With the advent of the summer travel season coming up we should be thinking about how to reduce our carbon travel footprint.  The Union of Concerned Scientists has just published a report on the subject that you can download at their website http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/solutions/cleaner_cars_pickups_and_suvs/greentravel/getting-there-greener.html. 

Wren Schultz is a local guru of public transit options for travelling the I-5 corridor between Whatcom and King Counties.  He’s put his knowledge to work in the new North Sound Transit Guide and Trip Planner now available online at http://www.northsoundtransitguide.com/home.php.  The site provides routes and connections for travelling the North Sound region between Blaine and Seattle and destinations in between.  To help others navigate the often confusing and frustrating world of bus routes, train connections, and schedules, Wren in his spare time created a website for fellow riders and to make commuting easier for new riders interested in using public transit.  Try out the trip planner, which gives you multiple choices of routes and providers based on entering a starting point and end point for your trip.  Wren is a long-time public transit user and frequently commutes from Skagit County to the Seattle area – maybe you’ll meet him on the bus on your next trip.  He hopes to improve the site including tips and answers to frequently asked questions sharing the expertise he’s gained through the years.  

Give it a try, share the website with your friends, and consider supporting the site as a sponsor (see link on the homepage).  You might also be interested in these related sites:

Whatcom Council of Governments Kiosk Project:  http://resources.wcog.org/projects/kioskmap.pdf

WA DOT Transportation Choices website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Choices/bus.htm

Washington Transportation Links (APTA): http://www.apta.com/links/state_local/WA.cfm