Dear :
This week we have a chance to breath and prepare for our goal setting hearings.
Best Russell Sydney
310-450-7419
In this Sustainable Transportation Club Newsletter:
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Community based action
Changing the City of Santa Monica through the
General Plan Goals Preparing for September
Critical Mass Bicycle Ride change in motion
Possibility of events around the Emissions Free global trek.
Outreach and Education
ALT CAR EXPO A detailed response about being non car
friendly
Manufacturer and distributor reminder
ALT CAR EXPO is a marketing opportunity
Action needed NOW.
Getting your Sustainable Ride
Zap EV on the road really small attention getter
40 mph and up to 40 mile range
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You can find the subject you want by looking for the separator bars
with the row of XXXXXs in this document.
Please send any relevant information for inclusion in this
newsletter.
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Changing the City of Santa Monica through the
General Plan Goals Preparing for September
This is a chance to help move Santa Monica toward being a bike
and EV haven. As Santa Monica (and other places like Pasadena)
shows how it is done then we can get the rest of So. Cal. to follow.
The Circulation Element of the General plan is coming up for a
review of its goals. These Goals will be used to direct the cities
development over the next twenty years or so.
Sustainable Transportation will come about based on having clear
goals set in the right direction.
You have the opportunity to give input to these goals and to have
your voice and your concerns heard in this area. This is a time to
set the goals that will define the objectives and tasks for the next
twenty years.
An example of such a goal might be:
To give electric vehicle users a place to plug in their vehicles at
every Condo, apartment and place of employment in the city.
Another example would be:
To provide everything possible to maximize the safety for students
riding their bicycles to the parks, to the schools and to the collages
in our area.
It is my personal goal to get a full set of such goals in every area of
sustainable transportation for our city and to have as many people
and organizations as possible to back these goals up with their
support.
The hearing on these goals is currently set for September 25th for
the City Council Meeting.
Council Member Kevin McKeown tells us we have the time to
prepare our goals and present them to the city staff prior to the
meeting. We can also prepare a letter for the City Council
Members that lays out our goals. This letter would be endorsed
by a strong list of supporting groups involved.
In order to make this work we will need to have the goals and the
letter finished by the end of August. We can then make the
presentation and get the endorsements by the week before the
scheduled meeting that means mid September.
We need to get going on this now. We are scheduling a meeting
soon and need to know who is interested in this. Please email to
goals@rsydney.com or call 310-450-7419.
This is what we will need:
People to help set the goals for every part of the sustainable
transport spectrum.
People to help get related groups to support and endorse these
goals.
People to present our point of view to the city staff and at the
city council meeting.
People to help promote awareness of this process and of our
goals around this event.
Please let us know how you can contribute to this effort.
This is for people who are concerned about:
Electric vehicles
Bicycles and other human powered transport
Alternative fuel vehicles
Solar use in transportation
Lightweight electric vehicles
Creating local energy from renewable sources
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Community based action
Critical Mass Bicycle Ride change in motion
WHEN: First Friday of the Month
TIME: 6:30 pm
WHERE: Santa Monica Pier
Website: For more info got to http://santamonicacriticalmass.org/
The critical mass bike ride and party this month was awesome.
Around 200 cyclists rode from the gathering time till about 9:30
when they arrived at the party location. They arrived with sound
systems rocking on the back of two bike trailers and with a
rickshaw thrown in for good measure.
The party was packed with lots of good people food and drink.
There was even a movie screen with great bicycle videos directing
peoples attention to the need to organize (made possible by
participation from the Sustainable Transport Club).
This is grassroots organizing at its best. The people had fun and
the community is building into a solid group. That kind of group
has great potential to bring about real and lasting change. Great
work by all involved including Zach, David, Ryan and the others
who helped fit all the pieces together.
This is not hard-core riding - it is fun ride time together. The
people tell me it is easy enough for all levels of rider.
The ride is the first Friday of the month and starts at the Santa
Monica pier around 6:30. Parties are as scheduled.
This Friday there is a Midnight Critical mass that leaves from the
Santa Monica Pier. It is said to be even bigger with a report of
1500 bikes! I think different people organize it. I am waiting for
more details.
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Community based action
Possibility of events around the Emissions Free global trek.
One of our people has had the idea of doing something to raise
awareness by highlighting this global traveler. Anyone want to
sign on? Here is the suggestion:
Wonder if anyone at the STC has heard/read about Tim Harvey
and his emissions free voyage around the world: http://bitchinspin.blogspot.com/
He is become something of an international celebrity.....
