3 are wearing dark shorts and light-colored shirts and the sun is shining. At the bottom, text with a quotation from Ram Dass: We are all just walking each other home.

Why I Walk

This post first ran on my personal blog, BikeWalkBake Barb, where I’ve been chronicling my walking habits. Since I’ve been writing about multimodal transportation here, I thought I’d add the post to these archives as well. Walking, like riding my…Continue Reading

Photo of prize ribbons made of chocolate, wth a big 1st prize ribbon in the middle and smaller circles marked 2nd and 3rd on either side.

You know the word as a suffix after some prefix telling you how many events are included (if you remember your ancient Greek prefixes, that is) or something else about the competition: biathlon, duathlon, triathlon, pentathlon, heptathlon, decathlon, aquathlon. Whence…Continue Reading

In foreground, sitting on a wooden table-top in soft lighting, white coffee cup with drawing of a turquoise upright bicycle and the words "Life is a beautiful ride". Background soft focus of kitchen with appliances.

Sharing some (and by no means all) of the articles that have caught my eye over the past few weeks since the March 4 Transportation Reading Round-up. The quoted snippet from the article gives you a takeaway even if you…Continue Reading

In my work at Washington State Department of Transportation, where I’m Director of the Active Transportation Division, I put out an e-newsletter 2-3 times a month. If you subscribe (everyone welcome!) you’ll get two types of emails: A news round-up…Continue Reading

Side view of white cargo bike made by Urban Arrow with black front cargo box.

I’ve been developing this theory for a while now. The longer I ponder it the more I think it makes sense. Stay with me while I work through this line of reasoning: We’d dramatically improve transportation safety if we all moved…Continue Reading