In São Paulo, Brazil, citizens are enjoying less air and noise pollution – at least on one day a week. On Sundays, during what is called Paulista Aberta, motor traffic is restricted on the popular Paulista Avenue and the street is dedicated to cyclists and pedestrians. Grassroots group Minha Sampa campaigned for the event since …
Car-Free Sundays With Less Air & Noise Pollution Read More »
If you’ve read many of my posts at all, you know that I love bikes — they are one of the greenest things on the planet, are cheap, are widely available, and are fun and relaxing to ride. You may also know that I lived in the Netherlands for 5 months, perhaps the best country in the world for bicycling.
I’m a bicycle lover. In particular, I’m a huge proponent of bicycling for transportation purposes. Bicycles are super efficient (perhaps the most efficient transportation option out there), meaning they are very environmentally friendly and also save you and the city a ton of money. They are also a ton of fun to ride, good for your health, good for your mind, and highly accessible. But, in some cases, using your own bike for transportation purposes is impractical. For, this reason, from the first time I heard about bicycle sharing programs (like the huge one in Paris, Velib), I fell in love with them.
OK, wrapping up this series (until I have another city to write about,.. and I may soon), here are 7 things I loved about living and bicycling in Charlottesville, VA.
I meant to complete this “things I loved about living & bicycling in ________” series before National Bike Month ended, but it didn’t happen and, anyway, bike month should be every month! Here’s the second-to-last post of the series….
I lived in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands for 5 months in 2007. With a bike commute rate of about 50-60% and about 2/3 of inhabitants, in total, using the bike from time to time, Groningen is a top-notch bicycle city. It has been named Bicycle City of the World on more than one occasion and the following are probably the main reasons why.
Following up on my posts about what I loved about living and bicycling in Sarasota, FL and Chapel Hill-Carrboro, NC, here are 7 things I loved about living and bicycling in Northern California. In the middle of graduate school, I lived in Sunnyvale for a summer, worked in Redwood City, and did most of my grocery shopping in Palo Alto. So, despite being 3 different places, they were sort of one place to me and I’m combining them all for this.
Continuing on with things I loved about living and bicycling in the various cities I’ve lived and bicycled in (to wrap up National Bike Month), here are 10 things I loved about living and bicycling in Chapel Hill & Carrboro, North Carolina (which are two small towns that are pretty much merged)….
To wrap up National Bike Month, I’m doing a little series on what I loved about living and bicycling in the various places I’ve lived and bicycled. (But don’t worry, even after this month, I’ll do plenty more writing about bicycling as well.)
To start with, I’ll start with the first city I lived in, the city where I started bicycling as a main mode of transport and gave up my car. Living in Sarasota, Florida from birth until the age of 22 or so, I know that city better than any other.
I briefly covered the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) at the beginning of the month. Now, it is here,.. well, in Austin, Texas. The show is being held from today, February 25, to Sunday. The folks over at BikeRadar are covering the show in-depth and I thought I’d share some tidbits from them. …
Did someone say totally awesome video? I did. And apparently some others, as this hip hop group of Kenyan teenagers from the slums of Nairobi, Wafalme, won the “1 minute to save the world” video contest. “Most of us just sit and wait for the governments to take action about climate change,” one of the …
Kenyan Hip-Hop Video on Bicycling & CO2/Climate Change [VIDEO] Read More »
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Biking from Streetfilms on Vimeo. New York City, San Francisco, and Portland leaders talking about transportation, bicycling, and improving quality of life.
