Manuel said:
"This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]
Jay Knecht said:
"What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said:
"@ Dallas:
The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said:
"Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda.
He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said:
"Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said:
""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
Image: CycleTracks iPhone App from Apple App Store
Crowdsourcing Bike Path Planning
People don't always go where you think they will. You can try to predict the best places for foot paths and bike routes, but you'll never be able to know for sure if they are located optimally... Unless there's a way to know where people are naturally going (the path of least resistance). That's exactly what the new free iPhone app by the San Francisco Transportation Authority is trying to do.
American rock band '30 Seconds to Mars,' sing lyrics like: We were the kings and queens of promise / We were the victims of ourselves / These lessons that we learned here / Have only just begun. And they have chosen the vibrant bike culture of Los Angeles as the visual connection to their words.
Although parts of the city were closed off to allow for filming it is rather pleasing to see one of the world's more automobile-centric cities overrun with bicycles, with barely a car in sight. Though one does make a dramatic entrance stage left.
Cyclists in Santa Clara. Not the actual bike-sharing program since there are no pics yet. Photo: Flickr, CC
First in the Bay Area
Despite talk about a bike-share program in San Francisco for the past couple of years, it looks like Santa Clara will actually beat them to the punch with a pilot program to be launched in mid-2010. Market research began last April, and about 1,200 surveys were conducted in the target area.
Photo: WorkCycles Other photos via respective manufacturers.
Bike Cargos for All Tastes!
In our endeavours to take a snapshot of the world of Bicycle Cargo we have to date looked at the Racks And Bags used for bicycle cargo as well as the Bike Trailer. Now in Chapter Three, we take a gander at over 20 Extended Frame Bikes, as used for the hauling of people, product or produce. As per usual, leave a message in the comments panel to alert fellow readers to any glaring omissions we've made. Please note, our earlier round-up of Quads and Tricycles also captured quite a few human powered-vehicles used as bicycle transport. (In the next upcoming chapter, we'll showcase some of those businesses that rely on cargo bikes to get the job done.)
When Beijing Policeman Tan, the star of his very own local news segment, stops a motorcyclist because his passenger isn't wearing his helmet, we get an earful on gender norms, hairstyles, and one of our favorite topics -- helmets! See the video below.
From four-wheel-drive human-powered SUVs, to pedicabs, to cargo bikes, pedal-powered transportation is evolving. Students at Chico State University are determined to speed up that evolution with their Human-Powered-Vehicle challenge. Peak Moment TV took a ride on the winning entry. Check it out—I want one.
As the former owner of a Brompton folding bike, I know how convenient a human-powered vehicle that packs up small can be. But while the Brompton was great for commutes, it wasn't the finest touring bike in the world. So imagine my intrigue when I came across a folding recumbent trike. And then I saw a video of this thing doing some serious downhill action, and I fell in love.
The other day Lloyd highlighted the ways in which cyclists are most often killed in altercations with motor vehicles. But not everyone shakes off this mortal coil after a bike accident. Many folk are injured. Now it seems that he severity of injuries and time spent in hospitalized for bicycle injuries has significantly increased At least that is the findings of the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center.
Image: NYC DOT (pdf)
"Everybody get out there and ride!"
The stats are out and according to the NYC DOT, bicycling in New York has shot up by 26% in 2009, which is a lot by any measure, though it is lower than the 35% increase in 2008. As you can see from the chart above, these increases are unprecedented. For more on these feel good news, make sure to check out the great video below....
Mikael Colville-Andersen started the original Copenhagen Cycle Chic to "take back the bike culture by showing how the bicycle once again can be an integral, respectable and feasible transport form, free of sports clothes and gear, and how it can play a vital role in increasing the life quality in cities." He has been very effective and influential; If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than he must be feeling good these days, as yet another city gets a cycle chic site.
As Spacing describes it, Toronto's new 416cyclestyle showcases "images by velotographers Xander N' Dante of trendy, hipsters as they peddle around the city." And nary a helmet to be seen. ...
