20 - Friday, Apri 17, 1992 ~ North Shore News ~ ENVIRONMENT Facts show vanpool to be a wise environmental choice A FEW weeks ago, “EcoInfo’’ looked at the proliferation of autos on the road and the resulting environmental pandemo- nium. A West Vancouver-based non-profit company, the Jack Bell Foundation, is helping to provide a solution. [t’s sponsoring a Lower Mainland vanpool service that will see groups of eight to 15 commuters leave their cars at home in favor of a shared ride to work. The foundation has compiled some pretty persuasive statistics to back their cause. Have a look: “*Nearly one million automobiles -in the Lower Mainland produced 1.5 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in 1990 alone. The number of Lower Mainland vehicles insured for travel to work increased by 40% between 1984 and 1991. The average distance travelled to work has more than doubled since 1969, as people continue to move further from employment centres in seach of affordable housing. “Despite continuing gains in pollution contro! and efficiency improvements, overai! emissions of vehicle pollutants are projected to increase by almost 40% by 2010 because we are driving under more and more congested condi- tions. “By the year 2000, the GVRD projects. there will be 35% more commuters and the average com- muter will face a !6% reduction in speed. Carbon dioxide emis- sions, which contribute most to the Greenhouse Effect, double when the average speed drops from 50 to 15 km per hour.”” The Jack Bell Foundation is providing funding for. the downpayment on over a dozen vans for the new vanpool group. Passengers pay a fare based on the van costs, the number of peo- ple in the pool, and the distance to their workplace. . According to the foundation, a group of 12 commuters daily travelling up to 70 km round-trip, Peggy Trendell-Whittaker ECO INFO would pay $70 each — most likely much less than they would have to cough up for their gas, parking and insurance if they were driving solo. Drivers must pass the founda- tion’s insurance requirements and get a Class 4 driver’s license for 12-to 15-passenger vans, but they aren’t required to pay a monthly fare. This vanpool is modelled after the Seattle Metro Vanpool pro- gram, and is endorsed by Van- couver’s ‘‘Go Green’’ steering committee, including BC Transit, the Ministry of Engergy, Mines and Petroicum Resources, the GVRD and Environment Canada. For information on starting a vanpool, call 925-9596. A North Shore resident has also been the driving force —- excuse the pun — behind getting carpool- ing under way in large organiza- tions. Deep Cove’s Dave Harms designed and produced a com- puter program, co-owned with partner Jennie Keeran, that mat- ches potential carpoolers in large companies where notes on the ‘bulletin board or queries around the coffee room just wouldn’t do the trick. “EasyRider’’ pairs or groups people according to their postal code, and can, if requested, spit out the names of all the people in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Enjoy Raster Sunday Buffet Brunch 11:99 ta 5:00 Dinner 5:%9 to 9:0 bine 445-13th Street West Vancouver your area who smoke or don’t, or who are male or female. There’s also a section in the program where participants can list their various proclivities, such as a fondness for classical radio music, or an unwillingness to talk philos- ophy befare i0 a.m. The program requires no staff person, just an IBM-compatible computer. It’s been in use at Simon Fraser University for eight months and has produced 81 car- pools of 324 people. EasyRider has been purchased by t... Halifax provincial govern- ment and BC Transit, and is in the running for a commendation as the carpooling software in North America (currently, it’s unique in Canada). For more information about EasyRider, Call 929-3835, local 1. It has become obvious that those of us in industrial secieties will have to develop new ways of looking at and interacting with the planet if we are to survive the next couple of hundred years. While it may never have occur- red to most of our forebears -~ or to many current-day folk — to learn from indigenous cultures, we’re now realizing what a valuable and essential resource we’ve been overlooking for too long. A new PBS series to start Mon- day, May 11 documents how dif- ferent tribal cultures in the world deal with universal topics such as love, marriage, sex, death, faith, money, power and the future of the planet. Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World are 10 hour- long programs that will take us from the Mohawk standoff at Oka to the Wodaabe tribe of Niger. Along the way we hear individ- uals’ personal stories that will resonate in all of us regardless of how dissimilar our lifestyles. VITAMINS & BODY CARE PRODUCTS SUPPLEMENTS & SPECIAITY FGCBS AT LOW, COMPETITIVE PRICES SEYMOUR NATURAL FOCDS Parkgate Villa OPEN 7 DAYS. 9 ge Mall 924.371 fonnerly Pelican Bay AT THE GRANVILLE ISLAND HOTEL EVERY THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY Featuring Internationally acclaimed singer KENNY COLMAN & The George Urson Quartet — 8:30pm-2am Dance to the sounds of European-style Disco, Salsa, Swing, Mambo, Cha-Cha, Soft Rock & Jazz New Mood — New Music GRANVILLE ISLAND HOTEL Open &pm to 2am {valet parking) 683-7373 Denny Clark Quartet Every Thursday 58pm Jam Session SUPER VIDEO e Super Nintendo © Genesis -© NEO GEO © Turb Grafx ° Game Gear “We're not just Piay Games”’ 1254 Lynn Valley Rd. $80-8738 Our organization is pleased to be making a presentation to the B.C. Housing Management Commission to bring an Affordable Housing Project to your community. iF YOU NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING CALL NOW 857-2008 CALL COLLECT 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. 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