Metro Detroiters blend bikes and buses

Detroit News Laura Berman recently wrote about two Metro Detroit women who trying to get around mostly by bike and bus. They’re not car-free but they are committed to that lifestyle.

[Julie] Funke, a certified public accountant who lives in Royal Oak and commutes downtown, and [Melissa] Damaschke, who recently moved from Ferndale to Detroit, are bike-and-busers by choice – a rare but growing population segment, aided by recent regional upgrades, including bike racks on buses and miles of new bike lanes in Detroit.

In 2010, the friends made a pact, agreeing to use pedals and public transportation to get to work and social engagements as frequently as they could.

As the article mentions, they are documenting this commitment on their blog, Two Women, Four Wheels.

Like Funke and Damaschke, “Tig3rzhark” is documenting his bus/bike experience with a blog called, The Trials and Tribulations of a Detroit Bicyclist. He’s been sharing his stories since the summer of 2009.

Of course there are many other Detroiters living car-free and getting around by bus and bike. Given the route cutbacks at SMART and DDOT, those numbers are likely to grow.

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