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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Saturday, 27 October 2007 |
The current issue of Car Busters magazine poses the question: How do we fix our cities?
When cities were built during the Industrial Revolution, “they were crowded, noisy, crime-ridden, and polluted.” Fast-forward one hundred some-odd years and our modern cities suffer from these same problems. According to Car Buster, cars bear the brunt of the responsibility.
Since the advent of the automobile, city planners, traffic engineers, and government officials have been asking, "How do we keep the traffic flowing?" And by traffic, they meant cars. Cars clog the streets; their noise, fumes, and deadly mass fray nerves, choke the air, and run people under their wheels. But now citizens are taking action, demanding that cities be built for people, not cars.
But, things are changing. The combination of global warming, obesity, the prevalence of debilitating diseases, and general discontent with the structure of our communities seem to have caused many people to reach their tipping point. The momentum is shifting away from a sprawling car culture and towards walkable, centralized communities with green space, networks of multi-use trails, and “complete streets.”
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Thursday, 25 October 2007 |
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Bakfietsen, Dutch for “box bikes,” are bomb-proof, do-it-all urban machines. Load up the kids (as many as three!) and there’s still room to spare for the family’s grocery needs in the bak.
The front box has an impressive 180-lb recommended carrying capacity, and the rear racks can handle another 70 lbs.
Strong wheels, durable tires, a low-maintenance 8-speed Shimano Nexus internally geared hub that offers a huge gear range, a drum brake for all-weather stopping, stainless steel fenders, front and rear generator lights, and an option for a rain canopy round out the package.
The close to $3,000 sticker price may discourage some, but Bakfietsen are a legitimate alternative to a family’s vehicle. Certainly for multicar families this would make a reasonable replacement for one mobile. The end of gasoline or vehicle insurance expenses and the low maintenance fees make Bakfietsen a great choice for a family’s partial carectomy.
These rigs are available in the U.S. through The Dutch Bicycle Company in St Augustine, Florida; in Portland, OR through Clever Cycles ; and in Vancouver, Canada, through Rain City Bikes.
See Also: Bikes Rule in Amsterdam and Utilitarian Pedalling
Photo from Rain City Bikes |
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Thursday, 25 October 2007 |
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The UNC School of Public Health in Chapel Hill has the right approach: The best way to get people to exercise more is to incorporate it into their daily routines. Active Living by Design is the name of the national program they run, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to encourage community design that promotes physical activity.
From Active Living by Design:
There is growing evidence that segregated and spread out land use patterns make walking, biking, transit and other forms of active transportation very difficult, promote automobile dependency and increase health and safety risks for those who are active. A more compact and integrated land use system which is more supportive of active transportation and routine recreational use of parks and greenspace would help make healthy levels of physical activity more attainable for large numbers of people during their daily routine.
The organization is sponsoring 25 community projects nationwide to get people out of their houses, out of their cars, and on their way to a healthier lifestyle. One such project addresses the needs of the people of the HoChunk tribe and citizens of Winnebago, Nebraska. There, commuting pedestrians and cyclists must contend with speeding tractor trailers and cars on U.S. 77 – a road too narrow to accommodate the diverse users. Active Living by Design’s solution, called Wasik Wago (active, or "peppy people" in the tribal language), is to create a network of trails for non-motorized traffic that link commercial centers, residential neighborhoods, and schools.
The first phase of the project is completed and has already had an impact. The initial trail provides 10-foot wide paved paths, landscape design, and traffic signals for bikes. According to Quince Bass, program manager, although many people have flocked to the new trail, children have been the most enthusiastic users. “Each day there are at least 20 to 40 kids out there walking,” says Bass. “They aren’t specifically walking for exercise, but now they have a safe way to get around.”
Our best approach to less car use, a cleaner cooler environment, etc. is in line with Active Living by Design’s mission. We need car-free transportation to be an integral part of our lives, with walking and cycling not marginalized to specific “workout periods.” The added benefit – we get the exercise as part of our daily existence, and not just in chunks of time specifically set aside (and easily skipped when we’re busy).
