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Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

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The Distance Factor<br />

The greater the distances people travel in their cars to get to work and other destinations,<br />

the more vulnerable those residents are to a decline in cheap oil. A car driving at an<br />

average speed <strong>of</strong> 20 miles per hour travels about 3.3 miles in 10 minutes. At a pace <strong>of</strong> three<br />

miles per hour, it would take a person on foot over an hour to cover the same distance. It<br />

would take a non‐athlete biker rider about 22 minutes. The following graph shows average<br />

work commute times for <strong>Bloomington</strong> residents in 2000.<br />

Percentage <strong>of</strong> Workers<br />

60.00%<br />

50.00%<br />

40.00%<br />

30.00%<br />

20.00%<br />

10.00%<br />

0.00%<br />

Less than<br />

10 minutes<br />

<strong>Bloomington</strong> Commute Time ­­ 2000 Census<br />

<strong>Report</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Bloomington</strong> <strong>Peak</strong> <strong>Oil</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong><br />

10‐19 20‐29 30‐44 45‐59 60 or more<br />

Commute Time<br />

In 2000, about 32 percent <strong>of</strong> all commutes by <strong>Bloomington</strong> residents took less than ten<br />

minutes, and about 50 percent took 10‐19 minutes. Using the average speeds for walking<br />

and biking above, a driver who drives within the city and needs less than 10 minutes to get<br />

to work might be able to substitute walking or biking, although walking would require a<br />

considerable adjustment in time management. A nine minute car ride could be replaced by<br />

a roughly 45 minute walk or a bike ride <strong>of</strong> 20 minutes or less.<br />

To put this into perspective, new urbanist planners assume ¼ mile to be a comfortable<br />

walking distance to grocery stores and other necessities <strong>of</strong> life. This translates into a five‐<br />

minute walk. If a commuter currently enjoys a five‐mile 16‐minute commute by car,<br />

walking the same distance would take over an hour and a half, while biking would take<br />

120

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