Non-Work and Recreational Travelers

How Travelwise can Benefit Your Everyday Life

A common misperception is that people traveling to and from work are the exclusive cause of our rush hour traffic. While work trips are a large component of peak-hour traffic (typically 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 4:00-6:00 p.m.), most traffic in the afternoon peak and over half of the traffic in the morning peak is not related to travel to and from work.

Benefits

By using TravelWise strategies in your daily routine, you can save time that you would normally spend stuck in traffic and money on gas and car maintenance. At the same time, you will be helping the environment and making the roadway systems in Utah function more efficiently.

Getting Started

Integrating TravelWise into your daily routine isn't hard, but it may require some getting used to at first. You don't need to get rid of your car or take extreme measures, but you might want to consider the following tips to help you get going:

  • Think through your daily routine and determine where you can make improvements and utilize TravelWise strategies
  • Enlist the help and support of family and friends--you can help each other when you're all working towards the same goal
  • Think about how you get there--can you use an alternative mode of transportation? Do you need to take the trip at all?

You'll find more strategy-specific tips in the Strategies section below.

Strategies

Public Transit: Let someone else do the driving

You may already know the benefits of taking public transit: improved air quality, reduced traffic congestion and more time spent reading, surfing the Internet or relaxing rather than fighting traffic jams and other roadway hazards. Research shows that the benefits of using transit hit even closer to home -- your pocketbook. The American Public Transportation Association's monthly Transit Savings Report from September 2008 shows that a person can achieve an average annual savings of nearly $10,000 by taking transit. The figure comes from average national figures including gas prices, transit passes and parking costs.
    Tips
  • Use UTA's ride matching software to get paired up with people in your area who want to carpool
  • Plan your trip using the UTA Trip Planner

e-Travel: Save time by shopping online

Driving all over town to run errands doesn't just waste time and gas, it adds to traffic congestion and contributes to the bad air quality we experience in Utah. When you e-Travel, you use technology to help you reduce the number of trips you take. For example, shopping on the Internet, renting movies online or calling friends can all save you the hassle of driving from place to place.
    Tips
  • Think through your errands to see if what you need is available online; can it be downloaded?
  • Consider if you need an item now, or if you can wait for it to be shipped

Carpooling: Save gas and enjoy the company

Think of all of the time and money you could save by forming a carpool with friends and neighbors. Whether you're headed to a one-time special event or a regularly scheduled appointment like a gym class, or even if you're running the kids to school, practice, a game or somewhere else, carpooling is an easy way to reduce the amount of driving you do. Not only that, but it's an easy way to save time, reduce the number of cars on the road and ease parking lot congestion.
    Tips
  • Get matched up with people in your area who also want to carpool at www.utarideshare.com
  • Talk to friends and neighbors or people who often go to the same places you do to see if any of them are interested in carpooling
  • Talk to other parents at your child's school, soccer practice, etc. about the possibility of forming a carpool

Active Transportation: Get where you're going while getting some exercise

We've all done it -- gotten in the car to drive to the store around the corner or the house down the street. If you bike or walk to that same destination, you are not only saving gas and improving air quality, but you're getting exercise at the same time. Additionally, you can save money by biking or walking to run errands close to home.

For a comparison on true cost savings, consider that you can drive your car to the grocery store and spend 35 cents for a bar of soap, adding 7 cents for the gas, or you can ride your bike to the corner convenience store and pay 41 cents, actually saving a penny and getting some exercise at the same time. Letting your kids bike or walk to school can also save you the time of driving them while allowing them to get exercise, which studies have shown improves their ability to learn.

Trip Planning: Save trips by planning ahead

Most traffic on major roadways during drive times is not related to work travel. Changing the time you travel, or even making slight adjustments in the way you travel can make a huge difference in the time you spend on the road. By avoiding major routes during peak commuting hours and by planning your trips ahead of time to trip chain, or in other words, to group errands into one trip rather than going home in between each one, you can ease traffic congestion and reduce the time you sit stuck in traffic.
    Tips
  • Determine if there is a time other than rush hour that you can run your errands
  • Plan your trips or errands ahead of time and group as many together into one trip as you can