Today's Question: Bike, Walk & Wheel Week under way

COLUMBIA — Columbia’s annual Bike, Walk & Wheel Week is under way and thousands of Columbia residents will be participating in activities all over town.

Mayor Darwin Hindman began the annual event in 2001 in order to get citizens to consider alternative means of transportation.

This year, plans include a lecture about how to safely commute by bike, a recycled bike giveaway and free rides on Columbia Transit buses all dayThursday.

Hindman and other city leaders have promoted alternative transportation for the last several years. The PedNet project, for instance, provides funds from the federal government for non-motorized transportation.

Plus, new bus routes, such as the popular gold route, which takes MU students living in popular apartment complexes to campus, has introduced a new crowd to mass transportation.

The work continues. There are more projects under way and more money that will be spent to make Hindman’s challenge to leave the car at home a viable possibility for more people in Columbia.

Are you are able to bike, walk or otherwise wheel your way to work or other frequent destinations in Columbia if you choose to do so? If not, why?