05.04.08 - We now have a 25-passenger!
That’s right folks. By popular demand, we have added a 25-passenger this past month. It rocks and it rolls! Just fresh off an eco-friendly oil change, a new IPOD-enabled PA radio, and charcoal carpeted walls, 100% waste product, of which 90% chicken fat fuels this beast. It is a mean green chicken fat machine as one parent of Arbor School stated.
The summer is filling up fast with services for the mini-bus, so hurry up and book your next event! Some examples of upcoming services include corporate events, weddings, wine tours, and Oregon Tradeswomen field trips.
It is literally a “party on wheels” when you ride with ecoShuttle. Dance parties are encouraged, but sorry, no stripper pole on this bus. We like good clean
(-fueled) fun!
01.10.08 - In response to the Trib’s article…
I just wanted to personally thank Lee Williams and Katie Hartley for riding along with me during Eddie Creech’s party! Not to mention they wrote an excellent article on us: Powered on fry grease, ready to roll.
I’ve had a good reaction from friends and business associates alike who have told me that the article hints that our company is a pioneer for transportation in the NW. I like how Lee mentions the other green transport companies out there. It’s good to have a comparison of competitors, and hybrids still have the same issue with the fluctuating costs of gasoline, and oh yeah, the fact that they are fossil-fuel derived. Sure, the mpgs are greater , but our fry grease is cleaner burning, biodegradable and renewable.
A very significant aspect of our ‘edge’ is continuing to push renewable / sustainable at every opportunity to reach new people as well as the converted. We’re fortunate in that biodiesel is easily accessible and B100 even is readily available here at several stations in the Greater Portland area. Also, the costs are cheaper than that of diesel currently (last time I checked).
We are actively seeking to expand our fleet by the end of this month, so look out for another EcoShuttle on the road. We are looking into larger vehicle models, such as 25-passenger mini-bus, but we are ways away from a Prius upgrade. Before that, we are in the market for the ‘09 Diesel-Hybrid Sprinter. Who knows? The next step may be hydrogen fuel cells. I recognize that the current prototypes are million dollar babies but our business model is the perfect vehicle (sorry!!) to promote the technology.
01.07.08 - Happy New Year from EcoShuttle!
Well, it’s a new year, and EcoShuttle has high hopes for 2008! As we’re still a young and budding company, we look forward to spending a lot of our time, energy and focus on the ECO Program. The first couple days of the new year are in itself proof that we’re not only making progress, but we’re ready to enhance the landscape of commuting within Portland and surrounding areas, and this can be a viable program for most companies.
As the only driver-provided commuter shuttle service in Oregon, we take out the liability associated with employee vanpooling. Our seasoned, customer-service oriented drivers replace the hassle, cost and risks of employee drivers.
What sets us apart? Exceptional customer service, and a we’ll take care of you mindset towards our customers. We are first and foremost transportation consultants looking to make getting to and from work easier, stress-free, safer and pollutant-free.
I can assure you Google inherently knows (and as the New York Times agrees), their free employee shuttle service is a competitive weapon, as the fastest growing company ever is still growing in lieu of employee perks. Oregon and SW Washington companies can follow suit by setting priorities with employees, as companies in the NW can achieve the ‘through the roof’ attributes of Google’s recruiting and retention. With growing, progressive minded, employee-centric companies in areas such as Hillsboro, downtown Portland, and Vancouver, WA, it’s undeniable our ECO Program is worth looking into. What else? Companies that have created green initiatives have proven to gain an edge, and investors are reaping benefits left and right.
Again, happy new year! We hope you allow us to show your company to be more competitive in your respective industry, with increased productivity from employees and making them happier, thus saving a company some serious dough.
11.12.07 - Let’s turn the focus to Trip Reduction
According to Commissioner Sam Adams and Portland’s transportation investment projects over the next 10 years, the cost of fixing and upgrading arterial streets is staggeringly above $243 million. Considering that figure is over 50% of all transportation investments, the taxpayers might wonder why so much?
Mr. Adams best puts this as the ‘pay now or pay more later’ dilemma, and I agree…to some extent.
The goal of the initiative is for safety on these arterial streets, and while this is important as we have had collision victims via automobile, bicyclists and pedestrians or a combination of the three, it definitely should not be undermined. But does it cost that much to coordinate traffic signaling and add some bike lanes? Probably not. The majority of funds will most likely be going towards replacing the bad arterials with new lanes, which is costly and unsustainable. The focus needs to shift towards sustainability, something Portland knows all about…right? Now I’m fairly certain after three bicyclist vs. automobile collisions in the past month, Commissioner Sam’s office has been inundated with calls from victims, families of victims and concerned bicyclists. This political pressure almost forces Mr. Adams to address safety issues, much to the dismay of safe bicyclists and aware vehicle operators.
