Some people say McMillion is nuts! — An exclusive
Here’s an exclusive not yet released article written about my DART experience. DART has a new magazine Motion coming out soon and I’ve been lucky enough to be in the first issue. Enjoy
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The Chinese discipline of Tai Chi led Tonya McMillion to the transit lifestyle. Not that she’s ever practiced martial arts herself, mind you. But on a fine spring morning earlier this year, during her hectic commute from Plano to Richland College in Northeast Dallas, she noticed a man doing tai chi exercises in a park. “He looked so calm and peaceful,” she recalls, “that I was kind of transfixed.”
Crash. McMillion probably should have been paying attention to that two-ton pickup truck instead of the tai chi fellow, but as soon as she got the news that her car was totaled – “it was toast,” she says – she resolved that her mornings from now on would be stress-free.
And no, tai chi wasn’t part of the program. “I decided I wouldn’t get another car,” she says.
Today, McMillion enjoys not only a car-free commute; she’s taken on an entirely car-free lifestyle, relying on DART and her trusty mountain bike to get everywhere she needs to go. A typical morning finds her hopping the 451 bus from her home in Plano to Parker Road Station; catching the Red Line from there to Spring Valley Station; and riding her bike the remaining couple of miles to Richland College, where she is a visiting scholar in the journalism department.
So how does her new commute compare to going by car? “I love it,” she states unequivocally. “No car, no stress. It takes me about 45 minutes total, and I feel healthier, happier and more relaxed – I arrive at work with a smile on my face.”
Maybe the best part: For the price of a week’s commute, McMillion can ride DART all month long. “Not getting another car was the best decision I’ve made lately,” she says.
Some people tell McMillion she’s nuts, but she’s looking more and more like a trendsetter as other area commuters make the decision to ditch their cars. “Go green and save some green,” is how she puts it.
Filed under: Entertainment on July 6th, 2008
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