Hi everyone! Its me again.

I had something else planned for today. But this is a bit more exiting then another article about climate gasses, or even what I had in mind for the day. Today, Magnus and I were invited (ok, Magnus was, I just tagged along) to Gröna bilister, association of  green motorists. They are Sweden’s only driver’s organisation that advocates environmentally responsible diving. Today a jury of environmental managers, families with small children, retirees and motor journalists rates the top ten environmentally friendly cars of this year. (I thought that was an open event, but apparently it wasn’t. Sometimes it is a real disadvantage to be the lowest in the food chain. But that doesen’t explain the lack of journalists. Come on, this was a big thing!)

One example of the cars tested was the new Saab 9.3 Trifuel, which had world premier with this event. Very exciting. It was a shame we didn’t get to try it out.

We were not there for the cars though, even if we did try a peugeot, and we wanted to try some other cars, but didn’t have time.

I’m the handsome, tired looking guy in the right corner by the way; Yes I am in dire need of sleep and a haircut. Next to me is the Family Arnäs, were P-O has a PhD in Transport and IT. He is a fan of our Facebook page, and have a blog of his own, as well as a twitter account.

We were at the event to discuss travel chains. This is a concept I think we all should adopt and calculate. Travel chains, or commute chains are basically the alternative routes you have to a location. Say that you are commuting from one town to the next. You can take the car. That takes X minutes and release Y kg CO₂. You can also take the bus to the train, and then make a switch. Then the whole journey takes T minutes, and release Q kg of CO_2. Or you can go by bicycle to the train, which take B minutes and release N kg CO₂.

Why is this an important concept? Because by calculating these chains, we can se how much time an alternative mode of transportation takes, and it is easy to rule out some modes. And to make a decision factoring in environmental matters as well as time. A travel chain also makes it easy to point out that while it may take a bit longer time to commute by train and bike, but you get X minutes of exercise and Y minutes of time for work or rest and relaxation. As such, it has the potential to be a tool for getting people out of their cars. I hope that Gröna Bilister (association of Green Motorists) were just as interested as we are in the concept, and that it will be something we here more about in the future.

How do you commute? Do you use travel/commute chains? Drop a line and tell us here or on facebook!

I’m out of here. Take care, and continue to Commute Greener!

Fredrik