SURVEY RESULTS SHOW HUGE INCREASE
by Debbie Hubsmith
What saved 30,000 vehicle miles last year, provided free transportation to members, and gave an opportunity for people to meet their neighbors? If you answered GO GERONIMO - you_re right!

In December of 1998 and June of 1999 GO GERONIMO Steering Wheel Committee members called 30% of the GO GERONIMO membership (which includes a total of 400 people) to learn more about who_s using our ridesharing services, how often, and what we can do to help more with the Valley_s transportation needs.

We learned that GO GERONIMO is growing! The number of rides given through the Ride Registry (the ID card program) jumped 330% in only 6 months, and the number of vehicle miles saved increased by 150%. Thirty seven percent of all youth registered with the program have used their cards to get rides, while 65% of all registered drivers have picked up registered members who were waiting at roadside stops.

While we originally anticipated that students would be our largest users, the surveys showed that adults (many of whom own cars) were the biggest riders of the GO GERONIMO Reg. According to 90% of the students, however, GO GERONIMO has gotten people in the Valley "thinking and talking more about alternative transportation." Students also reported an increase in bicycle use and a desire to carpool more often on their own (neither of which were calculated in GO GERONIMO_s 30,000 miles saved).

The biggest suggestion by far was for GO GERONIMO to coordinate some sort of Shuttle Bus. This has been in our plans since our inception in the Fall of 1996 (yes, we are now three years old). We are happy to report that GO GERONIMO is currently working with the Marin County Transit District and West Marin Senior Services to plan a pilot program called The Stagecoach which will likely provide several shuttle bus trips through the Valley and West Marin each and every day.

So, what does 30,000 "vehicle miles saved" mean to our environment? Together we spared: 22,300 pounds of carbon dioxide, 87.3 pounds of hydrocarbons, 83.5 pounds of nitrogen oxides, and 27 pounds of particular matter. Phew. Take a deep breath. With ongoing support and participation for GO GERONIMO, we_ll all be able to breathe much easier, while also providing real choices for moving through the Valley by sharing the road and sharing the ride.

And by the way, for each gallon of gasoline that you don_t burn in your car, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide are spared from the air. Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect, which is undoubtedly linked to the fact that 10 of the last 15 years have been the warmest ever recorded in the history of the United States.

HEALTHY COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE
by Dave Cort
When the Healthy Start Committee conducted a community wide survey during its planning year in 1995, transportation was the top need expressed by the community. What evolved out of that need was GO GERONIMO. The GO GERONIMO program became one of six integral teams which provides coordinated/collaborative services to the children and families of the Lagunitas School District and to the San Geronimo Valley community. The other teams are Health Services, Mental Health Services, Youth and Teen, Community Collaboration, and Family Support Services.

Healthy Start was supported by a state grant from July 1, 1995 until June 30, 1999. I am happy to report that our program is alive and healthy and we have successfully made the transition from a program that had a large state grant to one that doesn_t have it any more. We have a new name, San Geronimo Valley Healthy Community Collaborative, and most important to you readers of the GO GERONIMO Wheel, the Collaborative and GO GERONIMO will continue to work together and mutually support one another.

The GO GERONIMO Steering Wheel Committee has done a knock out job in developing and running GO GERONIMO. I had the privilege of attending their all day retreat in July and am very excited about GO GERONIMO_s future planning. I look forward to the continued collaborative partnership of the Healthy Community Collaborative and GO GERONIMO.

