For more information on this project, or to add or change information on this site, contact Meghan Field at (805) 781-5912 or info@slocarfree.org.

Tolosa Press: SLO City News

By Jack Beardwood

Car Free San Luis Obispo rewards visitors and local residents, who jettison their cars and walk, bike, ride the train and use public transportation. By pledging to travel to or around San Luis Obispo without a car, you can receive special incentives from participating hotels, restaurants, transportation services and attractions.

 “Imagine taking the train along the coast, hopping on a trolley to experience our historic downtown, riding SLO transit from your hotel to the weekly Farmers’ Market, biking through vineyards, hiking the surrounding peaks, kayaking to Morro Rock, or renting an alternative fueled vehicle to explore Hearst Castle or see the elephant seals and monarch butterflies,” said Meghan Field, program manager for Car Free San Luis Obispo (and an air quality specialist for the county Air Pollution Control District). “That beats the stress of traffic, wrong turns or the occasional speeding ticket any day.”

How do you get your discounts? When you sign up online at slocarfree.org, you are sent an email with a link to a voucher. All you have to do is print it.

There are 15 hotels, including lodgings in Pismo Beach, Avila Beach and Morro Bay that offer a 10 percent discount to non-drivers. Nine restaurants offer a variety of incentives.

There are also discounts offered for Breakaway Tours’ wine tour to Edna Valley or Paso Robles, Hearst Castle Theater, Central Coast Outdoors (biking, kayaking and hiking), SLO Walking Tours, and Beach Butlerz, which provides beach furniture, beach spa services, meals at the beach, and other “beach-ware.”

For people who have to drive, you can get Car Free San Luis Obispo credits by using alternative fuel vehicles provided by funride of San Luis Obispo (myfunride.com).

Perhaps the biggest lure of all is the 20 percent discount on Amtrak’s Surfliner route, which runs from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. The train has space for a limited number of walk-on bicycles that ride for free. If not, there is a $15 charge for having it travel in a box. To avoid the fee, make a reservation for your bikes.

Since they started the program in November, more than 300 people have made the Car Free pledge. In only four months as part of the promotion, 165 participants have taken the Amtrak.

 “I think one of the biggest benefits is our program offers a lot of information to visitors on how to get around without their car,” Field said. “Sometimes it can be a little scary to travel to a different city without a car. We are trying to make it as easy as possible. We also have great discounts. A lot of people have said they think that’s the best part of our Web site, is in this tough economy having a little bit of an incentive to travel and getting a discount at the same time.”

Local businesses also benefit from advertising on their Website, as well as ads that Car Free San Luis Obispo has run in the Monterey County Herald, New Times and Central Coast Magazine.

They also teamed up with Amtrak for an advertisement that ran in Sunset Magazine’s (sunset.com) Web site and included information on a wide variety of county attractions.

Local businesses also get exposure on Car Free’s Facebook page.

Representatives of businesses who would like to become a part of the promotion should call Field at 781-5912. If you recruit a business to join you can get a free gift card from Jamba Juice.

Field said it is not just for tourists; it also encourages ‘stay-cations.’ “If you live here and you want to try something new, go to Hearst Castle without your car, or maybe take the Amtrak down to Santa Barbara. We encourage people to do that here too, because any reduction in trips taken by their cars is beneficial.”

Car Free SLO is supported by a coalition of organizations, including the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, San Luis Obispo County Visitors Bureau, the City of San Luis Obispo, Rideshare and Amtrak. Most of their operating funds come from grants.

It was created by the APCD and patterned after Santa Barbara’s program. “When you get down to it this is really about cleaning up the air, protecting the sources that we have here in San Luis Obispo,” Field said. “We thought it was a really viable program for us to start.”

“I love that Car Free San Luis Obispo is promoting ways to get around the county without driving,” said Aimee Wyatt of San Luis Obispo. “As a visitor, it’s easy to take Amtrak into San Luis or Grover Beach or Paso Robles and there is easy bus connection from any of those locations around the county.”

Wyatt is an employee of the Regional Transit Authority of San Luis Obispo County. Her sister, Anne Wyatt, owns the Bridge Street Inn in Cambria, which offers free bicycle use to Car Free SLO participants.

“San Luis has beautiful bike trails and lots of things to do, shuttles for the wine tasting tours, kayak trips in Morro Bay,” Aimee Wyatt said. “Visitors can get up to Hearst Castle car free. It takes a little work and that’s where the Car Free Web site can help with great descriptions and information on how to get around without driving. It’s fun, It’s good for the environment and it saves money.”

