3 Reasons I Love Modo (speech from the HUB Cycling Bike Awards)

Modo gave me the opportunity to speak again as one of their Blogger Ambassadors at the annual HUB Bike Awards on February 28. It's always funny to go on stage to talk about driving at a cycling event, but stay with me here--cycling is actually relevant to Modo in my experience. Here's the text of my speech at the event, plus the images from my slides, in case you missed it.

I've got just three minutes, so I made a quick listicle for you. 

Three things I love about Modo:

In January, I decided to total up our transportation costs for last year, including travel. Our biggest category, unsurprisingly, was biking: repairs, then Modo car sharing, a few Ferries, some Poparide ride sharing, plus a little Transit. The total came to: $3520. 

(note: if you read my post on the costs of living as a #carfreefamily a while back, I included the cost of a new bike for Linnaeus in the total of $3820, but I decided to remove that, since we'd likely have bought him a bike even if we mainly used two cars to get around)

For comparison sake, if we'd done the majority of that by car, we'd have needed to own two. Based on the average in BC, that would have cost us about $19,000 last year. !! Since we spend well under $4000 on getting around, that's a savings of over $15,000!

I know a lot of Modo's messaging is about how fun it is, how much money we save, how we have access to all different types of vehicles, & how easy it is to book... This is all true. But part of what I love about Modo is the *inconvenience* of carsharing. Because, let's face it, I am a little lazy. I want to get there in the fastest, easiest way possible. Which, if I had a car sitting out front of my home, would often be driving. Because I *don't* own a car, I have to take a few extra steps to book a car, then walk a couple blocks to go get it. Plus, if you have children, installing the car seats. Compared to this, riding my cargo bike out of the garage is more convenient. So my driving is a lot more intentional. Using Modo & not owning a car makes me less likely to drive & much more likely to bike.

The latest new thing for Modo members is here: Open Return! Open Return is a new booking option that allows you to reserve a car for a full 24 hours, & return it whenever you want within that time. Once you park the car & fob out, you go to the Modo app & end your booking manually, paying for just the time that you used, plus a $3 fee.

As I mentioned, we mainly bike to get around, but when we do drive, now we book with Open Return. It's hard to predict in advance how the day is going to go when we're out & about with the kids. Using Open Return means if they get tired we can come home early & save a bit on our booking. Then the car is available for another member to use. Or we can stay out later & not have to worry about rushing home because someone else has the car booked right after us. No need to worry about getting stuck in traffic. & we can squeeze in one more errand on the way home.

IF you haven't joined Modo yet, use the code HUBAWARDS2019 to save $50 on drive time when you join! For more about open return, check out Modo's website. Members, if you haven't already, try Open Return on your next booking! 

If you'd like to see how we live as a #carfreefamily, you can follow me on instagram, my handle is SPOKESMAMA. Thank you.

Follow Spokesmama here too:

Win 4 Tickets to Bike the Night (CONTEST ENDED)

Do you bike in the dark very often? I really love riding at night. The hum of the city--particularly vehicle engines & construction noise--is reduced to a whisper. It's great with friends too. We can easily have a conversation as we glide through the cool air.

So obviously, I'm really looking forward to Bike the Night. We went to last year's event & had a blast. Have you heard of it? Here's the deets:

Bike the Night, presented by MEC, happens Saturday, September 16th. HUB Cycling is gathering thousands of cyclists for Vancouver’s only official night ride on city streets!

Experience the beauty & energy of nocturnal Vancouver at its best--by bike. Take in the city skyline as we cruise through car-free Vancouver streets & over the iconic Burrard Bridge. Come at 6pm for a bike festival, the ride leaves at 8pm.

Tickets only $10 for HUB Members ($15 for non-members) until September 1st! Youth and children under 16 are free.

Registration Includes:

• Entry to win a grand prize from MEC
• Ride bib/sticker
• Invitation to the pre-party at 6pm including:
• Free giveaways
• Free bike inspection & basic bike maintenance
• Live DJ - Rennie Foster!
• Bike decorating station
• Relay races and games
• On-road support (mechanical & first aid volunteers)

Join us for #Bikethenight presented by @mec -  an epic night time #bikeride through car-free @cityofvancouver streets on Sept 16 - Sign Up bikethenight.ca (link in bio) Experience the beauty and energy of nocturnal #Vancouver at its best - by #bike. Start at #olympicvillage, cruise around #falsecreek  and over the iconic #burrardbridge Kick off party starts at 6pm and ride begins at 8pm.

A post shared by HUB Cycling (@hubcycling) on Aug 15, 2017 at 10:23am PDT

HUB's Tips for an Awesome Ride:

• Decked out bikes: Find great lights at MEC and other local bike shops. There will also be free bike decorating for participants at the start location.
• Costumes: Need creative inspiration? HUB has been brainstorming for you. Find some HERE.
• Music: Bring your favourite playlist along! Portable bluetooth speakers are great.

Now that you have an idea of how fun it's going to be, here's the best part: you could win four tickets to Bike the Night here on Spokesmama! You can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Contest ends on Sunday, August 20, at 11:59pm. The winner will be notified via email, so please make sure you check the email address you registered with Rafflecopter! I'll choose another winner if I don't hear back within 24 hours of sending the email. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Spokesmama here too:

Let's #UnGapTheMap to Make Metro Vancouver Better

Have you ever been riding somewhere, along a lovely separated bike route, then gotten dumped onto a busy highway or narrow footpath? Or had a bike lane just disappear into thin air as you reach a big intersection? Unfortunately, despite the fact that over 40% of Metro Vancouver residents want to cycle more often, they don't because of gaps in cycling infrastructure like this. While the number of people cycling in Metro Vancouver has increased rapidly in recent years, the bike network remains fragmented with tons of gaps across the region preventing people from cycling more often, particularly for transportation, not just recreation.

HUB Cycling--the non profit that I work for teaching cycling education to kids & adults--is working hard to solve this problem. Their UnGapTheMap campaign is focused on identifying, prioritizing & fixing the gaps that--if solved--would increase safety, creating a more connected bike network across Metro Vancouver, getting people to places they need to go.

HUB Cycling’s local committees (click here to learn more & join yours!) have already identified over 300 gaps across Metro Vancouver which are stopping more people cycling. The gaps range from minor ‘spot improvements’, such as adding signage or bike crossings, to building new bike lanes in areas of high ridership like along Powell Street in Vancouver.

In addition to identifying the routes in need of improvement, HUB Cycling is working with municipalities, the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, plus TransLink to highlight the priority gaps & encourage government to implement solutions that will help more people bike, more safely.

One of the solutions that HUB Cycling is championing is cycle highways: continuous paved, lit paths, separated from pedestrians & motor vehicles, suitable for people of all ages & abilities. Cycle highways have proved extremely successful in Europe & could work well on routes such as Vancouver to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal (getting there by bike is a ridiculously epic journey--read my posts on our Galiano bike camping trip for more on that) & HUB Cycling is asking MLAs to support the introduction of them in Metro Vancouver.

People make over 131,000 trips by bike in Metro Vancouver each day but creating safe, connected routes would help many more people to get on their bikes. Just imagine how increasing that could change our cities: less air pollution, fewer cars stuck in traffic, healthier people getting exercise every day, less vehicle noise through our neighbourhoods...

So what can you do to help ungap the map? Adopt one of HUB Cycling’s identified gaps and explain how that gap is stopping you from cycling.

To find out more visit www.bikehub.ca/ungapthemap.

Follow Spokesmama here too: