Confessions of a low emissions convert

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED?

I often talk a big game. “Bike lanes are brilliant.” “Buses are so convenient.” “EVs – yeah, they’re our future.”

Yet I’ll admit it, ‘I’m a fraud’.

I haven’t caught a bus to a weekday meeting in years. I’ve never driven an EV, let alone bought one.

Although I ride my bike regularly over the summer, I’m a fair-weather cyclist and over winter I get lazy and drive.

So, when I found myself arguing recently with my old-school ‘petrolhead’ mate Steve that EVs are better, and cleaner, and faster, and quieter, and cheaper, and cooler … he called me out.

“What are ‘you’ driving then,” he asked? “Or did you come here on your e-bike, or by bus?”

I’d driven to meet him in my Nissan (internal combustion engine – ICE). A good car. A great car. But a dirty petrol-engine job nonetheless.

Immediately I was fully exposed as an out-and-out fraud and no excuse seemed plausible.

The excuses I contemplated proffering were all, quite honestly, pathetic.

“I’m too busy to bus.” “I’m different from other people – my schedule changes often and I can’t cope with range anxiety.” “You can’t trust the weather forecast.”

Instead, I went silent.

The challenge

That evening I decided to get off my lazy arse and make an effort – I pledged to not comment again on alternative transport modes until I’d actually used them.

I think we are all irritated by the opinionated loudmouth who always seems to have a negative comment about things he or she has never experienced.

OMG, I was that guy, though in my defence, my comments about things I’ve never experienced are generally positive (rather than negative); deep down there’s a Freudian desire for acceptance on my part. Come the following Saturday morning, the born-again me emerged.

Diary of low-emission alt transport convert

Saturday – return bike ride Mount Maunganui to the Lakes, Tauriko – 21kms each way; Sunday – this one was a biggie for me – apply online for a Bee card (for the uninitiated, that’s a local bus card) and download the Transit app; Monday – Lime scooter to two local meetings, though cautiously terminating each trip well out of sight of colleagues at the final destinations: I’m not stupid, my dismounts never look ‘cool’; Wednesday – Uber to and from business seminar and cocktails across town; Friday – Catch bus from Mount Maunganui to Tauranga. Meet friends. Drink cocktails. Catch bus home; Monday – Attend client presentation in Hewlett’s Road by Lime Scooter. Wearing lightweight shirt scooter home late and freeze; Tuesday – Catch bus to Tauranga and pick up GoTo Car Share Tesla for road test. SOLD; Wednesday – Bus, bike and scooter throughout the day. Thursday – Walk to meeting. Walk home; Friday – Celebrate two weeks car-free.

Highlights

Passing queues of stationary traffic while riding a Lime Scooter one way, and via a bus lane on the way back – priceless.
Checking my Transit app to find out there’s a bus due at my front door in three minutes – yes!
Stepping off the bus in Willow St and taking eighteen steps into one of my favourite tap houses – nice.
Not needing to find a park there – nicer.
Taking a three-minute detour on my bike ride home from a morning meeting to check out the surf – paradise.
Riding from Mount Maunganui to The Lakes, Tauriko and only needing to ride on the road for two short stretches – awesome.

Lessons learned

I live in a beautiful part of the world: a bus ride via Pilot Bay on a sunny morning is a wonderful way to start a business trip.
I feel more alive when I get fresh air and exercise.
It feels good to be doing your part to save the planet.
EV’s really are cool. Really.
Riding a Lime Scooter is good for the soul.
Sunny weather makes biking far more enjoyable.
Don’t bike 40kms in a day unconditioned and expect your rear end not to hurt.

Questions

Why are there not more people on the bus?
Will petrol stations be replaced by charging stations soon? When?
When will Steve admit that EVs are better, and cleaner, and faster, and quieter, and cheaper, and cooler?