europe

Bicyclists Surpass Drivers In Copenhagen!

Also published on CleanTechnica. Those of us who try to keep abreast of urban planning and clean transportation news are familiar with the benefits of bicycling in terms of pure air, livability, quieter streets and homes, space and resource efficiency, a stable climate, and public life. We’re also aware that some places are much better than others. …

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The Wonderifulous World Bike-Sharing Map!

This is sweet. An excellent compilation of existing, planned, or under construction bike-sharing programs around the world. It was put together by the bike-sharing-obsessed people over at the The Bike-sharing Blog, which is a product of Paul DeMaio / MetroBike, LLC and Russell Meddin. The map includes 2nd- and 3rd-generation bike-sharing programs (sorry, 1st-generationers). Check out the map, …

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Switzerland + Bikes = Beautiful & Awesome

Switzerland looks like one of the prettiest countries in the world. It’s got an amazing quality of life. And I heard recently that it has NEVER been in debt. Wow. I think the U.S. could learn a lesson or two from this leading country (starting with: DON’T POUR YOUR MONEY INTO WARS & “DEFENSE”).

Berlin — Bike Paradise

I recently took a short little vacation to Berlin (just about 5-7 hours away by train from where I live). While I had noticed when I visited the first time (2 years ago) that it was a tremendous bike city and put it at #7 in my bike city photo tours series, I didn’t bike around the city on that visit. Additionally, it was rather cold and rainy, so biking wasn’t in full bloom there.

This time around, we (my partner Marika and friend Salah) were set on biking, a bit at least. The weather was nice and our friend got us some bikes. We ended up going on a bike ride that lasted 5 hours or so on our first full day there.

How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life

If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green spirit to turn the city around. National Geographic recently covered the transformation of this town …

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European Cities Limiting the Car, Improving Quality of Life

Europe, as we know, has a much different urban fabric — because most of its cities were developed long before cars arrived. They have narrower streets, are more walkable, more bike-friendly, and more pleasant. Nonetheless, Europe went the same route as the U.S. in recent years with the boom of the automobile and started trying …

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#6 Groningen, Netherlands: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Groningen would be number one on this list if we were looking at percentage of residents who bicycle for transportation purposes. About 57% of travel in Groningen is by bicycle! The city has been named the world’s best bicycle city a couple of times (1993 and 2006). It is a university city which is part …

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