We’re so excited about this event. We love that it is like "open play". You don’t have to start from any specific point. You don’t need to arrive at a specific time. Just get outside and have some fun. This is the kind of event people can participate in as they choose!

Of course, if you’d like to participate in something more structured, there are some planned activities. Go to Bayfront Park for PrayerDanse at 9:30 am or Yoga at 1pm. Rally with Mayor Manny Diaz at 11am on the corner of Biscayne & Flagler. After the rally, get a free tour from the Historical Museum, or free passes to Miami Art Museum.

And oh, did we mention the Valet Bike Parking at both Bayfront Park and Mary Brickell Village? Plus, bring your bike on public transit and ride free on Sunday.

After you’ve exhausted yourself by biking, rolling, and walking around downtown, participating in yoga, and shopping at the shops, swing by the Bike Miami After Party at Dolores, But You Can Call Me Lolita in Mary Brickell Village from 2 – 5pm. It’s being organized by our friends from Transit Miami.

For even MORE details, check out the Bike Miami Blog.

Since most cars that can use ethanol are GM FlexFuel vehicles, the first 75 customers in a GM FlexFuel will receive a $20 U-Gas card. Plus, they are offering a free yellow cap for your gas tank to remind you that it is flex-fuel capable.

This is the first E85 pump to be installed in South Florida. I feel like we are finally starting to catch up around here! General Motors tells us that there are 11,317 FlexFuel vehicles owned in South Florida…so let us know how it goes!

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Well, it looks like the American car makers are going to get their clock cleaned again. 

An AP story in the Herald by Dee-Ann Durbin reveals:

Although a slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for 2007, a 35 percent increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 was set.

The Toyota Prius continues to be the bestselling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold.

Remember the anti-Japanese 1980’s when US automakers would have symbolic “bashings” of some little Datsun or Toyota?  You’d better dust off your safety glasses because I think the windshields are gonna get bashed again and our domestic auto manufacturers have nobody to blame but themselves.

Chrysler (the company that cheats fuel economy requirements by calling the PT Cruiser a “truck”) has turned into such a lemon for it’s former parent company Daimler-Benz that it dumped it at a loss to a private equity firm.

GM will officially lose it’s crown as the #1 car maker to Toyota this year which (surprise) pins it’s new found status as the world’s largest car company to their investment in fuel efficient and hybrid-drive cars.

From Yurika Geyama, AP Business Writer, posted on Herald.com 8/3/07:

Booming sales of fuel-efficient cars helped lift Toyota to its biggest quarterly profit and put the maker of the Prius hybrid on pace to beat General Motors as the world’s No. 1 automaker this year.

…Surging gas prices have proved a big plus for Toyota as drivers flock to its fuel-efficient models, including the Camry, the best-selling model in the U.S., and the Prius gas-electric hybrid.

Ford, which was on track to start turning out hybrids, has backed off, but at least offers one hybrid model – in an SUV of course.

GM is betting on the Back to the Future “Volt” which is half-Harry Potter fantasy car at this point since the engineers at GM admit they have no idea where the “Volt” will get the “juice” to “go.”  I bet they wish they hadn’t smashed up all those EV1s now.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think hybrids are the solution to all our global warming and "peak oil" woes.  I’m not sure any car technology will do that really.  But as gasoline settles uncomfortably around $3 a gallon with all expectations that it will inexorably rise as world demand grows, US car companies, still deluded to this reality, will try to stick a hybrid drive in a Hummer and call it the Eco.

Like Yogi Berra said “it’s déjà vu all over again.”

For a list of the most fuel efficient cars on the road, visit fueleconomy.gov

Now, this is the first time anyone had offered to lend me a car so that I could tool around in it and see how I liked it. I thought it sounded like a great idea. Sign me up. In the end, however, I wasn’t entirely pleased that I had made that decision.

What I didn’t know is that I wouldn’t be receiving a Vue that was already sitting at a Miami Saturn dealer near me. It was delivered to my door directly from Atlanta. That’s 663 miles. I was given the car for a total of one week, in which I tried to drive as much as possible, for testing purposes. I drove a total of 90 miles.

So, assuming that the car made a 1300 mile trip from Atlanta just so that I could put 90 miles on the thing: probably not the most eco-friendly option around.

During the time that I had the car in my possession, I actually had lunch with Chris Paine & Chelsea Sexton – the producer & "main character", respectively, of Who Killed the Electric Car? Ironically focusing on GM and how it destroyed its entire line of EV1′s. I mentioned to them that I was disappointed with the fact that though deemed a hybrid, the Vue didn’t have features that I assumed it would.

For instance, when you are in a Prius or a Lexus hybrid, you start the car without the combustion engine – it’s simply electric (and completely silent). That means that until you start going a certain speed, you are using literally no gas. On the Vue, however, the situation is different. You start the car with the combustion engine and most of the hybrid features aren’t available until 2 minutes after the car has been running.

The Vue’s engine would shut off at stop lights, which is a great way to reduce idling. However, I felt as though I needed to really push down on that brake pedal to get that to happen. I guess in my car, I typically barely tap on the brake, just enough to stop me from moving. In this case, as soon as the foot comes off the brake, the regular engine starts (pretty seamlessly)…even if I wasn’t ready to go yet.

We decided that the Vue is a semi-hybrid – it’s not incorporating all of the hybrid technologies that are available. Now, the Vue isn’t a bad car, it’s just not what I was expecting. It’s a very affordable car (around $25,000), which partially means that I shouldn’t expect to receive the same features from a car that costs twice as much. It gets pretty good mileage for being an SUV (they quote 32 mpg on highway); so if you’re convinced you need an SUV, maybe this is a good option for you. I’ll stick with my ’99 Corolla for now, which still has the Vue beat on mpg.