Southern California is known for its beautiful weather and, ironically, for its auto-centric development patterns. Why not take advantage of that beautiful weather more, some have argued. And they are actually being listened to, finally,.. in Long Beach at least. Long Beach is now constructing a network of separate bike paths. The city currently doesn’t …
Yes, that is the sh**. If you’re facing a lot of snow still or face it again anytime in the future, this pedal-powered snow plow looks like a good way to clear needed areas around your house or along important transportation corridors in your neighborhood. Clean, fun, and cool. This work doesn’t need to be …
The Vauban district is a green, planned community in the city of Freiburg in southern Germany. Construction of this community began in the mid-1990s and opened in 2000. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants living in a greener, more sustainable way. Now, the Vauban district is said to have 5,000 inhabitants and 600 jobs. A …
World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District Read More »
CicLAvia 2011 (that would be Ciclovia in Los Angeles) will be held three times this year, according to… CicLAvia. “The route will be more-or-less the same as 10-10-10, with expansion to South L.A., Boyle Heights, and/or Chinatown as CicLAvia works with these communities and gets the new extensions ready and permitted – most likely in October,” …
CicLAvia 2011 Will Be in April, July, AND October Read More »
New Transit Projects for 2011 A comprehensive list of transit projects scheduled to start construction or open in 2011. “Streetcar lines dominate the nation’s new transit construction landscape, but this year only light and commuter rail lines will open for service.” NYC Tries ‘Rapid’ Buses in Bid to Cut Transit Costs The city’s much-maligned bus …
We’re bicycling fans here on Ecolocalizer. Have you noticed? Why? Because it’s good for everything: our health, the livability of cities, the efficiency of our cities, equitable access to key needs, and the economy. Here’s more on that last part, the economy, from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin: Investment in a more bicycle friendly Wisconsin …
How Much is Bicycling Worth to the Economy? $1.5 Billion/Year in Wisconsin Read More »
What are the biggest benefits of bicycling? Of course, there are the environmental benefits and the fact that bicycling is many times cheaper than driving or even riding transit. One more obvious benefit, however, is that it is great for our health. A number of doctors and other health professionals, approximately 150 of them, recently …
New data out in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency 2010 Transportation Fact Sheet shows that the number of car-free households in San Francisco has climbed a little bit recently, bringing the percentage of car-free households in this progressive city above 30%. Yes, an increase from 29.8% to 30.3% isn’t huge, but you know how we …
Over 30% of San Francisco Households Now Car-Free Read More »
Bicycling in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, and many other big North American cities has increased a few times over (or more) in the past couple of decades. And with more people cycling, more people get the urge to cycle, especially with health, environmental, and economic problems the way they are these days, so …
The League of American Bicyclists has had a Bicycle Friendly Community program going for years, as well as newer Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly State programs. Now, the League is adding one more, a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) program. The program was actually officially launched in September at the annual Pro-walk/Pro-bike conference in Chattanooga, …
Cycling directions became an option in Google Maps in 150 U.S. cities back in March. News is that they are now about to be an option in Canada as well. 9 major Canadian cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Gatineau, Kelowna, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo and Winnipeg) shared bike path and bike lane data with Google and users in …
Google Maps Includes Bicycle Directions in Canada Now Read More »
I wrote on New York City’s large, potential bike-sharing program a few months ago, the only proposed bike-sharing program in North America that will compare to the famous and highly successful Paris Vélib’ system (or even Barcelona’s Bicing program). NYC’s bike-sharing program has just moved forward now, with New York City’s Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Commissioner Janette …
New York City Bike-Sharing Program Plans Move Forward Read More »
Are you a cycling superhero? Probably not yet, but you could be soon. A handful of green activists and bicycle enthusiasts have been going on “cycling superhero bike rides” once or twice a year since 2000, on which they bike long distances (no experience doing so needed, just a desire to give it a shot) …
This is a great-looking bicycle composting and recycling service, and what is greener than biking, composting, and recycling? As Rory Woods of sustainablog writes, “Motivated by their love of bike culture and the environment, this enterprising group has built a cooperative business around transporting other businesses’ compost and recycling.” For a little more info from …
Community Composting and Recycling by Bike [VIDEO] Read More »
The first Bicycle City is finally getting built! More on that and how Bicycle City got started via co-founder Joe Mellet below. I have seen advertisements for Bicycle City for years now. I remember when it first got started — it looked like a great initiative but was rather mysterious. “Where was “bicycle city” or …
I just wrote a piece on a cool visualization project of the new London cycle scheme, or bike sharing program. Now, on the other side of the Atlantic, we have some very exciting news about a bicycle sharing program in New York. I have been pretty critical of U.S. bicycle sharing programs in the past, …
New York City Bicycle Sharing Program to be BIG! Read More »
London is one of the latest big cities to implement a modern bike sharing program. The “cycle scheme” (as they call it in England) is popularly called “Boris Bikes” now, named after London Mayor Boris Johnson. To help show the effect of this program, Oliver O’Brien of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University …
Topping yet another bicycle list, Amsterdam is #1 here because of the great bicycle photos to follow along with the fact that 40% of traffic is bicycle traffic in Amsterdam and the city is full of bicycle facilities, including a 10,000-bicycle parking garage at its train station. Amsterdam may not have as high a percentage …
#1 Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour Read More »
