Michael's story

Michael was part of a survey and trial marketing exercise conducted by TravelSmart. At the time, he lived in South Perth with wife (Linley) and their three children: Alex, Eliza and Fraser. Alex and Eliza attend primary school which, Michael tells them, is "an old mile" from home. It takes them 20 minutes to walk to school with Michael and they say they enjoy it. Alex is very proud of the fact that when they visited Rottnest Island recently they walked four miles!

Michael taught computing and was on long-service leave when TravelSmart spoke to him. We asked Michael how he got to be part of the TravelSmart project.

"One day a neighbour in a local bicycle user group came around and got me to fill out a travel diary and gave me a shoulder bag with timetables, walking maps and other information in it," Michael said. "The first thing in using my car less was dusting the cobwebs off the bike, but actually using it required a change in my frame of mind. "I now ride down to the Angelo Street shops. It only takes five minutes to cycle there, but the main mental hurdle is getting organised with bike, helmet and a backpack to put shopping in." "I think TravelSmart is good because once you're involved in it, you feel like sticking with it. I see that others are taking the bus, walking to work or being involved somehow and that encourages me to do it too.

"When I talk to others about TravelSmart, it motivates me to keep at it.

"I had actually already decided to reduce my car use by doing things like riding to the shops, but TravelSmart gave me that extra push to actually do it."

Michael said he and Linley had previously been driving the kids to school. Now he's walking them there three times a week, and sometimes the youngest one, Fraser, goes along for the trip too.

He said that previously their children had no experience at crossing roads. Now Alex sometimes walks ahead a bit and practices crossing roads safely in view of his father.

Apart from cycling to the shops and walking the kids to school, the third change Michael made was to catch the bus to work a few times (before he went on long-service leave).

"Prior to this, I had only caught a bus when I was a student and the one time I was on jury duty," Michael said.

"Now I find it's quite easy to catch a bus into work from Canning Highway, and I've found the services to be pretty good with being on time. It makes it easier if you make time to experiment with how best to get around.

"It's a whole different pace of life. I like looking at the scenery and I get to say 'Hi' to my neighbours as I walk. I feel like part of a community.

"I'm also gaining fitness and I find it relaxing. Sitting on the bus I can just 'switch off'."

Michael felt that the changes he had made had given him greater enjoyment of life and helping the environment was a bonus.

"The test will be next year when I go back to work and Linley starts working, " he said. 

"I'm keen to keep walking the kids to school and will start to take the bus to work regularly. I'd like to be able to sell the second family car.

"Bussing, cycling or walking gets easier the more you do. It's hard to do initially, but once you get into the routine, it becomes easy and you enjoy it."