Tomorrow is another Spare the Air day, so transit here in the Bay Area, inlcuding BART, will be free.

I haven’t owned a car for a few years now, though I did have a motorcycle up until a bit less than a year ago. At that time I made a conscious choice that my transit needs were going to be met through walking, pubic transit, bicycling and occasionally renting a car, in that order. I wanted to make some changes in my life to benefit my health; making walking my primary mode of transportation has been a big part of that and I feel great for it.

Each morning I jump on a BART train to go to work and each evening I do the same to get home. Perhaps one of these days I’ll change jobs to work within walking distance of my home here in San Francisco. I work on the other side of the bay from SF, which is a less common commute than the other way around. But for now I use the time on the train to read, listen to music or just zone out or nap.

I’ve been a member of one of the car sharing services here for awhile now. These services, which include City Car Share, ZipCar and FlexCar, are membership based and allow folks to use cars by the hour or by the day for a fixed price that includes gas, insurance, parking and maintenance. It’s just pay and go with real time reservations online and an electronic card key to open the car. The rate is about $9.50 an hour. I like that I can just figure an all-inclusive cost for a car — when I need it — instead of all of those “variable costs” of actually owning a vehicle. Living in The City, it’s convenient for those occasional times when I need to pick up something too big to carry home on foot — like to buy a bookcase or something like that.

I really believe that these kinds of solutions allow us to make better choices when it comes to saving energy, reducing polution and saving space. I know this is the most cliche thing ever, but I believe that if everyone did a little it would make a huge difference.

On a slightly more personal level, tonight I did my grocery shopping, got everything put away, did the dishes, vacuumed (yes I have some carpet at home, even though I prefer the hardwood floors!), recycled the latest pile of magazines, looked over some bills and generally just cleaned my apartment. I like to start out my week with things organized and tidy; it makes me feel sort of relaxed and ready to take on the new week.