MyWestworld

Auto-Obesity? Rethinking Car Addiction and Community Health

Posted on 29. Nov, 2009 by Bernice Paul in Transportation

I recently stumbled across a clever sustainability tactic called the Auto-Obesity program – through the popular Aviva Community Fund. What a brilliant spin on asking us to rethink our addiction to single-occupancy vehicles, environmental pollution and personal health! Just have a look at this checklist put together by the program’s founders, BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation), to answer this question:

Are you  ”auto-obese”?

□        Do you drive everywhere you go?
□        Do you drive places that take less than five minutes to get to?
□        Do you drive your kids to school every day?
□        Do you own more than one vehicle?
□        Do you drive to get a cup of coffee?

If you answer “Yes”  to any of these questions, then you could be a victim of Auto-Obesity, a disease that can be combatted with the ‘BEST Car Diet’. And like going for a check-up at your doctor’s, it might be time to pay a visit to the Auto-Obesity website.

courtesy BEST

What is BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation)?

BEST, and its ideas on sustainable transportation solutions, might already ring a bell with Metro Vancouverites. This past summer, the organization was busy providing free parking for more than 7,000 bikes at a variety of major community events in and around the city, including farmer’s markets, Car Free Days, the Pride Parade and the PNE. And through a strategic partnership with the Car Co-op, its Auto-Obesity program is now targeting higher-density areas in Metro Vancouver. Focusing on Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster for now, the program is designed for families with two or more vehicles – guiding them through a journey of liberation from their extra vehicles. According to Margaret Mahan, executive director of BEST, almost 50 per cent of households in Metro Vancouver own two or more cars. And that extra vehicle often sits idle, incurring insurance and maintenance costs.

The good news, financially: Thanks to the Auto-Obesity program, handing over that second car can lead to a tax receipt for the blue-book value of your extra vehicles, personal travel planning and “provision of bikes, skateboards, transit passes – or whatever else is needed  – to help make the transition to auto-health,” says Mahan.

Why is it so difficult to give up our single-occupancy vehicles?

One of the biggest barriers (and yes, I agree that there are many) is that our communities were planned and built for cars, not people. And not for environmental health and not for personal health, either. Which means that getting from place to place by foot, bike or transit, especially outside Metro Vancouver, isn’t as simple as we’d like to believe. When options are not readily available, we stick to what we know, which is the car.

I love that the Auto-Obesity program focuses on the unifying concept of health – the health of our bodies, of our streets, and of our planet. And it’s encouraging to know that when we are ready, there are many healthier, more sustainable transportation options here in Metro Vancouver. If you’re ready to slim down and get ‘auto fit’, then BEST is ready for you.

What do you think about the Auto-Obesity program? Will you take any action in terms of getting rid of a second car or changing the way you drive?

Lead image courtesy BEST

Tags: Auto Obese, B.C., BEST, Sustainability, Transportation, Vancouver