Photo: Mikael from CopenhagenizeNot Sure How Well that Would Scale, Though
Mikeal from Copenhagenize has taken these pictures of a very cool bike parking at the W Hotel in San Francisco. Included in the price of a room is access to one of three Biomega bikes (I think the one on the pics is the "Copenhagen" model), and to get it you have to get it down from its unusual parking place....
Image: I Love Dust.
Biking is beautiful, and bikes are incredibly beautiful objects too. Those of us who love to ride know this, but many are able to translate that feeling into images and art that remind us how amazing this vehicle is.
In this gallery we compile poetic, funky, funny, and interesting pieces of visual art made by bike-loving artists all around the world. Autumn in the north hemisphere, Spring in the south, it's a great time to ride: so take a look and get inspired.
...
Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com.
You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike.
My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer.
God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power. GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution....
When Trek unveiled the Lime back in 2007, the mission was to bring delightful, non-threatening biking to grown-ups. Some nice validation came last week when the Lime won the 2009 People's Design Award, a subcategory of the prominent National Design Awards. A simple city bike with an upright riding posture, the Lime uses Shimano's Coasting automatic three-speed transmission (a pretty complex system with a very simple user interface) and a back-pedal brake rather than hand levers. The mid-priced bike also packs a clever storage compartment into the bike's seat with enough room for keys, cell, and grocery money....
I always thought I was most likely to get killed by a "right hook", where a car blithely turns the corner without looking and the cyclist goes under the wheels. I lost a rowing buddy that way. Or the "door prize" where a driver opens a car door without looking to see if anyone is coming up beside them. But a new study of accidents in Fort Collins, Colorado, covered by Cyclelicious, tells a very different story....
Phillies fan bicycle helmet. Image credit:MLB Phillies Shop
The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition reports, based on a US Census survey, that Philadelphia is ranked number one among the ten largest US cities for bicycle commuters per-capita. Per the Census data, 1.6% of Philly commutes are estimated to be by bicycle. Poor New York City came in at 6'th place (0.6%). "Philadelphia also tied for 10th among the country's 60 largest cities and the second highest percentage among east coast cities (only Washington DC has a higher percentage). Philadelphia's percentage of commuters who bike is nearly three times the national average of 0.55%." Look below for the rankings for all ten of the largest US cities.q...
Image from Mail online
London's cycling mayor, Boris Johnson, is the "knight on a shining bicycle" after he foiled three girls who were attacking a woman late at night. The victim, director of the film The Age of Stupid , was walking home when she was pushed up against a car by 3 young female hoodies with an iron bar. She called out for help to a passing cyclist, and much to her surprise it was the Mayor!
He chased after the girls, calling them "oiks", a unique english word for obnoxious people. They dropped the bar and took off. He then went back to the woman who was one of the creators of the 10:10 campaign and insisted upon walking her home. He said that he ended up having a very good chat with her about the environment....
Photos: Luddista.
It might not be a first, but you have to give this couple credit for marrying on a bike in a city where traffic is so heavy that even pedestrians beat cars.
Priscila Teixeira and Willian Cruz were married last week in Sao Paulo and they organized a group biking trip to the city hall. As strong bike activists, they invited everyone who wanted to join with only one condition: they had to ride to the place.
Take a look at more sweet pictures inside and get inspired!...
"I think this is the decade that it's all going to come together."
I don't know if it's going to have the same effect on you, but this video made me hopeful that things are changing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's finally a solid movement for walkable and bikeable cities, and it's good to see that NYC is getting on board because whatever happens there will be seen by everybody else around the US and the world. In the video, the Streetfilms crew and Rep. Blumenauer (who sometimes bikes to the White House) ride around town and look at some good and bad bike lanes, and discuss the future, including the upcoming transportation bill. Via Streetfilms. See also:UK's Cycle to Work Guarantee: Good Idea, But Doesn't Go Far Enough......
Photo: Flickr, CC
Tragedy of the Commons?
Vélib, the Parisian bike-sharing program, is great. But it would be incorrect to pretend that tout est parfait dans le meilleur des mondes (lit. transl.: everything is perfect in the best of worlds). Vandalism and theft has been a problem, and the latest news aren't good: About 80% of the original 20,600 bicycles have been damaged or stolen and the resources required to fix them or replace them are straining the program's budget. There's even a black market for stolen Vélib bikes in Eastern Europe and Africa......
