If you are already a bicycle commuter, you have one leg up. And if you live or work in the city of Seattle, this challenge has become even easier to meet since the Seattle Department of Transportation launched the One Less Car Challenge in the fall of 2003.

Thanks to this new program, you needn’t immediately run out and put a big “for sale” sign on your car to get a taste of living with one less car. Instead, during a one-month trial period, you go on a “car diet,” agreeing to not drive your second (or your only) car. To help you accomplish this feat, you’ll not only receive great tips on how to get around by bus, bike and on foot, you’ll also enjoy some valuable perks:

• $10 off $20 Bikestation membership fee, and $5 off any purchase of $40 or more.

• $50 of free Flexcar use for the month(s) you participate (limit: 2 months)

Cascade Bicycle Club is committed to bicycling, not just as a form of recreation, but also as an alternative form of transportation. As a logical extension of that commitment, Cascade recently partnered with the City of Seattle and is now offering participants in the One Less Car challenge these specials:

• $10 off the $25 Cascade Bicycle Club membership fee, and $7 off the $17 associate membership fee.

• $10 off the $25 safe riding class fee.

Does “giving up” a car still sound like a sacrifice? Think again. Participants in the program have found that they spend an average of just $16 a week getting around without their extra car, compared to the average cost of $85 for owning and operating a second car. That’s an average savings of $70 a week, or more than $3600 a year!

The financial savings are not even the biggest reward, as one participant commented: “The most rewarding thing was not having to worry about where to park all the time.”

There are other things you won’t miss on your bike, as one family commented: “When we heard reports of traffic jams, we counted our blessings that we were not caught up in them.”

Another family was equally upbeat: “Not having access to our extra car reaffirmed just how good it feels to walk to the bus or bike to wherever we need to go. We also found that biking together is a great way to spend quality one-on-one time with one another.”

Driving less is not just beneficial to your pocketbook and to your quality of life, it also benefits your community. In a nine-week demonstration study in 2002, 41 participating families saved Seattle from:

• 5,103 unnecessary car trips

• 25,763 miles of neighborhood traffic (enough to drive all the way around the earth!)

• 17,598 pounds of CO2 being emitted into its atmosphere.

• A lot of noise!

Are you up for the challenge? Learn more by visiting the One Less Car website or by calling 206-615-1550.

If after a month, you decide to sell that extra car, the program offers additional incentives to make that sale:

• $50/month of free Flexcar use for one year

• Free one-year Cascade Bicycle Club membership

• Peace of mind knowing that you’re helping Seattle be a cleaner, quieter and more livable city

Well worth going the extra mile! If you decide to participate in this program, email us. We’d love to hear about your experience with relying on one less car