A CONVERSATION AND INTERVIEW WITH GO GERONIMO FOUNDERS PETER OPPENHEIMER, DEBBIE HUBSMITH, AND JASPER THELIN
by Anny Owen
GG: What made you get involved with Healthy Start?
JT: I_ve lived here my whole life and thought, as an alumnus, I was a good representative of kids. Well, it is now called The Healthy Community Collaborative and that shows how it is committed to the long range vision and that is what I see as being so important with GO GERONIMO. Once we have been around for five years and more the usage and recognition will be very high. This is a collaborative that is preparing to be here to stay.
PO: I_ve been involved in community development for the entire 20 years I_ve lived in the Valley, and education is my field. When I heard about Healthy Start, it was a coming together of both interests.
GG: How did you veer toward the transportation end?
DH: I had a dire need for transportation. I had totaled my car about six months prior to Healthy Start and I was struggling to figure out how I could live in this community and also get over the hill. It was really difficult and I was thinking about moving out of the Valley so I could live without a car and also feel that I had freedom. Jasper and Peter were having a meeting in September of _96 and I stopped by to get a letter of support for the Cultural Center. I sat down, we started sharing ideas, and next thing you know the meeting turned into a four hour "action plan" for what we were to accomplish over the next three years.
JT: I helped the school kids write the "needs assessment survey," which they wrote with their own words. We administered, tallied and compiled it. The number one need was transportation (which the adult survey also concurred with).
GG: What were some of the initial ideas?
PO: The Ride Registry was the central idea. The goal was to provide safe and convenient transportation for the kids without them having to either hitchhike or depend on their parents, through a flexible, registered ridesharing program using photo I.D.cards.
GG: Did the Ride Registry idea formulate instantly or did you each ad parts to reach the whole great concept?
DH: After I totaled my car, I was still working in San Francisco, taking the once a day bus out of the Valley at 7 AM. I would watch the same people pass me everyday in their single-occupancy vehicles (while I waited). It just made sense that since we live in a small community, neighbors could give me and others rides, and strangers would become friends. The three of us got together and I brought up this idea. Peter had the same vision fifteen years ago. We decided that now was the time to do it.
PO: The idea needed a lot of fine tuning and to do that we took the input of the California Highway Patrol, community focus groups, the Marin County Sheriff_s Department, the County Department of Public Works, Golden Gate Transit, Supervisor Kinsey, a double-page questionnaire in Stone Soup, and a trial model program that had been looked at twenty years before in Marin called Commuter Connection.
DH: Our committee had (and has) an incredible amount of enthusiasm because there is such a strong need for transportation, and the Ride Registry was an easy and inexpensive solution. After the idea crystalized, we brought it further, asked for feedback, and the pieces of the puzzle just fell into place. The Commuter Connection and having precedent for such a roadside program really helped substantiate that this could and would work.
GG: What have been the biggest stumbling blocks?
DH: One of the challenges we_ve had is that people don_t realize that GO GERONIMO is not just the Ride Registry. It_s a whole new view of thinking about sustainability and how every component of transportation needs to work together to provide a comprehensive system that is good for the environment and is truly sustainable.
PO: To me one of the biggest blocks was the whole idea of police background checks. A lot of people in our community are wary of law enforcement intrusions to privacy. But when people looked at it from the point of view of parents and the safety of children, that became less of a stumbling block. Currently, the biggest stumbling block is the mental/emotional block that makes it difficult for people, both kids and adults, to get out there and give it a try as a rider. The feedback from people who have tried it has been extremely positive. It_s convenient, reliable, fun, and even enriching.
GG: Do you think people want to share their cars?
JT: I think there are a lot of people who are more than happy to offer rides to people and those tend to be the people who are aware of community. The more people drive together instead of alone the less pollution we create.
PO: The fact that over four hundred people have signed up in our Valley, the large majority of which are people offering to give rides, shows that there_s an awful lot of people willing to share their cars. I_m pleasantly surprised by how many drivers signed up.
GG: It_s the year 2005, what does GO GERONIMO look like?
JT: Now we_re talkin_! That is the exact question we all need to be asking . . . When the percentage of the Valley who is registered goes from its current 10+ percent up to ninety percent everyone will be catching rides and bicycling locally all the time. We will not even have to use nearly as many cars as we do now . . . . Teen-run Bike Repair/Loaner/Training Center which would employ expert local young people as repair workers and instructors for the younger kids_ bike classes in the school district and as mentors for new GG members.
GG: Give me a worst-case Y2K scenario and how the GO GERONIMO plan would figure in?
DH: Human-powered transportation is the only Y2K compliant form of transportation, unless you have a solar-powered vehicle . . . so when you_re talking Y2K we_re talkin_ feet and bikes. You know what they say, "the revolution will not be motorized."
JT: YOU CAN STILL GET REGISTERED IN TIME!!!