Currently heading back North in Sept, and would pass through LA
if there were reason to, thought it might be a great opportunity to
organize something, an awareness raising event of sorts.
Thought I'd run this by you all, I'd love to organize something
with/for him. Would make sense to tie into a larger awareness
raising deal for local sustainable transport.
Best,
Anna
Anna Cummins, Founder
Send your replies to Anna@rsydney.com
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Outreach and Education
ALT CAR EXPO A detailed response about being non car
friendly
In the last newsletter we introduced the idea of working with the
upcoming Alt Car Expo. We also raised concerns about the focus
on the car versus other alternatives. One of the participants in
planning the event sent the following response on the subject.
Dear STC:
I look forward to working with you and your members on the
"AltCar Expo,
The Alternative Car and Transportation Expo". This event is a
showcase of alternatives to typical transportation. The other car
shows usually show a couple of concept cars that can't be bought
and then pitch the status quo for purchase. We want to provide an
educational opportunity for consumers and have products and
services that can be used now to get them out of their gas guzzlers.
One of the reasons the name "AltCar" was chosen is because we
want people to know this is an alternative to other car shows. The
show is geared toward the users of cars. People that are using
sustainable transportation are already part of the solution. We
want to show others that they can make a difference, probably
easier than they think.
The alternatives to cars include:
- alternative fuels (including EVs, CNG, H2, propane, biodiesel and ethanol),
- hybrids and high MPG gasoline cars,
- bikes, scooters,
- trip reduction, vehicle maintenance, telecommuting,
- transportation planning and mass transit.
In fact, the star of the show is going to be mass transit. Even if we
had the perfect fuel and it was free, we would still have grid-lock.
One item on our wish list is to get a Red Line light rail car on
display and provide information on short and long-term solutions.
We welcome everyone's input and will need help from many
people to make this the premier alternative TRANSPORTATION
event that we want. The focus is to reduce the use of petroleum,
clean the air, increase sustainability and relieve congestion. To
that end, we want to show that there are many paths away from
petroleum and we should explore all of our options. We need to
stand united against oil and not fight each other on which
alternative is "best". It will require every alternative we know of
to displace oil.
This should be an incredible event and I appreciate all your help.
Sincerely,
Rick Sikes
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Manufacturer and distributor reminder.
ALT CAR EXPO is a marketing opportunity
If you have not tuned into this expo now would be the time.
They are making some of the big decisions about it in the next
month. Manufacturers and Distributors would benefit from getting
in touch now.
WHEN: Dec. 9 and 10th 2006
Scheduled to coincide with the LA Car show
WHERE: Santa Monica Pier
WHAT: an Expo featuring alternative vehicles of all kinds
This should attract a large crowd and get a lot of media exposure.
WHO: The sponsors include the people behind the ALT BUILD
EXP and the various people in the City who work on sustainability.
WHO FOR: This is for manufacturers and distributors of any
vehicle running on alternative energy sources. That means
everything from transportation bicycles to EVs to electric scooters etc.
Contact Christine Dzilvelis 310-390-2930 platia@earthlink.net
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Getting your Sustainable Ride
Zap EV on the road really small attention getter
40 mph and up to 40 mile range
The ZAP Company has been able to get their Xebra (pronounced
zebra) on the road for California. The car is small, someplace
between the BMW Isetta (a one cylinder bubble car) and the Fiat
850. Having owned both of these I can tell you that smaller than a
851. Fiat 850 is pretty tight.
That said, they are faster than NEVs and would get you and the
EV cause a lot of attention around town. Perhaps we should talk
about the kind of attention we want to get for EVs.
They offer a pick up truck version that would make a good local
delivery vehicle. I am thinking pizza and croissants delivery here.
The next best option from ZAP is their Obvio vehicles. This
Brazilian made vehicle is a high mph flex fuel vehicle that runs on
E100 ethanol as well as gas. These are a better size and style for
local roads. This should be on the road by 2007.
There are plans for an all-electric version of this model that might
make it to market in the US by 2008.
Here are some links for more info:
DETROIT NEWS - Import dealer fills void with tiny electric cars
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/AUTO03/607260307
FT. COLLINS COLORADAN - Doctor's ZAP car small, but it
gets him there
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/BUSINESS/607270311
ZAP! Video - New Online Video Available! . . .
-----> ZAP XEBRA - http://www.zapworld.com/cars/xebra.asp
-----> OBVIO ! 828 - http://www.zapworld.com/cars/obvio.asp
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Time for some planning activity setting sustainable goals and other news.