Automobiles can fittingly be described as the plaque that clogs the arteries of our fair city, Buffalo. Thankfully, incremental solutions to alleviating blockages in our city’s cardiovascular system boldly present themselves such as use of Allen street-based Buffalo CarShare which allows a group of users to share the use of one vehicle as well as the use of the application (app) Lyft—available for most trips in-and-around Buffalo, and hopefully Uber—not yet available locally—which allows users to book taxi rides via their smartphones with local drivers lessening the need for individual car ownership. In addition, Buffalo Bikeshare—which currently inhabits a pilot stage—rents out well maintained bicycles that are activated with a numerical key code and will likely expand and make urban commuting via bicycle accessible to a wider demographic. Both of these programs are welcome early approaches to lessening traffic congestion, car dependence and the need for individual car ownership in our region.

> Mark Abell, Buffalo

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