“I think it’s wonderful on many levels,” said John Flaherty, owner of Central Coast Outdoors. “The most important thing, of course, is that it encourages people to reduce their carbon use, which I think is one of the biggest issues facing the world today,   climate change. Anything we can do to lower our carbon output is good. I also think it’s a wonderful program because it gets people out and walking and bicycling and hiking and experiencing the world in a much more intimate and physical manner, rather than from behind a windshield.”

Ventura County Star

by: David Loe

An organization called Car Free San Luis Obispo is issuing travelers an invitation: Come enjoy our beautiful city but leave your car at home.

What a way to celebrate Independence Day. Plan a trip independent of gas stations!

Tisha and I decided to take the challenge and even one-up them. We’d attempt to make it a totally green trip from the minute we left our house to the minute we returned home. We’d ride our bikes to the local Amtrak stations, put our bikes on the train, bicycle or walk exclusively while in San Luis Obispo, and come back the same way.

We not only succeeded, it was a lot of fun. It’s a trip I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys either walking or pedaling. You’ll return home with a great feeling of accomplishment, and, as you’ll see, it’s not that tough to pull off.

Let’s start with the train. There’s one Amtrak Surfliner each day that goes all the way to San Luis Obispo. It leaves in the morning from various stations throughout Ventura County and arrives in San Luis during the noon hour. Bicycle riders will love the fact that, on the Surfliner, bikes ride free.

The train ride is a treat for those of us who have driven the 101 north many times because it offers a lot of fresh scenery. Once you reach Gaviota, you won’t set eyes on the freeway again the entire trip. Instead, you’ll be introduced to a historic route that takes you past Point Conception and then right through normally off-limits Vandenberg Air Force Base. The ocean view out the window is spectacular, and looking inland you might even spot a rocket on a gantry being prepared for launch, as we did. I was genuinely sorry to see the train ride end just three hours after leaving Ventura.

If you trudged car-free to your local Amtrak station at the start of your journey, you’ll be relieved to know that “motel row” in San Luis Obispo is just a little more than a mile from the train station. On upper Monterey Street you’ll find lots of nice choices. We selected TripAdvisor’s No. 1 listing, San Luis Creek Lodge, and I can see why it is so highly rated. It’s a locally owned and operated facility that seems more like a bed-and-breakfast than a motel. The rooms were spacious enough that we could secure our bikes overnight in our room.

You’ll find plenty to keep you busy in San Luis Obispo. The city’s downtown is justly renown for its collection of restaurants, movie theaters, and interesting shops. It’s all just a pleasant 15-minute walk from the motels on upper Monterey Street. Don’t bypass Frank’s Famous Hot Dogs on your stroll downtown. It’s on the corner of California and Monterey. It’s slogan of “big weenies are better” was confirmed with the biggest and tastiest hot dogs I’ve had in years.

We stayed two nights before taking the Surfliner back to Ventura County. In addition to exploring downtown, we downloaded some bike maps of the city and surrounding area and took an exploratory bicycle ride each day. If you’re feeling energetic, try the route that goes to the ocean at Los Osos. Go early before the wind comes up, have lunch there and let the afternoon tail wind help push you back to your motel.

We also enjoyed a nice ride through the local wine-growing areas just outside of town.

San Luis Obispo is the starting point for the daily 2 p.m. Surfliner back to Ventura County, so it’s almost always on time. An eager attendant was waiting in the baggage car to receive our bikes. All I had to do was pass them up to her. I found it necessary, but quite easy, to recruit some help amongst my fellow passengers to lift them up over my head and into storage.

Ready to try a car-free getaway? Even if you’ve enjoyed a weekend in San Luis Obispo before, we found that doing it this way makes it a new and even more satisfying experience.

— David Loe worked for 25 years in the travel business in Ventura County. Contact him at davidloe@sbcglobal.net.

To read this article on the Ventura County Star Website, please click here. The article includes business reviews and photos.

District Receives National Award From U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Santa Barbara Car Free Project.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (District) today announced that its Santa Barbara Car Free project has received a national 2009 Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The District is one of only fifteen award recipients from around the country that were honored at a May 26, 2010 ceremony in Washington, D.C.

California 23rd District Congresswoman Lois Capps remarked, “I am very proud of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District and the Santa Barbara Car Free Project and its many partners. It’s good to see the Project’s work for sustainable tourism – and a sustainable community – honored with this national award.”

District Director Terry Dressler said, “We are so honored to be selected for this award. We thank our area partners for the outstanding collaboration that has made this project possible.” Santa Barbara Car Free was honored in the Community Action category. The Project, founded in 1998 and led by the District, is supported by the City of Santa Barbara, Amtrak California® and more than 100 partners— business, organizations, and individuals—working together to promote car free travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

 Gina McCarthy, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, said, “Innovation and commitment are the keys to environmental progress, and our Clean Air Excellence Award winners are tremendous examples. As we look to the future, these winners will help lead the way toward cleaner air and a healthier environment.” 

