Live where you work. Work where you live.

That’s the best prospect for people concerned about the environmental impact of their commute. It’s also a necessity in our increasingly urbanized world, so we better figure out how to make our cities more livable and sustainable.

Until we create those walkable, affordable neighborhoods in Miami-Dade, we will spend countless hours alone in our cars, growing angrier and unhealthier each day.
We are addicted to traffic. Admitting it is the first step.

The congestion is so bad that in 2002 the people of Miami-Dade voted in a half-penny tax and the People’s Transportation Plan, which are supposed to get us out of this mess in 25 years at a price tag of $17 billion.

But what about the state of public transportation today?

I bought a one-month metro pass in September to see how much I could use mass transit. Silly me. I had no idea what I was up against. I should have read the transit chronicles Confessions of an Ex-Busrider in this paper by Priscilla Arias.

My experiment was hindered by one small caveat: I own a car. Anyone in Miami who owns a car will not ride the bus more than twice. This equation is immutable. But I did come up with a brilliant compromise while waiting for the bus on day two. Watching the cars whiz by, you notice that most of them are occupied by only one person. And one person does not need four wheels.

Instead of cars, we should all be driving scooters! We could become the scooter capital of the Americas. After all, Ft. Lauderdale proclaims itself as the “Venice of America,” so why can’t Miami become Vespa’s “Home Away from Rome”?

Scooters use much less gas, take up much less space and require much less raw materials to build than SUVs. And they are cool – even Hollywood Stars Living in London (Gwyneth) ride them. You help the environment and you look fashionable doing it. Win-win.

Avoid scooters that sound like lawnmowers (using a two-stroke engine) in favor of beefier four-stroke models, which actually have cleaner emissions. Better yet, search for a hybrid or electric model. Or go completely Flintstones with a foot-powered manual.

If I were implementing the People’s Transportation Plan, I would set aside rebates for residents who purchase scooters. Then I might be able to afford a trendy hybrid model.
But for most people, the bus remains the most affordable and comprehensive mass transit option. People unable to purchase scooters must ride the bus, and they deserve to be comforted during the hours they spend each day waiting for one to arrive. Tell your municipality to give them shelters, now! Don’t make these good people suffer tomorrow when they are helping to relieve traffic congestion and air pollution today.

Bus shelters can’t happen fast enough.

In the good news column, Miami-Dade has plans to purchase hybrid buses using cleaner technologies. Great move. The basic problem with buses, however, is that they are stuck in traffic instead of getting you out of it. Mass transportation works best when it takes you over, under or around street traffic.

The current push for streetcars in the City of Miami needs this reality-check. They will be glued to tracks built into the asphalt. Enough said.

Now, onto the trains. We actually have them in Miami, and one is completely free! You really should try the Metromover, if only for the views of downtown. It has a Disney-esque feeling, like the monorail around the Magic Kingdom. Is that why they call it The Magic City?

As for the MetroRail, it only has one line, and that line has nothing to do with our part of town. Imagine New York City if the subway only went to the Bronx. But with some expansion, the MetroRail could become a real park-and-ride option.

For us, the best bet is the proposed conversion of the FEC Railway into a commuter line (see www.sfeccstudy.com). The next public meeting about this proposal is November 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Gwen Margolis Center in North Miami.

Until that golden train comes shining through, most of us will still need a car. But you do not have to drive it alone.

An immediate solution is Vanpooling, a service offered by South Florida Commuter Services (see www.1800234ride.com). They match riders and provide a van for a group of commuters, who each pay around $80 per month to ride. Currently only 73 such vehicles operate in Miami-Dade, according to Guy Milord of SF Commuter Services. But that number equates to over 400 cars out of traffic.

Getting cars off the road leads to cleaner air as well as saner traffic.

Good intentions, however, do not equal cleaner air. You may want to ride your bike to work, but you don’t. Do you have any idea how much pollution you create by driving everywhere?
There is a personal price to carbon dioxide emissions, and online calculators such as the one at Americanforests.org will give you an exact number. It also tells you how many trees you need to buy to pay your penance. Know your environmental footprint and take steps of remediation now.

You could also volunteer for TREEmendous Miami, which plants trees for the elderly and needy. Call 305-378-1863 for details. Trees are huggable; cars are not.

Whenever you can, take a walk, ride a bike or skateboard to your next destination. When you get there, you will have done something better for the air we breathe, and you will feel better, too.

Maybe we didn’t build I-95, but we can take part in imagining and creating its alternatives.

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