But if Portland is to thrive economically and socially, the current position is not sustainable and for the potential Mayor Sam Adams, the motives need to be clear. I know Commissioner Sam is a bicyclist himself, and it’s certainly the most sustainable option of commuting to work, but it seems we’re forgetting about the 70% of Portland commuters who still drive alone to work. The 10-year plan has a disparaging figure of $3.2 million or 0.7% projected investment over the next 10 years, it’s clear that minimizing peak-hour congestion is not a priority with the city, which ultimately drives the economy.
Traffic congestion is placing severe constraints on our local economic potential. Companies are unable to attract investment and distribute goods, employees are unable to commute to their jobs in a timely manner and bus services are held up by traffic.
To put this into perspective from 2007-2009, the Washington Department of Transportation (WDOT) will have invested $5.5 million in their own Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Program, and an additional $1.8 million approximately for our neighboring city of Vancouver alone. These funds are used to manage the program, provide local employer support and services, establish accountability, provide technical assistance, generate public awareness, and support policy development.
Not only does EcoShuttle help support and implement trip reduction programs, we face climate change head-on, which is probably the biggest subject faced with society today. EcoShuttle hits the road with a good environmental story to tell. We believe an alternative to Trimet and driving alone is needed most urgently (i.e. more than .7% over 10 years), if the future needs of business, residents and visitors are to be met.
11.09.07 - Tell Congress to say “No” to huge subsidies for the liquid coal industry
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is taking the right step forward by urging you to take action by writing your legislators. The following is an excerpt from their site:
As several energy bills make their way through Congress, the coal industry is pushing for huge subsidies and mandates to transform millions of tons of coal into transportation fuels. The process to make this “liquid coal” is an expensive, inefficient one that produces large amounts of global warming pollution and precludes it from being a sound option to reduce America’s dependence on oil.
Relying on liquid coal as an alternative to oil could nearly double global warming pollution per gallon of transportation fuel. For example, using liquid coal fuel in a Honda Civic would produce the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions as operating a Hummer H3 on conventional gasoline. Moreover, large-scale use of liquid coal would increase coal mining’s devastating effects on communities and ecosystems stretching from Appalachia to the Rocky Mountains, including polluted air and water, ravaged landscapes and a dismal record of worker safety.
Although we can produce cleaner and less expensive alternatives to oil, Congress is nevertheless poised to lavish huge taxpayer subsidies to help get a polluting liquid coal industry off the ground instead of investing that money in options that would put us on a path to a cleaner, more secure energy future.
What to do:
Send a message urging your senators and representative to oppose any legislation that promotes liquid coal fuels.
Click on the link below and fill out the form to write to your senators and congresspersons.
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_060607_b
10.23.07 - Launch Event
I’d like to thank everyone for coming out to our launch event last night! It was a huge success and great job consuming all of the free wine provided by Cooper Mountain Vineyards and Oak Knoll Winery! Thank you to Friends of Trees for attending and we appreciate all the donations. We’ll be contacting you if you were the winner of either the Blazers tickets or the seats on the EcoShuttle for a wine tour. I hope you had as much fun as I did, we’ll see you at the next great event!
09.26.07 - So Many Traffic Problems in the City of Portland OR, but Moratorium Blocks the Solution
The consensus is in. Driving around in Portland is a long and uneventful waste of time. Articles recently published in the Oregonian (see previous blog) report that Portlanders spend at least 38 hours in traffic in one year. That’s 38 hours staring at the tailpipe in front of you as it spews toxins into your air supply. That’s 38 hours a year you spend in a stressful situation. 38 hours that I’d rather have back.
Clearly, the solution lies in an innovative transportation model that eliminates this conundrum. Regrettably there is a moratorium in place barring all new transportation companies from picking up and dropping off in downtown Portland and at PDX. Unless you live within a few miles of your work place the moratorium forces you to use one of two options to get to work, ride public transportation or drive your car. Trimet is certainly a sustainable option, especially since the city uses a Biodiesel blend in their buses. However, it is not always the most convenient option and requires a major lifestyle shift for those people who currently drive to work alone.
The moratorium was put in place in order to prevent more congested and damaged roadways and more polluted air. This theory makes sense until you consider that one Biodiesel van will certainly cause less damage to roadways and to our air supply than nine cars combined.
EcoShuttle is currently in negotiations with the city and the Port of Portland in order to have the moratorium lifted for a limited number of companies providing a sustainable option for commuters and travelers. Decreasing our carbon footprint has got to be a priority for our city, especially if we want to retain the title of “the greenest city in the nation”. Lifting the moratorium will help the cities progress in curbing global warming, creating cleaner air for its citizens’ health, and clearing the roadways.
