Melbourne a step closer to city bike hire scheme

Hi Todd

I agree, losely, and want to point to two concepts, that you probably all know, but still :

* A competing and in a way opposite approach to complete streets : Shared space

* The hierarchy, with the pedestrians on top : Strict Liability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/02/strict-liability.html

( And other e.g by googling strict liability bicycle , shared space )

--
Regards / Kvedja
Morten Lange, Reykjavík

--- On Sat, 27/2/10, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@...> wrote:

From: Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@...>
Subject: Re: [WorldCityBike] Hands on handlebars?
To: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "Mikael // Copenhagenize.com" <copenhagenize@...>, "Henry Cutler" <henry@...>, "Michael Koucky" <michael.koucky@...>, "Joachim Bergerhoff" <agimjo@...>, "Ian Perry" <ianenvironmental@...>, "Carlos F. Pardo" <carlosfpardo@...>
Date: Saturday, 27 February, 2010, 11:12
Hi Ian,

My guess is that in the Netherlands or specific regions etc. talking on a mobile whilst cycling is not permitted but is unenforced. (Even the helmet laws for various age groups in other parts of Europe are not enforced).

The real issue is nonsense laws and dangerisation- oriented safety promotion which ignore the whale in the fishbowl/fox in the chicken coop/elephant in the china shop/fighter jet in the bus, wasting time and putting an excess of responsibility onto cyclists (or pedestrians) who are already so responsible (relatively speaking, compared to drivers) that they should be able to sell their responsibility credits on the open market.

In the Canadian-USA pedestrian realm, there are now many complaints about how mobile phone-talking encourages pedestrians to ignore their surroundings. This can be annoying to others, but even if it risks a crash with a vehicle (motorised or not), should the pedestrian be blamed? Again, a legal driver, driving slowly in a tiny little car powered by biogas from organic kibble-eating kitty cats and puppies is still far more obnoxious and inappropriate and undemocratic than any pedestrian (unless the ped is a fascist or shown to be suicidal). I believe the oft-quoted and perhaps slightly misunderstood "99.9% of the time blame the driver in automobile vs. soft road user collisions law" in the NL - and elsewhere - is based on the idea of reality (there are cyclists, who, e.g. have to make sudden movements around obstacles) combined with the proper or even compassionate (or Calvinist) idea of road hierarchy, with peds and cyclists at the top). I am curious if Dutch drivers are also at fault if they hit people chatting away on their mobile.

All of these proclamations from Canada-USA seem to have such a reasonable intention, e.g. "respect other road users" but which manifests itself physically in the bête noire of supposedly progressive urban infrastructure design known in the USA as "Complete Streets".

Transporting clogs by hands-free bicycle is heroic.

- T

eIan Perry wrote:

I am rather shocked to read that Californian cyclists face $100 fines for using a mobile phone when cycling. In Europe (Netherlands) , it is common to see people (cyclists) talking on their phones – sometimes with an additional person balanced on the back of their bicycle.

I presume that under this proposed law I would have been liable for a fine when taking the attached photograph – of a Dutch girl cycling, at speed, with a clog in each hand.

Ian

http://www.sacbee. com/static/ weblogs/capitola lertlatest/ 2010/02/bill- would-rais. html
-- ------------ --------- --------- --------- -----
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
edelman@greenidea. eu
www.greenidea. eu
www.flickr.com/ photos/edelman
CAR* is over. If you want it.
"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

#925

From: Richard Layman <rlaymandc@...>
Date: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:58 pm
Subject: Re: Hands on handlebars?

rlaymandc

Now that I am pushing 50 I have a better understanding of the waves of change and the long period of time required to bring change about--this despite the fact that my first serious job out of college was at a consumer advocacy group with Nader-lineage.

The biggest problem we have in the U.S. is the comparison of where places like Copenhagen or Amsterdam or even Portland OR or Davis CA are today, to other places, without recognizing that what we call their "culture" is actually _structure_, and the structure has been _constructed_ _for many decades_, _first with initial breakthrough decisions_, _supported by incremental and constant improvement going forward_.

