Via CleanTechnica. $200 billion in funding for public transportation could make a big difference in the air everyone breathes. It could make a difference in the day-to-day mobility of many travelers. As US elections near, there is a definite tone within the US political system. This election cycle grasps for our vote. I think about all the money spent …
$200 Billion In Funding For Public Transportation Read More »
Streets should be child-friendly, don’t you think? I certainly think so, and so does Sustrans, a sustainable transport charity based in the United Kingdom. Sustrans has launched a competition for primary and secondary school children (7- to 14-year-olds) that has them designing their “dream streets.”
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.
I’ve had this sitting in drafts for 3 months now — somehow unable to get to it every week. But I’ve saved it all that time to cover on here because it’s so amazing.
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.
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.
Help out 2 of EcoLocalizer’s sister sites today!
An EcoLocalizer reader recently shared a great site of his, Modes of Transportation, that helps you find and compare the percentages of people that use varying modes of transportation to get to work in U.S. cities. That is, you can compare: who walks to work more, residents of New York or San Francisco; who bikes more, …
How Does Your City Compare to Others in Bicycling, Walking and Transit? 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 …
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 …
How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life Read More »
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 »
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 …
Oprah recently featured San Luis Obispo, “America’s Happiest Town” (if the video above doesn’t work for you, that’s the link to it). Jenny McCarthy actually does the leg work for this video story. Highlighted features of the city are that it shut down its main street 40 years ago — “experts say if your town …
Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet) Read More »
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 »
The Obama administration announced a proposal to dedicate $53 billion more towards high-speed rail in the next 6 years this week. That would significantly increase federal funding on high-speed rail. The administration awarded $8 billion to a national high-speed rail network early last year and another $2.5 billion later in the year, but a lot …
Obama Administration Proposes $53 Billion More for High-Speed Rail [VIDEO] Read More »
As if it wasn’t already completely self-evident, WikiLeaks has released a number of cables showing that Saudi Arabia is probably going to run out of oil a lot sooner than they’ve been claiming, and that, of course, their ability to keep oil prices down at a “reasonable level” isn’t going to last much longer. (Why …
The American Dream may be just that, a dream. Or, perhaps it is something we had access to in the past but no longer. Or, perhaps it is something just at the end of our fingertips. There are many ideas as to what the American Dream is, was, or could be. Scott Thill of Alternet …
In 1981, scholar Donald Appleyard published the book “Livable Streets” (link is to the 2nd edition soon to be published) based on his research into how people experience streets with different traffic volumes. Streetfilms recently covered portions of his research findings in the video above and in their post Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s Livable Streets. As …
Livable Streets are without Car Traffic: Where Did the U.S. Go Wrong? Read More »
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy recently announced the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award winner, which, as you can see, is Guangzhou, China. Its new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which integrates bike lanes, bike share and metro stations was a big reason why it won. Here’s a statement from Dario Hidalgo, a member of …
2011 Sustainable Transport Award Winner: Guangzhou, China Read More »
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 …
European Cities Limiting the Car, Improving Quality of Life Read More »
BikeRadar recently previewed the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Looks like a cool event. Here’s more: The seventh annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show is set to kick off February 25-27 in Austin, Texas and even though the event is still several weeks out, it’s already shaping up to the biggest and grandest iteration to …
North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2011 Preview – BikeRadar Read More »
Intercity buses are actually extremely efficient modes of transport, even beating rail. Apparently, they are becoming more popular with the public these days as well. They were the fastest-growing mode of intercity transport for the third year in a row last year, according to a new report by DePaul University researchers called “The Intercity Bus: …
Intercity Bus: Fastest-Growing Form of Transit in U.S. Read More »
The City of Lights could soon become the city without S.U.V.’s. Government officials in Paris are considering putting in effect a series of regulations that would heavily tax, or completely ban, S.U.V.’s and high-polluting, old diesel vehicles from entering the city center. That’s some recent news from perhaps my favorite city on the planet. One …
Here’s a full repost of the latest news regarding Turkey’s high-speed rail network, which we covered a month ago or so here on EcoLocalizer, via World Bulletin: Nearly 100 high-speed train stations will be built across Turkey for accommodation of high-speed trains. The train stations will be presented to auction with build-operate-transfer model. At least …
Turkey Building Almost 100 High-Speed Train Stations Read More »
The Dutch are already well-known for having the best bicycle facilities in the world (well, there is a bit of competition between the Netherlands and Denmark, but the two nations are clearly on top of the world when it comes to this matter). Now, the Dutch are actually planning to improve their cycle networks with …
Dutch Improving Cycle Networks, Building Fast Cycle Lanes Read More »
Know when the first subway system was launched? And where? Tony Long of Wired does. He recently wrote an interesting post on the history of subway systems around the world, starting with a little bit on the first subway system, which was launched this month in 1863. Here’s the intro: 1863: London inaugurates the world’s …
Chicagoans (yes, that would be residents of Chicago) love public transit. Even non-users support mass transit (maybe because it saves them a ton of time). But candidates running for Mayor of Chicago (election to be on Feb. 22) are hardly mentioning this topic… or transportation, in general, one of the most critical day-to-day issues for …
Transit: Huge Issue for Chicago Voters, Not on Potential Mayors’ Agenda Read More »