 The Clean Air Excellence Awards Program, established in 2000 at the recommendation of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, annually recognizes and honors outstanding innovative efforts to help make progress in achieving cleaner air. Award-winning entries must directly or indirectly reduce pollutant emissions, demonstrate innovation, offer sustainable outcomes, and provide a model for others to follow.

Santa Barbara Car Free partners will be honored at the District’s Board meeting June 17, 2010 (1:30 PM at the Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room, 105 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara).

For more information see the EPA website http://www.epa.gov/air/caaac/recipients.html and visit http://www.SantaBarbaraCarFree.org.

Local Tourism Set to Go Green

by Camas Frank

The county should brace itself for a wave of ecofriendly tourists. At least that’s the hope of a group of local businesses that have banded together in an effort to promote a new vision for sight seers, one without a car.

The San Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District (APCD)’s SLO Car Free program kicked off Nov. 19 with a ribbon, and cake-cutting ceremony with County Supervisor Katcho Achadjian, who chairs the APCD board. Representatives from local hotels, tour companies, and transport services packed into the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport’s massive hanger for the festivities.

The airport is partnering with the APCD’s efforts in part because travelers who commit to leave their car behind will still need a way to get here. Thanks to new engine designs, said San Luis Jet Center president William Borgsmiller, the math works out to make air travel one of the less destructive transportation methods, at least in terms of the planet’s acreage consumed

While the event wasn’t as heavily attended by members of the general public as the organizers had hoped, those that did turn out were treated to a raffle of prizes, live music from a band made up of APCD employees and the unusual sight of a large penguin riding a bike around the hanger. Andy Mutziger said of his black and white costume, “I’m just telling people that if a penguin can ride a bike, anybody can.”

“The whole purpose of the event and program is to educate the public on the options we have available,”Achadjian said. “The Air Quality Control District’s goal with it is to reduce our carbon foot print. Not all the infrastructure is ready so everyone can afford to change their travel yet, but showcasing what we already have in place is what’s important.”

He also noted that like the Santa Barbara program it’s modeled after, the Car Free program shows visitors that if they commit to a car free experience and are wiling to adjust their time schedules, everything the region offers becomes available.

To take part in the program, potential visitors log on to www.slocarfree.com and pledge not to use a private vehicle during their stay. In return they become eligible for discounts on services related to all aspects of their stay, from hotel rooms to restaurants and outdoor activities. Of course, help finding alternative transportation is critical.

Deals include free bike rentals with a stay at Hostel Obispo and sign up fees reduced to $25 for use of local company FunRide’s fleet of green vehicles. Both provide the flexibility of autonomous transit during a stay but reduced rates are also available for bus services and airport shuttles.

For those more interested in ease of a package deal, tours in wine country are available from the charter services provided by the airport based Wine Country Charters, to the wine education tours of Breakaway Tours, which ranges from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara.

For the restless souls, Central Coast Outdoors provides hiking and kayaking excursions in Morro Bay and Big Sur ranging from $50 to $100, meeting guests at their hotel and shuttling to the tour site. Owner John Flaherty said he had looked forward to raising awareness of the eco-friendly possibilities.

 “I remember saying to the tourism board awhile ago, ‘God, wouldn’t it be great to have a green tourism event to show everything around here?’ and they recently told me, ‘Guess what?’” Flaherty’s enthusiasm was mirrored by other participants who said they are looking forward to the program’s expected success. “We already encourage people to come to SLO and we’d love to have them do it car free,” Carrie Head, communications manager of the San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau, said. “We have over 500 members and all of the hotels are excited about it. They see it as a great vehicle for the industry, if you’ll pardon the pun.”

Media Contact: Aeron Arlin Genet 781-5998

Come celebrate with us at the Launch Party for SLO Car Free!

A ribbon-cutting celebration is set for Thursday, November 19 from 5 – 7 pm at the SLO Regional Airport Hangar (835 Airport Drive, SLO) for the launch of the new San Luis Obispo Car Free program.

This event is geared to draw the attention of local elected officials, media and the business community to get a behind-the-scenes look at an aircraft hangar that will showcase the San Luis Obispo Car Free program, its members, and the services that they provide. This celebratory event provides a unique venue to spotlight our new program and partners that put a twist on local tourism. San Luis Obispo Car Free shows visitors the pleasures of a well deserved get-away to the Central Coast, while taking a vacation from their car, saving money and the environment too.

