Unsure how to use public transportation? Bellingham has free classes
While electric vehicles are friendly to the environment, they’re not so friendly to your bank account. With EV price tags where they are, many people looking to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions are stuck driving fossil fuel-powered vehicles. However, there are alternatives for commuting around Bellingham.
Nearly every street in Bellingham has a bike lane, and the Whatcom Transportation Authority wants people to take full advantage of this resource. Maureen McCarthy, director of community and government relations with the agency, said it has partnered with Smart Trips, which can help people plan out their bike, walking and bus routes.
Smart Trips offers free one-on-one or group training in “Confident City Cycling” classes for people looking to make the change from cars to bikes. It can be hard to try new things, especially when that new thing involves riding a bike through trails and on roads, hoping you are going the right way.
“There are a handful of things that are really useful to know when you are riding bikes for transportation, and once you know them it is pretty straightforward and easy,” McCarthy said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald. “But until you get a chance to know them it can be really intimidating.”
Bikes are a relatively cheap, healthy and clean way to commute and Bellingham offers a wide variety of trails, parks and bike lanes to make the trip as easy as possible. Bikes are also allowed on city buses, assuming there is room on the bike rack. Every bus has room for three bikes on a rack at the front, and these are first-come, first-serve. McCarthy said Smart Trips has worked with 110 people so far this year, teaching them confident city cycling skills.
In a similar vein to Smart Trips, the Whatcom Transportation Authority offers a program called Travel Trainer. Whereas Smart Trips uses a variety of transportation methods, Travel Trainer focuses on bus routes. Travel Trainer offers group training or one-on-one lessons, designed to teach people how to ride the bus. People can also download the WTA BusTracker app for their smartphones, which gives live updates on bus schedules.
The city has 31 fixed bus routes with 48-58 active buses at any given time. This much activity can be overwhelming to new riders who are just trying to find the quickest way to work, and then back home, which is where this program is helpful.
“The whole point of both programs is to be able to practice the trip that you want to learn how to ride,” McCarthy said.
While riding the bus is not as carbon clean as riding a bike, it is still better than driving, especially if driving alone. According to McCarthy, 14,561 people board the bus on average every weekday, that number drops to 8,890 on Saturdays and 5,688 on Sundays. Ridership fell during the pandemic, down from 2019, when an average weekday saw 21,386 boarders. More people working from home may also have had an impact on ridership.
Whatcom Transportation Authority has a total of 61 buses in the fleet, eight hybrid and two electric. McCarthy said the agency
is committed to reaching zero emissions total by 2040, but transitioning to electric buses can be difficult as the average electric bus costs, on average, more than double the price of a diesel one.
“One main way we can boost our environmental impact is by increasing filling those open seats with people who would have otherwise driven alone,” McCarthy said in an email.
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