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
As a newly published research project published by the Urban Land Institute points out, improving vehicle efficiency alone won’t make a dent in the United States’ role in global warming.
In fact, living in a green neighborhood represents a similar reduction in emissions as buying the most efficient hybrid car and living in a typical suburb. Of course the best solution is to drive a super-efficient car and to drive less.
[The authors] warn that if sprawling development continues to fuel growth in driving, the projected 59 percent increase in the total miles driven between 2005 and 2030 will overwhelm expected gains from vehicle efficiency and low-carbon fuels. Even if the most stringent fuel-efficiency proposals under consideration are enacted, notes co-author Steve Winkelman, “vehicle emissions still would be 40 percent above 1990 levels in 2030 – entirely off-track from reductions of 60-80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 required for climate protection.” |
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
Getting around without a car has just become easier. Google recently announced that their Google Transit has graduated from the Beta testing period in their Labs and is now integrated with the main Google Maps site. Google Transit allows travelers to choose public transportation instead of driving and to receive customized directions.
Transit will plot the best course based on the time of departure. The directions feature walking directions to and from public transportation stations, cost of the trip (which is compared to the cost via car), and estimated total time of travel. Although only available in select cities thus far, this project shows the feasibility of going car-free in concrete terms.
Since its beginning, Google Maps has been at the forefront of online trip planning and global exploration. The map navigation tools, built-in overlaid displays of road and satellite maps, and live traffic conditions were cutting edge. Particularly appealing to me was the ability to avoid highways in route planning and the recently-added “ customize your route” feature. Using these tools makes planning and sharing routes for non-car trips (particularly bike rides) a breeze.
Now with Google Transit, getting around unfamiliar cities or becoming more efficient in your own should be a whole lot easier.
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Monday, 22 October 2007 |
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 People in our modern, fast-paced world often seek instant gratification. The boom in bike commuting in Australia is a prime example. Of course, getting regular exercise staves off diabetes and coronary diseases, and keeps you trim and happy. These weren't the factors that pushed the latest cycling boom in Brisbane, however: it was the godawful traffic.
According to the Courier Mail:
The [Brisbane] Inner City Bypass is quickly turning into the inner-city car park after traffic grew by almost 25 per cent in the past year, according to a survey by Rivercity Motorway, builders of Brisbane's North South Bypass Tunnel.
Between construction and a rise in population using area roads, driving a car in Brisbane can now add "slower than a bike" to its list of perks - expensive, stressful, polluting, etc. The average bike commuters now regularly beat their car-crammed competitors to work. They're also integrating exercise into their commute. When you factor in the hour-or-so of cardiovascular activity the car drivers would need to match the cyclists' roundtrip workouts (or the time their lives are shortened by not exercising), then the difference starts to look really significant.
Once commuters are lured by the time savings of cycling, they start to feel healthier and realize some of the other benefits. People in Brisbane are now turning to bicycles for more of their transportation and recreation needs. The Courier Mail referred to one popular route as a "lycra convention on weekend mornings," and pre- and post-ride coffee stops have had a noticeable impact on area businesses. |
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Written by Joshua Liberles
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Sunday, 21 October 2007 |
WannaVeg has taken a novel approach to the hot topic of food and environment. Their Meat Powered Bicycle article demonstrates how, by fueling the “engine” of a bicycle (i.e. the rider) with a meat-based diet, even the super-efficient bicycle starts to look a lot less green. In fact, according to Bicycling Wastes Gas by Michael Bluejay, meat eaters use twice as much fossil fuel to nourish themselves as vegetarians.
From Bicycling Wastes Gas:
It is actually quite astounding how much energy is wasted by the standard American diet-style. Even driving many gas-guzzling luxury cars can conserve energy over walking — that is, when the calories you burn walking come from the standard American diet! This is because the energy needed to produce the food you would burn in walking a given distance is greater than the energy needed to fuel your car to travel the same distance, assuming that the car gets 24 miles per gallon or better. |
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