So people say to me, "why can't we do [today] here what they are doing in Portland?" And my mouth drops, in fact I almost become paralyzed, because I know about decisions made in the late 1960s to pull down the Waterfront freeway, the 1972 downtown plan in Portland which prioritized transit over parking, etc. and then how many other decisions, dozens if not hundreds were made, often with great difficulty, to extend these decisions into practical and sustainable land use and transportation policies and practices and services.

And I compare where Portland is today in 2010, versus say where the county of 640 square miles in suburban Baltimore Maryland that I am working in is _today_ including

(1) while the state highway dept. has a complete streets policy, the county DPW does not and is militant about it;

(2) the state hasn't extended the idea of complete streets principles to other capital decisionmaking in terms of the siting of public facilities and neither does the county;

(3) little money is budgeted for bicycle improvements, and in fact there is not one foot of traditional 4 or 5 or 6 feet wide of bicycle lane striped in the county (there are a couple places that are signed and striped for class 3 facilities), although there are maybe 4 miles of county trails (more than half produced by citizen efforts) as well as a 23 mile long state trail

(4) no formal bicycle and pedestrian program, no full time permanent bicycle and pedestrian planner;

but (5) the DPW does do a decent traffic calming program and the community development dept. does some good work in improving traditional commercial districts along the lines of walkability.

Or people (and of course, why shouldn't they believe I am a typical government employee just like every other govt. employee) start lecturing me about the principles of sustainable transportation. I stop them (not always gently) and tell them they need to be telling this to their elected officials, not to me...

The reason that shared space scares the hell out of me is not that I don't love the concept, but that because pedestrians and bicyclists (and transit users) are not seen yet as co-equal users let alone priority users within the mobility framework, and we are not ready or more importantly our drivers are not ready to shift.

I am not saying all this to justify failure to change. What I am saying is that we have to construct ways forward, recognizing the structural barriers and working damn hard to address those barriers, in ways that can propel us more quickly forward so that we don't have to take the 40 years that it has taken Portland to get to a better place.

I am constantly thinking about this, what I call developing meta-frameworks and meta-learning, in order to develop a more robust process, based on all the great best practice that exists or is emerging elsewhere.

And in my situation, it means dealing with certain state agencies to try to get mandated changes at that level.

E.g., the state pushes "walk to school programs" but from the ground up. I keep saying "if you mandate that each school district has to do balanced transportation planning and programming, not just provide school buses, along the lines of what is done in Washington State or school districts live Bear Valley in Boulder, CO, then rather than expecting 2,000 different programs to develop ground up, you can create 24 district-wide programs in every school district in the state, and create and support programming at the individual schools that way."

Besides getting local officials to commit intellectually and budget-wise to sustainable transportation, the most important change I think is one of the two that Morten identified, putting strict and primary liability for safety on motorized vehicles vis-a-vis pedestrians and bicyclists. Only then can we move to shared spaces. Right now just by shear use and volume, except in outlier examples like Manhattan, the automobile dominates the environment. As long as legal doctrines do not prioritize the needs of the less protected and the less safe, it is very difficult to make the shifts we need to make.

Nonetheless, many people in many places are doing incredible work that we can all harvest and use to extend the qualities of our own efforts.

But without failing to lay out a meta-process for understanding how to make these changes, which at the end of the day, have to be made at the level of individual towns, cities, counties, and states, it's gonna take a lot longer.

wrt handlebars by the way, most state laws require the use of one hand, not two, but maintaining control. I would argue (even though I do sometimes talk on the phone and ride) that you lose a degree of control when doing this, and that arguably, you could be find in violation of the law.

wrt the laws "against cyclists" as long as motorized traffic dominates, we will be seen as the other, and our infractions as more prominent, despite the fact that drivers of motorized vehicles break more laws more frequently on a daily basis than any bicyclists. Hence, expect more laws focused on bicyclists and less on drivers, except in places where the mobility mix is more balanced.