Yes, it's over the top. You won't be missed on a dark street, however. Photo of a Rotterdam bike via joancg @ flickr.
When the design world discovered that bike commuting is growing in leaps and bounds, city-style cyclists had to take the good with the bad. The good being better-designed solutions to our biking needs, the bad being that better-designed solutions to our biking needs obviously cost more than many of us frugal cyclists want to pay. So, here we comb the web and the TreeHugger archives for a few examples of bike commuting style-plus-affordability. Sometimes solutions don't entail much purchasing, just a bit of bike DIY....
Photo via Flickr
I'm in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two weeks. It's 95 degrees everyday here, and the metro area is a concrete jungle of 23 million fed by street vendors, choked by traffic, and populated by what must be the nicest collection of people on the planet. Scooters fill the narrow streets like swarms of bees, weaving in and out of traffic with reckless abandon. There are no sidewalks or much public transit to speak of, and even if there were to walk anywhere is to agree to become a sweaty mess. When I'm at home, I'm a bike rider who uses his two wheel machines to commute, for exercise, and as political statement to show that we can power ourselves and not be reliant on fossil fuels to live a comfortable life....
Photo: Flickr, CC
Storing, Changing, Buying, Repairing, Inspiring
The UK transport secretary, Andrew Adonis, has launched a new program to encourage more people to commute to work on bicycles. Currently, only about 3% of UK citizens do that, compared to about 40% in Copenhagen. The initiative is named the Cycle to Work Guarantee and it is a voluntary program that workplaces can join. Members are basically sending the message to their current and potential employees that they'll take measures to make safe storage and changing facilities available to bike commuters. The government is also investing about £140m in improved facilities for cyclists over the next three years....
Photo: Mikael at CopenhagenizeBut Would it Work Anywhere Else?
We love Copenhagen (and Copenhagen seems to like TreeHugger too...). They're doing a lot of things right, especially when it comes to encouraging cycling. They even go as far as to build "bicycle superhighways"! Via our friend Mikael at Copenhagenize, we learn that the city's Bicycle Office is now testing "rack-less bike parkings". It seems like it might work in Copenhagen, but would it work anywhere else?...
We've been highlighting a heap of folding bikes recently (see list below). Melon Bikes is another to add to an ever growing collection. Their focus is that the simpler they "can make a bike to maintain, ride, and transport, the more fun you will have owning it." And Melon have opted to go with 20" wheels as an integral part of their story. Suggesting that with a wheel size that owes its heritage to BMX racing, you'll have a blast, "quick-starting to a high speed instantly - no big wheel inertia to overcome."...
Image via: Dave Newkirk
Now with the drop in temperatures for places in the northern hemisphere, cyclists are going to need more layers and also more reflective gear as the sun goes down earlier and earlier. RF-Scarf now makes a scarf that comes in a sleek, black material that when exposed to bright light "magically" becomes reflective. It's a perfect accessory for walking commuters too....
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11.19.09
Image: 
Mikael Colville-Andersen started the original 
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Credit: Dave Askins, 
I always thought I was most likely to get killed by a "right hook", where a car blithely turns the corner without looking and the cyclist goes under the wheels. I lost
Phillies fan bicycle helmet. Image credit:
Image from Mail online
London's cycling mayor, Boris Johnson, is the "knight on a shining bicycle" after he foiled three girls who were attacking a woman late at night. The victim, director of the film 
Photos: 
Image credit: Tour de OG/Opportunity Green Business Conference
When 
Photo: 
Yes, it's over the top. You won't be missed on a dark street, however. Photo of a Rotterdam bike via 
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We've been highlighting a heap of folding bikes recently (see list below). Melon Bikes is another to add to an ever growing collection. Their focus is that the simpler they "can make a bike to maintain, ride, and transport, the more fun you will have owning it." And Melon have opted to go with 20" wheels as an integral part of their story. Suggesting that with a wheel size that owes its heritage to BMX racing, you'll have a blast, "quick-starting to a high speed instantly - no big wheel inertia to overcome."...
Image via: Dave Newkirk
Now with the drop in temperatures for places in the northern hemisphere, 
