As recent weather reminds us, it’s cold in winter, especially when we face the wrath of climate craziness like the Polar Vortex. To many of us, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of biking is winter is: could I survive the cold? Well, if you can get over that hurdle of …
In news that really seems past due, New York City appointed its first Regional Planning Director. The role went to Carolyn Grossman Meagher, who previously was the Director of Governmental Affairs for the city’s planning department, but most recently has been pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning at Harvard. The plans to create a Regional Planning office …
NYC Names Director for New Regional Planning Office Read More »
We know one thing for sure about bicycling in NYC — it’s increasing. Whether this is due to the expansion of protected bike lanes, the increase in Citi Bikes, or an increase in Brooklyn hipsters, it’s hard to say, but NYC Department of Transit’s new “Cycling in the City” metrics show that it is most …
NYC’s Cycling Trends Data — What We Know & What We Don’t Read More »
New York City (NYC) has finally rolled out the beginnings of its large bicycle-sharing program, Citi Bike, with 6,000 bikes and 330 bike-sharing stations hitting the streets on Monday. The stations are initially located in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It’s far from the largest such project at the moment, but it’s the largest in the US, …
NYC Bike Share Launches — Thoughts From NYC & The Interwebs Read More »
I have written about New York City’s planned bike-sharing program a couple times here on EcoLocalizer, and have written about bike-sharing programs in Paris, China, Barcelona, London (a couple times), Chicago, D.C. (sister site Ecopreneurist has as well — linking to that piece), Boston, and my current city of Wroclaw (twice). I’m a fan. But I’ve got one problem with many attempts at bike-sharing — the programs start too small. Well, NYC is not disappointing me. It’s starting with 10,000 bikes at 600 stations, comparable to Paris (probably the most successful and certainly the biggest program in the world, which started with 10,000 bikes at 750 stations).
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.
Parking, if only there were more of it your life would be easier, right? Not really. Look at the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It spreads everything out so much you “have to” drive from one side of the Wal-Mart to the store on the other side of the shopping center to avoid walking …
Searching for Parking: Enormous Waste of Time & Money (Note: Cars Don’t Fit in the City) Read More »
Big cities are often associated with pollution. However, if you look at pollution per capita, some of the world’s biggest cities are actually quite green. One key reason is that people in many big cities use efficient, public transportation more and drive less, and transportation is one of the leading causes of pollution worldwide. Researchers …
Many of the things we need to do to make cities better for children would also make them better for everyone. But many city planners and others who listen to the complaints of mothers often seem more interesting in saying that mothers shouldn’t expect so much and don’t even see the point that a city …
Why Planning for Children Can Make Cities Better for Everyone 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 …
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 …
Here’s our weekly link drop. Hope you enjoy it. New Report: U.S. States Failing at Reducing Transportation Emissions The Natural Resources Defense Council and Smart Growth America released a report, “Getting Back on Track: Aligning State Transportation Policy with Climate Change Goals,” analyzing state-level policies to curb carbon emissions in the transportation sector. With the absence of …
To share more stories with our wonderful readers, I’ve decided to start doing a weekly “link drop” — in other words, I’ll drop links to great stories we couldn’t cover (plus a little intro). Hope you find this helpful and enjoy it. Studies Show the Connection Between Travel Times to Food Stores and Public Health …
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 »
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 »
Cyclists get mistreated, illegally ticketed, and poorly protected on roads all over the U.S. Why people don’t realize that cyclists save them time (while a biker may block your way for a short time, he or she does so much less than an automobile), make the roads safer, and help keep the air cleaner is …
New York City Cyclists Getting Nearly $1 Million for Wrongful Arrests Read More »
If you are a regular reader here on EcoLocalizer, you know that I am a big fan of sustainable transportation — bikes, buses, trains, etc. So, when I came across this story, you can imagine I got a big kick out of it. Though I don’t think I would ever try to steal a bus …
New York City Bus & Train Thief Is Addicted To Stealing NYC Transit Read More »
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 »
I was just writing earlier on the power of cities and the progressive transportation choices cities can take to turn the world around (environmentally, economically, and otherwise). Looking at this from a different (and perhaps more negative) angle, IBM recently released a global “Commuter Pain Study.”