Many people love the Vue. I know some of them. For the price, people love what it provides. Read what Kicking Tires had to say:

Saturn has really done it right with the Green Line. Sure, the Vue is an aging platform, but Saturn revised it recently, and the new version’s ride and handling is vastly improved. The hybrid works seamlessly with only two noticeable additions to the gauge cluster — a charge/assist meter and an “Eco” indicator light to tell you when the hybrid system is paying off.

Steve Balogh of Groovy Green tended to think more along my lines, though he suggested that the "eco" light be available on all GM cars:

The "eco" light kept my lead foot in check, and while I try not to start-up quickly and rev the engine, this feature really helped remind me to make a smooth steady start.

I agree, a little eco light that turned on when you were driving more efficiently is a nice little reminder to all of us.

So, the Vue isn’t for me. It might be for you. I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. One thing that was made clear to me, however, is that we can’t just assume that the word "hybrid" stamped on the car means anything in particular. We must research each and every car and understand the benefits that each provides. Not all hybrids are created equal.   

The plan for Express 95, or managed lanes, from 595 to 395, is expected to allow commuters an option. Want to go faster? Pay up. So the VIP can buy their way out of traffic. What about carpoolers? Will they be losing their lane? Some will, others won’t.

Express buses will ride free on these managed lanes, as will pre-registered vanpools and carpools with 3+ riders. That means if you currently carpool with just one other person, you’re going to need to find another. It also means that if you don’t usually carpool but on a particular day you have 3+ people in your car – you don’t ride free (because we assume you wouldn’t be pre-registered).

I see great benefit in this to be able to provide decent mass transit options across county lines that hopefully won’t take the rider 2+ hours to make the trip. I’ve also had an issue in the past with the current carpool lanes. They only running on specific hours, while traffic continues well beyond those time periods. Additionally, because there is no barrier between the regular lanes and the carpool lanes, many single riders weave in and out, causing the lane to go much slower than it should.

Read more about the project on the official website: 95 Express. Also check out the video that goes along with it to understand exactly how this baby will work.

My analysis so far: It just might be a good idea.

Take the Challenge on Thursday (and register online) and you could not only experience a new and relaxing commute, but also win a vacation! Y Ride Alone when you can share? Plus, did we mention that you can ride the Tri-Rail free on Thursday? You’ll need your voucher to do so, however. (Once again, they’ve made the voucher a full page. I say, fit 4 to a page and encourage people to share with their friends. Word of mouth!)

On Tuesday, two Mercy Hospital employees raced to work – one on a combo of public transit options, and the other in her car. They started at SW 152nd St & US 1, and arrived at Mercy Hospital where Mayra Muntaner boarded a bus that later brought her to the Dadeland South Metrorail Station. Mayra exited the train at Vizcaya Station where she took a shuttle bus to the hospital. She won by 19 minutes over Janis Ivory in her car.

If you’re still not sure about riding public transit, or giving carpooling or vanpooling a try, check out Commuter Reality – real stories from real commuters. Sebrenia writes on Friday: "THE RIDE WAS GOOD TODAY. I am glad with the rise in gas prices that I have the opportunity to use another mode."

Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) has begun running buses on the shoulders of two expressways to bypass traffic jams and get commuters to work faster.

Miami-Dade Transit buses serving the popular Kendall Area Transit (KAT) routes are utilizing the shoulder lanes of the Snapper Creek and Don Shula expressways to increase on-time performance and reliability.

Approximately 30 minibuses serving the Killian, Kendall and Sunset KAT routes – which link West Kendall to the Metrorail system – enter the shoulder whenever speeds on the regular lanes drop below 25 mph. This is a typical occurrence during morning and evening rush hours on several roads in South Florida. Buses can travel up to 35 mph on the shoulder and must re-enter the main travel lanes whenever there is a breakdown or emergency vehicle in the shoulder.

Total daily boardings on the three KAT routes average almost 4,000. If the current trend continues, that could grow to 4,300 or more by 2010.

The new program is the result of a partnership between the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).

I love the concept – give priority to mass transit, as it should be. I’m a little concerned with the growth numbers. I hope that transit is working on improving the service so much that the number of riders shoots through the roof. Check out the complete online newsletter or visit Miami Dade Transit online.

See more posts on my trip here and here. More to come, stay tuned to Ecorazzi for further details. 

These two young entrepreneurs are working to make Miami a better, greener place. I’d like to personally say that I’m so glad they have taken on this venture and I really hope the community supports their business, and the cause.

A wholesale distributor, you could swing by their warehouse and pick up or pump up a minimum of 50 gallons of this veggie oil based fuel. Or, if you are purchasing over 100 gallons, they’ll bring it to you!

So go on, try biodiesel in your trucks, machinery, car or boat. If it accepts diesel, it will work! Contact Sol Atlantic at (305) 698-3679 or via email.

If you’d like to learn more about biodiesel, check out our three-part series from July or check out our recent coverage of Earthrace, the biodiesel boat. Sol Atlantic donated over 500 gallons of fuel to get Earthrace on its way down south. The boat is in Panama with some propeller trouble. Follow their journey on Earthrace.net.

See it now, it’s hoping to make history. On March 6 it will take off on a race around the world from Barbados.

You can go check it out through Sunday at Sea Isle Marina & Yachting Center (map). Good news – this section of the boat show is free!

Photo taken in Tampa, FL. Courtesy Jim Burkett.
Map courtesy of Pete Bethune.