I appreciate the friends and family who have offered rides and the strangers with their tepid or apologetic waves as I've lived car-free this summer, but I don't need those. Instead, I ask you to contact your local and state government leaders to support your friends and neighbors who travel by walking, rolling, riding bikes or transit. We need safety, visibility, care, and funding.
For context, I was in a severe crash in June where my car was totaled.
The totaled car
I was headed to get a Friday night milkshake at the Cook Out when the driver of a cargo van turned left in front of me and crashed into the driver’s side door of my Corolla. I blame this crash on a flashing yellow turn signal that lulled this driver into thinking it was safe to turn left. The driver wasn’t sure exactly what happened, except that it was his fault, and he was really sorry. I’m grateful to the good vehicle engineering that left me remarkably OK and just some lingering neck soreness these two months later.
Site of the crash
It’s hard to get a car these days and part of me doesn’t want a car again. I struggled with the idea that I could look at this as an opportunity to make a personal change, but it’s been hard to get around Durham without a car. I worry about my safety as a pedestrian and cyclist. Even being on the fence, I started the paperwork and contacted a car dealership and my credit union soon after the crash and it still looks like it’ll be September before they can secure a car for me. I wasn’t too worried since I’m a household of one, don’t travel a lot, mostly work from home, live near a grocery store and on some bus routes.
Plus, I love my bike! A big thank you to the folks at Bullseye Bicycle who listened to my needs and got me set up in 2019. My office in RTP reopened in late June. One of the things I missed about the office was a once or twice a week trip by bike. It’s 40 minutes each way. Much of that is on the American Tobacco Trail (ATT), but also includes a few places that feel uncomfortable with traffic.
Cynthia Bland
So what’s not working? Much of it can be summed up as: Cars. Or more specifically that Durham plans for and prioritizes cars and little else. Drivers go really fast! It’s a me-first attitude. Our city is designed so that cars get to take up space and people walking or cycling seem barely considered.
It’s also summer and it’s hot out. There’s very little shade on our streets. Organizations like Keep Durham Beautiful do great work to increase our street trees by raising money to plant native species, but trees grow slowly. The bus stops near my house are just posts without benches or shelters. Fellow riders and I try to stand in the shadow of the power poles or anything for a respite from the direct sun. My floppy brimmed hat helps, but walking in this heat or even waiting at bus stops without shade is hard.
GoDurham bus stop on Fayetteville Road
As a kid I was confused by the Shel Silverstein book “Where the Sidewalk Ends” because it ended in so many places! My mom had to explain that in cities like New York and DC sidewalks are continuous. They sure aren’t in Durham! I live in a neighborhood with walking trails, but not sidewalks. To get to the bus stops I walk through sections of town where there aren’t sidewalks or they start and stop. Last week I traveled to a conference out of town so I took my rolling suitcase with me as I walked and took three buses to RDU. I rolled it more than I carried it, but just barely. Sometimes the sidewalks need intensive repair and other times they’re blocked by signage or seemingly random spools of heavy wire.
Where the Sidewalk Ends, Durham style
Sidewalks connect people and places. They’re the last little bit that can make a trip feel safe or dangerous. I would have more choices of destinations near my home if we had more continuous sidewalks and if there were safe places for people to cross bridges. I live near Southpoint Mall and the roads over I-40 are not at all designed for people to travel by foot. Sidewalks make a place feel like a community and are vital to the transportation of people with wheelchairs, strollers, or luggage.
I would love to see more prominently marked crosswalks. The zebra-style crossings look more like crosswalks to drivers and maybe that type would keep cars out of the crossing areas at intersections. Mostly, I’d really love the white walk signal to actually mean it’s safe for me to cross the street. I discovered this summer that it doesn’t! The traffic lights are set up to allow drivers to think it’s their turn when it’s also my turn to walk. This is a huge conflict and has led to several close calls since I have to turn and keep looking back for turning left-traffic and ahead for right-turning traffic. That sore neck hasn’t made this any more fun.
It would help for drivers to use turn signals. They're cheap and easy! Please use them all the time, not just when you think another car needs to know where you're headed. They’re super helpful to pedestrians and cyclists. Using turn signals should be a habit and not a decision. A bit of advice to new drivers that seemed obvious was “look where your car is going.” Wow, huh? Well, it’s excellent advice related to turning! I can tell that many drivers are not looking where they are going. If they were, they might notice a person trying to cross the street.
Turning to transit, many of our GoDurham and GoTriangle bus routes only come every 30 minutes or 60 minutes. This lack of frequency means transit users have to meticulously plan our day! There are some decent apps for this, but riders pay a high price for their time when bus schedules don’t align or when you have to arrive somewhere 45 minutes early so you’re not 15 minutes late.
Many transit routes are organized to funnel riders to our downtown station. That worked well in a world where people commuted to a job each day. But there are other reasons to use the bus like shopping, childcare, doctors, entertainment and this model doesn’t work as well. There’s also evidence that this type of model doesn’t serve women as well as men. Women tend to travel in off-peak hours and link more errands or activities together. The move toward telemedicine is helpful in some situations and I wish my doctors would be more adaptable in offering that for situations that are more conversational.
Most GoDurham routes end at the downtown bus station
Back to cars: people tout the freedom and pure fun of driving. That’s totally fine! But while they say they love driving, they don’t demonstrate it. I see so many people who are much more interested in their phones than the road. Please show your love for driving by using care, focus, and attention!
That’s a lot of complaining, but I’m having a great summer! I’ve gained strength by riding my bike more often. I’ve enjoyed summer smells and breezes, increased my time with birds and nature, eaten blackberries along the ATT, stopped for ice cream and donuts, said hello to more people and had fun! This whole post is apparently about how I only travel for my sweet tooth! I’m proof that people on buses, bikes, and sidewalks really do stop into more shops than people driving who are worried about finding parking.
My story isn’t a sad one. I’m OK from my crash. I can afford a new car loan. I haven’t missed out on summer adventures. I’m not worried about me, but I’m worried about our community. We need to prioritize people in Durham. That means all people. We need a city where we can work, shop, attend school, visit parks, and enjoy entertainment without having to use a car or be subject to traffic violence.
I believe that being a true local shouldn't be about the university you went to, team you root for, hot restaurant you're a regular at, or how long your family has lived here. I feel like a real local knows where their closest bus stop is to their residence. What's that route number? How often does it come? Where does it go?
Talk to your city, town, county, and state leaders. Donate and get involved with local advocacy organizations like Bike Durham. Even if you have and use a vehicle, make a plan to use transit! It’s not just for people who have to use it. Start with a bus near you: What are the points of interest you might use? Plan a trip to explore and have fun!