If you believe that our city would benefit from a few less cars on the road, fresher air, and snow on Mount Hood. If you believe that the city should lift the roadblock it has placed in front new sustainable transportation companies that are working for a shift in the transportation model, our team at EcoShuttle encourages you to write a letter to your representative in city council and sending a letter to the editor of your favorite newspaper. Together we can change the face of transportation in Portland and make life better for all of its citizens.
09.21.07 - To address The Oregonian’s Rush Hour Solution…
There were a couple articles this week on the front page of the Oregonian by Dylan Rivera that showed that you waste a week’s worth of work due to sitting in traffic, 38 hours to be exact. Now that study was in 2005, and if you’re driving in the same traffic I am at peak hours, I can already tell it’s getting worse every time I hit a rush hour in this city. If they did a September 2007 study, I’m sure it’d be well over 40 hours a year.
And judging from the stat that in 1982, rush hour lasted 4.8 hours a day compared to 7.6 hours a day in 2005, commuting during rush hour is getting worse at an accelerated pace.
Let me give you a direct quote from that article from US transportation Secretary Mary Peters, “…the current transportation model is broken, and that bold thinking and leadership are needed.” EcoShuttle offers that environmentally friendly leadership in commuting as a solution to reduce the amount of cars off the road by about 20 cars per shuttle…
This month is the launch of a bigger and brighter picture, an employee shuttle called the Environmental Commuter Options Program. This fringe benefit to employees is for corporations who are trying to clean up their act and image, to offset the pollution they create through single occupancy employee commuting and standard business practices. By offering extra amenities like free WIFI, table trays, power ports, breakfast options, bike racks and even an eco-friendly dry cleaning service, we want to enhance the livelihood of each employee and combat the negative economic effects caused by congestion and pollution.
That was my shameless plug, but I don’t want to see in this city what has happened to L.A. It’s obvious their transportation model is broken, and it needs more than fixing. Hopefully, we can expand more rapidly than currently planned and offer our services from Seattle down the west coast by the end of 2008. Our fleet will only grow as fast as the government officials and corporations wake up and smell the coffee inside one of our luxurious, stress-free rides. You’ll quickly gain that week’s worth of work back and thus enhance our economy and our communities.
09.18.07 - People All Over are Warming Up to Biodiesel as a Heat Source
New York City is making a substantial effort to reduce their level of greenhouse gasses and harmful toxins that pollute the city’s air. Could they be catching up to Oregon as one of the leaders in the green revolution?
According to the Christian Science Monitor, a small cooperative in Manhatten’s lower east side is using a Biodiesel blend to create the building’s heat supply. The city plans to follow suit by heating all the city buildings with a 20% Biodiesel blend (B20) by 2012. There is also a plan (called PlaNYC) in place stating that by 2013 all people using fuel oil for heating (about 1 million households) must use B20, and the Biodiesel must be obtained from a sustainable source, such as waste vegetable oil from fast food joints.
There is a plan to construct a Biodiesel refinery in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, where it will process some of the millions of gallons of waste vegetable oil collected in the city. If the city is successful in implementing its plans in the upcoming years, other cities in the surrounding area may follow suit, warming up to the idea of using Biodiesel blends to heat their buildings.
The question remains however, will they be ready for EcoShuttle?
08.30.07 - Hood to Coast 2007, Team Fluffy Bunnies place 2nd!
As Hood to Coast has “gone green” this year, EcoShuttle thought it’d be quite opportunistic to sponsor a team. Although there is nothing green about thousands of vans constantly starting and stopping and in congestion for what can be for miles at any given exchange, we provided a carbon offset for one team: The Fluffy Bunnies. Congratulations for placing 2nd in this year’s Open Master’s Race, finishing in a time of just over 20 hours!!!
This exceptionally fast and seasoned team placed just behind a Bucknell alumni team. The most amazing part about the race is the fact that the Bunnies 5 women out of the 12 runner relay teams, whereas the Bucknell team had 12 guys; an obvious, yet slight disadvantage considering the race came down to the final leg of the race! Kevin, who just so happens to drive and convert diesel cars into veggie oil rigs, motored his way down the final stretch of leg 35 with a dramatic finish, just edging the Bucknell team. 
Unfortunately, the aforementioned disadvantage led to 2nd place, but that didn’t distort the pride of the team (can anyone say **asterisks**?)! I was proud to be a part of the team camaraderie, as I ran Hood to Coast 2 years ago on the Lactic Acid Droppers and know what a long, fun and sore-causing event it can be. See you next year with the EcoShuttle Bunnies?!