GO GERONIMO is an innovative grassroots approach to a community solving its own transportation needs using the generosity, trust, and goodwill of community members as its primary resource. Our four programs:
·"The Reg": Flexible registered ridesharing service with ID cards.
·"The Skedge": Ridesharing schedule and bulletin board allowing people to find rides offered and rides needed.
·Bicycle Advocacy: Providing local educational programs and supporting countywide efforts.
·Shuttle Bus: Working with the county of Marin to bring "The Stagecoach" to you.

NEWSLETTER CREDITS
Editors: Jasper Thelin and Debbie Hubsmith
Contributors and Steering Wheel Commitee: Peter Oppenheimer (chair), Anny Owen, Brent Harris, Victoria Holman, Jasper Thelin, and Debbie Hubsmith
Layout: Laurence Brauer, Wordsworth
Printing: County of Marin
Logo: Buck Parle
Cartoons: Jasper Thelin
Funding: Marin County_s Congestion Management Agency through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and in-kind community donations.
Affiliations: Lagunitas School District, SGV Healthy Community Collaborative, and the San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center

Become a spoke of The Wheel by writing Dear Joe Garonimo with your adventures, questions and insights to: P.O. Box 304, San Geronimo, CA 94963 or e-mail him from our website: www.gogeronimo.org.

Dear Joe,
The other day my car wouldn_t work so I resorted to using the GO GERONIMO Ride Registry for the first time. My appointment in San Anselmo ended at 12:30, and I had to be in Fairfax at 3:30. If I_d had my car I probably would have gone all the way home to the Valley, or not known what to do. But being on foot, I ended up remembering things to do and people to visit, and my "down time" ended up being full of getting things done, seeing old friends and meeting new people. I want to highly recommend that people use the Reg to get around over the Hill because your quality of life is improved! By the way, I never waited longer than three minutes for any of my five rides!
- A Giddy Gojoer

Dear GG,
Finally, some more people are getting hip to the amazing fun of travelling without the burden of a car. Think about it folks! The supposed "freedom" that cars are suppose to give you come with major shackles: traffic, road rage, literally driving a deadly weapon and the expenses - oh, the expenses: gas, oil, fluids, maintenance, insurance, roadside assistance, parking, tolls, registration. I challenge all you drivers out there to take five minutes right now to do the math and add up a year_s worth of the expenses listed above. Then figure out what else you could do with that total sum of money.
- Joe Garonimo

Dear Joe,
What_s up with the lack of bike paths on Sir Francis Drake?
- Bike Mom

Dear Bike Mom,
Sir Francis Drake was widened five years ago with grants that were compiled over a three year time period. The shoulder is now four feet wide in most places through the Valley, making it a Class 2 bike lane. (Class 1 paths are separated bicycle facilities, and there are ways to provide for that, but we would need to acquire right-of-way on people_s property, or decide to decrease the width of traffic lanes and install a one foot grassy median separating the cars from pedestrians and bikes. Come to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Workshop at the Cultural Center on December 9 to express your views.
- Joe Garonimo

GO GERONIMO EVENTS
The Stage - Planning for a possible shuttle bus: Wednesday, November 10, 7 PM, San Geronimo Presbyterian Church
Opportunity to Register: Friday, November 12, 5-8 PM Holly Fair, San Geronimo Presbyterian Church
Bike Ride: Saturday, November 13, 10 AM Holly Fair, San Geronimo Presbyterian Church
Movie Night: Sunday, November 14, 7 PM Lagunitas School, Teen Center (everyone welcome)
Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Workshop: Thursday, December 9, 7 PM San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center
* San Geronimo Valley residents can also register for the Reg any time! Simply pick up forms at the Cultural Center. Please call 488-8888 for details.