Chairman of the Air Pollution Control District Board, Supervisor Katcho Achadjian, will lead our ribbon cutting ceremony. The launch party will also feature live music, provided by the band Impromptu, delicious cake and fun drawings for prizes for those in attendance. The SLO Regional Airport Hangar is an exciting venue to host the many booths and oversized displays that feature the following car-free participants: San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, Hearst Castle State Parks, Central Coast Outdoors, Fun Ride, Air Pollution Control District, SLO Transit, SLO Regional Transit Authority, SLO Regional Rideshare, Ride-On Transportation, Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition, Embassy Suites and Breakaway Tours.

This is a free event, but space is limited, so please RSVP by November 13 at www.slocarfree.eventbrite.com. We look forward to celebrating at the SLO Car Free launch party and showing the community how SLO Car Free is working to increase visitors to the Central Coast.

Media Contact:  Aeron Arlin Genet 781-5998

San Luis Obispo Car Free Drives Visitors to Take a Vacation from the Gas Pump
There’s a new way to promote tourism to San Luis Obispo, but with a twist –travelers are being asked to leave their cars behind.  
During challenging economic times, promoting tourism is more difficult than ever before.  San Luis Obispo Car Free shows visitors that they can still enjoy a well deserved vacation to the Central Coast, while saving money and the environment too.  By pledging to travel to or around San Luis Obispo without a car, visitors receive special incentives from participating hotels, restaurants, transportation services and attractions. By “dumping the pump” visitors can save a buck or two, while helping to preserve clean air in the region.

SLOCarFree.org is a one-stop-shop web-based hub of information and web-links on transportation, lodging, attractions and other visitor needs.  To receive discounts, visitors register online to participate in the program.  After registering, they then book their stay with participating hotels and receive other discounts by showing their SLO Car Free coupon.

It isn’t too late for local businesses to participate in the program by offering premiums or discounts to car-free travelers.  In exchange those businesses receive free membership and are featured on www.slocarfree.org.  Businesses can use the easy on-line registration page to sign up and start sending these car-free travelers to them today.

San Luis Obispo Car Free is a cooperative partnership initiated and led by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District. Established in 2009 for cleaner air and a healthier planet, our mission is to preserve clean air, promote community and individual responsibility for air quality, and to promote economic and community well-being through encouraging car-free, care-free transportation to and around the San Luis Obispo area.

For more information, contact Meghan Field at (805) 781-5912 or info@slocarfree.org or visit the website at www.slocarfree.org.

Contact:  Aeron Arlin Genet 781-5912

San Luis Obispo “Car Free” motivates visitors to “take a vacation from the gas pump”

A new coalition has formed to promote tourism to San Luis Obispo, but with a twist – they are asking travelers to leave their cars behind.

During challenging economic times, promoting tourism is more challenging than ever before.  San Luis Obispo Car Free has formed to show visitors that they can still enjoy a well deserved get-away to the Central Coast, while saving money and the environment too.  By pledging to travel to or around San Luis Obispo without a car, visitors will receive special incentives from participating hotels, restaurants, transportation services and attractions. By “dumping the pump” visitors can save a buck or two, while helping to preserve clean air in the region.

SLO Car Free will feature a one-stop-shop web-based hub of information and web-links on transportation, lodging, attractions and other visitor needs.  To receive discounts, visitors must register online to participate in the program.  After registering, they can book their stay with participating hotels and receive other discounts by showing their SLO Car Free voucher.

This program is being designed after the highly successful Santa Barbara Car Free program which has received international attention and spotlights in several national travel magazines.  Other cities in California that are forming Car Free programs include San Diego, San Francisco/San Mateo County, and Napa Valley.

Currently SLO Car Free is seeking participation from local businesses to provide discounts or promotions as part of the program and anticipates a launch date of the program this summer 2009.  For more information on how your business can benefit, contact Nancy Mathison at (805) 781-5983 or nmathison@co.slo.ca.us.

SLO Car Free is being developed by a coalition led by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District including Amtrak, California State Parks, San Luis Obispo Coast District/Hearst Castle, San Luis Obispo Regional Rideshare, San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, San Luis Obispo Bicycle Coalition, Central Coast Outdoors, San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau, and Breakaway Tours.

Car-Free Vacation Packages

The SLO Car Free program does not have ownership or sponsorship of any of the car-free vacation packages linked to this website.  The program cannot guarantee the availability or authenticity of any of the car-free vacation packages linked to this website.  Users are advised to verify the availability and eligibility requirements for the car-free vacation packages with the original source, sponsoring tourism group or groups of companies.  The program and our volunteers do not assume any financial responsibility associated with the use of any car-free vacation packages linked to this website.