Kerri L. Ockwood, 25, a resident of Carrboro uses the Main and Greensboro Street crosswalk after the siren volume has been turned down.
Commons Photo by Liz Thomas

By Liz Thomas
Co-editor

Springtime is the perfect time to enjoy Carrboro’s scenery. By leaving the comfort of personal cars, citizens of Carrboro and Chapel Hill can truly enjoy this beautiful season.

And the town’s growing usage in public transportation, pedestrian and bike travel allows for more alternate transportation funding. This year, Carrboro citizens and visitors can expect more developments in alternate forms of transportation. Participating in these new advancements promotes a healthy environment, less traffic and a greater sense of community.

Carrboro by bus

“Without buses to Carrboro, my crew team would be at a loss” said Danielle Litt, a UNC first-year student on the rowing team from New York City.

Although she prefers the public transportation that large cities offer, she said she enjoys using public transportation in Carrboro.

Buses in Carrboro are part of the Chapel Hill Transit system. Compared to other North Carolina Transit Systems, Chapel Hill Transit has by far the most passengers. According to the National Transit Database, Chapel Hill Transit has about 5.4 million annual passengers. Durham Area Transit only moves about 3.9 million annual passengers.

The Web-based, real-time transit information system called NextBus aids in the rising popularity in the bus system, according to the Chapel Hill Transit presentation at the
Carrboro Board of Alderman’s March 20 meeting.

By selecting a location and requested route, users of the NextBus Web site see actual bus arrival and departure times immediately. Users can also choose to receive computer pop-up alerts when their requested bus is about to arrive, or they can watch a live map of the exact location of the vehicle.

Because of the growth of the transit system, 20 new buses are planned to be added 2007. Of the 20 new buses this year, three are diesel-electric hybrids, according to Chapel Hill Transit.

For more information about the real-time bus system, visit http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.asp?NID=397.
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By Graham Russell
Deputy Design Editor

“After The Peak: The End of Cheap Oil,” a short film by local filmmaker Jim McQuaid, was shown to the public for the first time in the Carrboro Century Center auditorium at 7 p.m. on April 5.

The 26-minute film looks at a potential crisis for Orange County if gasoline prices break $10 per gallon.

“Fundamentally,” McQuaid said, “this is my attempt to think global but act local.”

The film’s premise is based on the idea of “Peak Oil,” the point when oil production begins to diminish but demand continues to rise. McQuaid and others believe that oil production is currently at this peak, and rising gas prices could bring problems such as food shortages, widespread unemployment and urban crowding.

McQuaid said that he used Orange County as a sort of proxy for America in general, but also that the county is relatively well prepared.

“There are many good things happening in Orange County to deal with these problems,” McQuaid said.

“After The Peak,” starring William Stutts, Jackie Marriott, John Honeycutt, Theo Wormley and Meagan Douglas and produced by McQuaid’s Turnip Video, is presented in the form of a news broadcast of a fictional television station, WNOC News 99, and looks at how high gas prices would affect businesses, schools and even sports teams.

After the screening, three local activists spoke to approximately 200 attendees on sustainability and local solutions to rising energy costs.

Former Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas CEO Simon Rich echoed many of McQuaid’s ideas. “When we become one teaspoon short,” Rich said, “I foresee social chaos much worse than what was in Jim’s film.”

Eric Henry, president of apparel company T.S. Designs and a sustainable energy advocate, talked about how his company is building its own alternative energy sources and urged others to do the same.

Transportation planner Patrick McDonough praised the concept of a “walkable” community, such as Chapel Hill’s Southern Village, emphasizing how this would help in a time after Peak Oil.

McQuaid plans to release “After The Peak” on DVD in June.