AN INTERVIEW WITH JAI FLICKER
by Anny Owen
GG: How often do you use GG?
JF: Well I used it to get over here tonight. I got here in twenty-two minutes and that_s the time it took to get my backpack, walk down from the Good Earth to Food Villa, and then catch a ride.
GG: What has stopped you from getting a car now that you_re back in town?
JF: The biggest thing is that I see cars as being part of a negative cycle and that owning a car would be convenient at the time but excessive because there are so many cars already.
GG: Excessive?
JF: In the local community, there_s enough cars to get everyone where they need to go. I feel more independent using GG than relying on a friend to make an extra trip just to pick me up.
GG: Are you thinking about getting a car?
JF: I often think about it, mainly for the reason that it provides extra independence in situations where GG doesn_t apply such as moving large quantities of material goods.
GG: For your work?
JF: Like hauling my guitar and amp, or laundry. I_m about to buy a wood stove.
GG: What are you choosing to do about this now?
JF: In these cases I rely on friends who do own cars to help me out.
GG: How do your friends feel about that?
JF: They_ve been more than happy to be a part of my life in such a generous way.
GG: Is this a sustainable way, in terms of your relationships?
JF: Yes I think it_s important to respect each relationship and not put them out by asking for too much. Each relationship is different so if I ask a friend once to help me pick up, say, a wood stove and they say yes, I think it_s a positive thing for the relationship.
GG: Do you think there_s going to be more people like you in terms of GG?
JF: I think so. My hope is that more people will start to see that living in a community as a larger extended family is ultimately more satisfying than living as an isolated nuclear family alone.
GG: What do you think would help people start to really see this idea?
JF: Seeing other people get around without owning a car plants the seed. The fact that it really makes more sense will nuture it to grow. I think another influence is the consciousness of these times which includes people_s desire to live more sustainably, moreenvironmentally consciously, and more communally.
GG: But how to get me, "Sally Valley" out of my comfy automobile?
JF: It_s a matter of having a willingness to change one_s lifestyle and some people are more ready than others.
GG: So you feel, transportationally speaking, that good times are coming?
JF: Yes definitely.
GG: When you blow the dandelion what will you be wishing for GO GERONIMO?
HO: (Hobie Owen age 11 chiming in)"That it has as much money as the military!"
PO: (Peter Oppenheimer, following the founders_ interview.) It has something to do with all the neighbors that are currently strangers becoming friends.
GG: Anything else?
JF: Eighty percent of the people giving me rides tell me that they would never have picked me up without the sign.

HELP WANTED WE_RE HIRING
GO GERONIMO is seeking applications for our Membership Coordinator position. The position includes: fundraising, event planning, program development, and volunteer coordination. The Membership Coordinator also assists with the newsletter The Wheel, maintains the database, attends "Steering Wheel Committee" meetings, and has an opportunity to plan new programs. The position starts at $12/hour for 10 hours per week. There is room for growth. To apply, please sent your resume, a cover letter, and three references to: GO GERONIMO, P.O. Box 304, San Geronimo, CA 94963. Applications may also be faxed to 488-1245. If you have questions or would like more information, please call 488-8888. The deadline for applications is Friday, October 29.

JOIN THE STEERING WHEEL COMMITTEE
Our Steering Wheel Committee, universally regarded as the most fun and effective committee any of us has ever served on, is inviting more members to join us. We want representation from students, Middle School parents, commuters, and other community members. We meet about once every three weeks.

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BIKE RIDE SATURDAY AT THE HOLLY FAIR AT 10 AM
The last Know Your Neighborhood Bike Ride of the year will take place on Saturday, November 13 beginning at 10 AM. The ride will leave from the San Geronimo Valley Presbyterian Church, site of the annual Holly Fair.
The ride will be led by Lagunitas resident and GO GERONIMO Steering Wheel Committee member Brent Harris. He gears the ride to whoever shows up. We_re hoping that this Holly Fair ride will include a lot of kids.
We_ll explore the Valley_s quiet roads and celebrate the good fresh air. We ride ten-speeds and one-speeds, mountain bikes and kids_ bikes. We_re young, old, and everything in between. Don_t be intimidated if you have a twenty-one speed bike but a one-speed body. We tailor the ride to the riders.

