Most everyone at Dartmouth is familiar with the Big Green Bus, a student initiative begun four years to encourage conversation and change around energy and the environment through a cross-country summer trip on a (green) school bus converted to run on vegetable oil.
The Boston Globe today had a long story on this year's crew, including videos of the crew trying to get "fuel" from a local McDonalds. It's a great story and worth the read, even if you think you know the story.
The BIg Green Bus is cool, but sometimes systemic change is what you need.
Over the weekend, I got a chance to run into Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH), who happens to be a Dartmouth '72 as well. He mentioned that he had just gotten very cool language added to a $1.7B transportation bill that will fund, among items, the establishment or expansion of "commuter matching services." The bill (HR 5062) passed the House last week and is now in the Senate. If the bill passes in its present form and is signed by the President, New Hampshire would be eligible to receive $3.3M in new money for this and the other purposes outlined in the bill.
You can get more details on the bill here.
Here in the rural Upper Valley, that kind of money would go a long way to helping people find fellow commuters. Another cool thing in the bill that appeals to the Upper Valley is its charge to fund five vanpool programs, two of which must be in non-urban areas.
Why not have one of the pilot vanpool programs in the Upper Valley?
