I was joking about the CarFreeBrad.com feature in Worcester Magazine last night and then I started to think about it for real.

The question that I kept coming up against was “Why me?”.  I appreciate the publicity and love the whole thing, but I’m not the first to live CarFree and I’m not really breaking any new ground with this lifestyle.  I understand that college and grad school students all over the world live CarFree and millions of urban people don’t have cars.  Maybe the fact that I had a car and chose to get rid of it sets CarFreeBrad apart from the rest but I doubt it.

This begs the question, what about all those people who don’t have a choice.  I ride the streets of Worcester everyday with so many people who never chose to ride a bike over driving, it’s the only option.  I can only imagine what one of these people would say or think as they pick up Worcester Magazine and see that piece.  I imagine they are asking the question “why him?” and it’s a good question.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel bad about this mission or getting some recognition for it.  In many ways, I want my example to make it easier for others like me to transition to living CarFree and the only way I can do that is if people know about it.

I suppose I feel like I should find a way to recognize all those warriors on the streets that never had the choice and live CarFree out of necessity because it’s cheap and more reliable than the Worcester bus system as primary means of transport.  At this point, I don’t have any ideas on a good way to do that but I’m open to suggestions.

I do know one way that everyone can help me to recognize those people.  Push for better bike accommodations in Worcester.  If we can establish bike lanes, signals, racks and most importantly general awareness the bike commute improves for everyone including everyone who isn’t out on the road because they want to be but because they have to be.