TRANSPORTATION MOVIE NIGHT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Bike or carpool down to the Teen Center (behind the Lagunitas Middle School) on Sunday, November 14 for an evening of alternative transportation movies. The show starts at 7 PM.

We_ll feature the GO GERONIMO Movie (15 minute video documentary edited by Al Baylacq); The Fat of the Land (a one hour film about "the lard car" and four women who converted a diesel van to run on used vegetable oil and took their rig across the U.S.A, filming along the way); and The Secret is Out (a 45 minute video produced by Jason Meggs which chronicles the truth about the planned crack-down on Critical Mass by the San Francisco Police Department on July 25, 1997).
In keeping with the GO GERONIMO theme - the evening is FREE. Pajamas and pillows are optional.

SHAPE THE VALLEY_S BIKEWAYS
Do you want your child to be able to walk or bike to school? Do you find a particular intersection or road to be especially dangerous? Do you have suggestions for bicycle and pedestrian safety and education programs? Do you want to open the existing tunnel going through White_s Hill to bicycle and pedestrian traffic? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then please mark your calendar for:

Thursday, December 9, at 7 PM at the San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center.
The County of Marin and its consulting team (Alta Transportation) will be preparing a recommended bikeway and pedestrian system as well as goals and programs that will help guide the development of bike lanes, pedestrian facilities, education and safety programs, and other improvements for the next 20 years. A key goal of the Plan is to identify the highest priority projects through public input. For more information, check out the Marin County Bicycle Coalition_s web site at www.bikadelic.com/mcbc. This site includes links to the County of Marin and Alta Transportation.

SHARE THE ROAD
by Brent Harris
On a sunny Saturday morning in early September of this year, Cecy Krone was riding her bicycle with some friends on Nicasio Valley Road. She was leading the group over the hill above Roy_s Redwoods when she was struck by a drunken motorist. The S.U.V. crushed Cecy and her bike against the rock wall that rises above the roadway. The sirens wailed. The C.H.P. came. The Paramedics came. The helicopter came. In the end none of that was enough. She died hours later in the hospital of her extensive injuries. One of her friends described the broken bits of her purple helmet as "flower petals scattered across the pavement."

We, her cycling compatriots, mourned our loss and memorialized Cecy with flowers, mementos, a monument and our anguished writings at the site of her death. We rode, five hundred strong, from San Anselmo to the accident site where we, along with many of our San Geronimo Valley neighbors, joined her family in a memorial service at Roy_s Redwoods. We have bathed our handlebars in the salt water of our tears. We have consoled her closest friends and family in whatever little awkward ways we can. We shall not forget. We shall remember this strong, passionate woman every time that we ride over "Cecy_s Hill."

There is more that we must do however. We must work to make cycling safer in this country.

Cecy_s death is not an isolaed incident. Earlier this year a woman cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver near Petaluma. When cyclists meet to exchange the news of the cycling world too often the conversation turns to yet another bicycle-car encounter in which the cyclist lost her/his life. There are more losers in these tragedies than just the cyclists, our families and friends. In Cecy_s case there is the driver who must live with what she has done, and her family and friends who face the prospect of a loved one in jail for manslaughter. There is no denying the driver_s responsibility for her actions on that morning and the consequences of those actions but that responsibility does not lessen her suffering or that of her family and friends. Everyone loses.

Friends of mine from Switzerland, New Zealand, and Holland tell me of systems of bicycle and pedestrian routes completely separate from the roads used by cars. My Swiss friend tells me of road signs which have only one word on them: TOLERANCE. On the sign is a picture of a car with an arrow pointing to a motorcycle; from the motorcycle another arrow points to a cyclist; from the cyclist an arrow points to a pedestrian. We in this country can learn from these things. We must learn to tolerate other users of our roads besides automobiles even if they do slow us down momentarily. We must build safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians, separate from the roadway whenever possible. Where cyclists must use the roadway we must build well-marked bike lanes. There are efforts like these going on in our county today. Please support those efforts in any way that you can. Right here in our Valley the County of Marin is looking for funds to build a bridge over The Inkwells to connect with the bike path on the other side of the creek. This will give cyclists an alternative to the narrow, shoulderless stretch of Sir Francis Drake between The Inkwells and the entrance to Samuel Taylor State Park.

