Curt McCormack: Walking (and biking) the talk — Sustainable Transportation Vermont

Curt McCormack is someone who walks the talk. He’s also someone who bicycles, carpools, and Amtraks the talk.

Curt, a representative in the Vermont State Legislature and a retired electrician, has been living a car-free life for 19 years. Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with him at his home in the Old North End of Burlington to chat about how he makes living without a car not only doable, but preferable to owning a vehicle.

Curt’s number one motivation for living without a car is climate change. The environment is in trouble, and foregoing car ownership is one way that he can make a difference through his everyday actions. A secondary reason that Curt goes car-free is because of his role at the State House. As he explained to me, “If you don’t practice what you preach in politics, you get discarded.” On the transportation committee, Curt works hard to get Vermont moving on a more sustainable track with regards to transportation. This means, in part, working to reduce dependency on single-occupancy vehicles, which are a major contributor to climate change in Vermont. Choosing to live a car-free life is one way of being consistent with his values and demonstrating how much these issues matter to him.

As we discussed the many environmental problems that cars contribute to, we landed on the topic of idling vehicles. Curt explained that the heat emitted from vehicles that are idling alone contributes significantly to climate change. As we spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, green card that he handed to me. “When I see people idling their cars, I walk right

up to their window, wave until they see me, say, ‘I have some information for you!’ and hand them the card through the window.” Most of the time, individuals take the card with a look of confusion and then continue on their way. One individual actually circled back around the neighborhood after reading the card and complained to Curt that he was “harassing people for idling their cars”, to which Curt replied, “You’re harassing me by idling your car!”

Getting around

Curt’s main method of transportation during spring, summer, and fall is bicycling. In the winter, he trades in his two wheels for a pair of warm boots and relies on walking instead. For trips that can’t be made on foot, public transit is his best friend. When the Legislature is in session, Curt takes the LINK express bus to get to Montpelier. For even greater distances, Amtrak gets him where he needs to go. Next month, he’ll be attending a conference in Tampa, Florida, and he’s going to take the train the whole way to get there.

Curt has nothing but praise for public transit, with particular appreciation for the train system. "I get more work done on the train than I do at home!" he says with a chuckle. The WiFi, the calm environment, and the beautiful scenery passing by the windows creates a wonderful place to write, research, or simply sit back and enjoy the view. "The view from a train is the second-best view you can get; walking is the best, because you move slowly and can stop to take in the details anytime, but the train is the next best because you don't need to focus on the road as you would with bicycling or driving, and it's all there for you to see and enjoy."

He mused that he probably covers the greatest number of miles via train, but if you measure the number of trips taken rather than the actual distance covered, he rides his bike more than any other form of travel.

“No Ultimate Obstacle”

When I asked Curt about the biggest obstacles he’s had to overcome in living without a car, he surprised me by saying, “there’s no ultimate obstacle.” Rather, there are a lot of different situations that need to be handled with a little creative thinking. For instance, when he needs to get from Burlington to Montpelier for a meeting on the weekend, which is a time when the commuter bus doesn’t run, he’ll think of who else might be going to that meeting and start calling around to get a carpool going. More often than not, he says, they’ll end up getting together a full car of people for the trip. One thing that Curt really hates is arriving at a meeting where everyone has driven their own car to get there, and then people say to each other, “Oh, I didn’t realize you were going to be here, too! I would have given you a ride.”

Enjoying the ride

In addition to being better for the environment, car-free travel has its benefits on the individual level. One of Curt’s favorite aspects of being car-free is having exercise built into each of his trips. Whenever he has a doctor’s appointment, he gets a bike ride up the hill to the office and a bike ride back home. The exercise is also amplified by the pleasure of getting to be outdoors; when you’re on a bicycle or walking, you get to breathe in the fresh air and take in the scenery in a way that isn’t possible from inside a car.

I initially planned on following Curt around for part of his day to see how he manages daily tasks without a motor vehicle, but he didn’t have anywhere that he needed to go that day. It was a warm and sunny October afternoon, though, so he suggested that we hop on his tandem bike and go for a ride along the waterfront bike path.

*The view from the backseat of the tandem bicycle*

Having never ridden a tandem bicycle before, it was a bit of a shock to my system. I felt awkward getting on the bicycle and having to time my movements with another person as I pedaled, in addition to the weirdness of not being able to see the path directly ahead of me as we rode. That said, it was also one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in a while.

We rode a few miles up the path up to Leddy Park, where we stopped for a snack and to take in the view of the lake. Curt told me that sometimes, he uses this park as his office space. He’ll hop on his bike and ride up there, hunker down at a picnic table with his laptop, and enjoy a few hours of writing in the dappled shade with the gentle breeze and the birds chittering in the background. I couldn’t help but think about how luxurious it would be to have that spot be my workplace. It certainly didn’t feel like a compromise to be car-free in that moment.

*The view from the picnic table at Leddy Park*

In a lot of ways, the tandem bike ride felt symbolic of shifting to a car free-lifestyle. It was a bit inconvenient, and at times a little uncomfortable, but also awesome and deeply satisfying. At first, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, and I longed for the independence of having my own bike. But as we rode further, I started to get the feel for how to stop without fearing I would fall off, how to get the bike going again smoothly at an intersection, and how to share the work of pedaling and balancing the bike. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked Curt if there was anything he’d like to say to someone who’s considering a car-free lifestyle. He said, “Just do it. It’s easier than you might think, and it’s enjoyable.” He added that the greatest benefit to being car-free is really the way that it makes life more enjoyable. "Even if it cost exactly the same, the improvements to your quality of life make living without a car worth it. But it doesn't cost the same – you save a lot of money."

*Curt in front of the two solar arrays at his home in the Old North End*

Curt certainly didn’t seem to be missing out on much with his lifestyle. He’s figured out how to live a life that aligns with his values and meets his needs. It was an uplifting afternoon getting to witness firsthand how one Vermonter not only survives, but thrives, without a car.