There are many reasons to ride a bike; because we need some relief from our hectic lives, because a bike is much more affordable than a car, because the exercise makes us feel so much better, because we want to prevent global warming, because we see so much more detail of the world around us than we do from a car, because the wind feels so good in our faces. Let us do what we can to make this enjoyable activity safer and easier for all. Let us honor Cecy in that way.

"THE STAGE" COMES TO WEST MARIN!
PLANNING FOR A POSSIBLE VALLEY SHUTTLE
You_re invited to attend a community meeting to help plan for a potential new transportation opportunity in West Marin on November 10, 1999, at 7 PM at the San Geronimo Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Sir Francis Drake and Nicasio Valley Drive.
The residents of West Marin have been calling for alternative transit for years, and have ranked trans-portation as a top priority in a variety of community forums. In response, Supervisor Steve Kinsey has been working with the Marin County Transit District Director, representatives from GO GERONIMO and West Marin Senior Services, and local residents to design and fund a pilot transit program that would bring more buses to communities throughout the West County.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss operating possibilities that would yield the greatest benefit for West Marin residents. As a pilot program "The Stage" would be funded for one year. If successful it is anticipated that future funding may lead to an expansion of service. A final decision regarding funding is expected by December 1999. Please come out to show your support and give your ideas.

WHAT DID GO GERONIMO DO LAST YEAR?
·Provided over 5,000 rides
·Saved 30,000 vehicle miles
·Spared close to 25,000 pounds of pollution from our air.
·Provided "free" transportation options to all of our 400 members.
·Produced four issues of this newsletter The Wheel (it_s a quarterly).
·Involved 40 Lagunitas School District students in our Frequent Rider Miles program.
·Gave away 50 CDs to members who documented at least 25 "pollution saving miles."
·Created a web site: www.gogeronimo.org
·Conducted GO GERONIMO registrations at numerous community events, at Drake High School, and at the Lagunitas School.
·Created the GO GERONIMO video, a 15 minute documentary which is available at Video West and shown occasionally on Channel 31 (which also featured our program in the Marin Report.)
·Provided Hawaii, Santa Cruz, and Humboldt County with information on how to start up a GO GERONIMO-style ridesharing program.
·Made GO GERONIMO a "household word", and got people using, thinking, and talking more about carpooling, bicycling, walking, sparing the air, and providing transportation choices.
·Were named in the "Heroes" section of the Pacific Sun.

SNEAK A PEEK PREVIEW @ WWW.GOGERONIMO.ORG
Thanks to the efforts of Nancy Boxer, the GO GERONIMO web site has been uploaded and is ready for viewing. Through photographs, text, and graphics, visitors can learn about our History and Current Programs, read back issues of The Wheel, and find answers to Frequently Asked Questions, such as "Who_s using the Ride Registry?" and "How long do you usually have to wait for a registered ride?"
The website is a work-in-progress, and several features will be added in the coming months. These include a Calendar of Upcoming events, Links to other Transportation-Related Sties, a Multi-Media Page, including clips from the GO GERONIMO video, and a Forum Page through which one can easily e-mail us with questions, comments, and rideshare schedule information, and on which selected comments will be posted.
The practical heart and soul of the site will be the Online Ridesharing Schedule on which one can post rides offered and requested as well as search the ridesharing schedule database for potential rides or riders to suit your individual schedule and needs. Rideshare schedule information may be submitted by e-mail, phone, or dropped off at our Cultural Center mailbox. The Online Schedule itself will be updated weekly.
If we do not already have your current potential rideshare schedule, please take a moment to fill out the rideshare form on the separate sheet included with this issue of The Wheel and return it to us in the enclosed envelope. And next time you_re passing through cyberspace (free internet access is available at the San Geronimo branch of the County Library), drop by and see us at www.gogeronimo.org.