--- On Sat, 2/27/10, Morten Lange <morten7an@...> wrote:

From: Morten Lange <morten7an@...>
Subject: Re: [WorldCityBike] Hands on handlebars?
To: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010, 9:22 PM
Hi Todd

I agree, losely, and want to point to two concepts, that you probably all know, but still :
* A competing and in a way opposite approach to complete streets : Shared space
* The hierarchy, with the pedestrians on top : Strict Liability

http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Shared_space

http://www.copenhag enize.com/ 2010/02/strict- liability. html

( And other e.g by googling strict liability bicycle , shared space )

--
Regards / Kvedja
Morten Lange, Reykjavík

--- On Sat, 27/2/10, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@greenidea. eu> wrote:
From: Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@greenidea. eu>
Subject: Re: [WorldCityBike] Hands on handlebars?
To: WorldCityBike@ yahoogroups. com
Cc: "Mikael // Copenhagenize. com" <copenhagenize@ gmail.com>, "Henry Cutler" <henry@workcycles. com>, "Michael Koucky" <michael.koucky@ koucky.se>, "Joachim Bergerhoff" <agimjo@gmail. com>, "Ian Perry" <ianenvironmental@ googlemail. com>, "Carlos F. Pardo" <carlosfpardo@ gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, 27 February, 2010, 11:12
Hi Ian,

My guess is that in the Netherlands or specific regions etc. talking on a mobile whilst cycling is not permitted but is unenforced. (Even the helmet laws for various age groups in other parts of Europe are not enforced).

The real issue is nonsense laws and dangerisation- oriented safety promotion which ignore the whale in the fishbowl/fox in the chicken coop/elephant in the china shop/fighter jet in the bus, wasting time and putting an excess of responsibility onto cyclists (or pedestrians) who are already so responsible (relatively speaking, compared to drivers) that they should be able to sell their responsibility credits on the open market.

In the Canadian-USA pedestrian realm, there are now many complaints about how mobile phone-talking encourages pedestrians to ignore their surroundings. This can be annoying to others, but even if it risks a crash with a vehicle (motorised or not), should the pedestrian be blamed? Again, a legal driver, driving slowly in a tiny little car powered by biogas from organic kibble-eating kitty cats and puppies is still far more obnoxious and inappropriate and undemocratic than any pedestrian (unless the ped is a fascist or shown to be suicidal). I believe the oft-quoted and perhaps slightly misunderstood "99.9% of the time blame the driver in automobile vs. soft road user collisions law" in the NL - and elsewhere - is based on the idea of reality (there are cyclists, who, e.g. have to make sudden movements around obstacles) combined with the proper or even compassionate (or Calvinist) idea of road hierarchy, with peds and cyclists at the top). I am curious if Dutch drivers are also at fault if they hit people chatting away on their mobile.

All of these proclamations from Canada-USA seem to have such a reasonable intention, e.g. "respect other road users" but which manifests itself physically in the bête noire of supposedly progressive urban infrastructure design known in the USA as "Complete Streets".

Transporting clogs by hands-free bicycle is heroic.

- T

eIan Perry wrote:

I am rather shocked to read that Californian cyclists face $100 fines for using a mobile phone when cycling. In Europe (Netherlands) , it is common to see people (cyclists) talking on their phones – sometimes with an additional person balanced on the back of their bicycle.

I presume that under this proposed law I would have been liable for a fine when taking the attached photograph – of a Dutch girl cycling, at speed, with a clog in each hand.

Ian

http://www.sacbee. com/static/ weblogs/capitola lertlatest/ 2010/02/bill- would-rais. html
-- 
------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory

Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany

Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081

edelman@greenidea. eu
www.greenidea. eu
www.flickr.com/ photos/edelman

CAR* is over. If you want it.

"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" 
- B. Brecht (with slight modification)

* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

#926

From: "Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory" <edelman@...>
Date: Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:16 pm
Subject: Re: Hands on handlebars?

traintowards...

Hi Morten,

Regarding Shared Space and Complete Streets, it is perhaps best to step back a few years in time....

So, here we are, sometime in the early 20th century (depending on where you are - if just in the West and not all of the developing world). Automobiles are going fast, people are getting hit. However, these road vehicles have not quite taken over yet. One response is to install pedestrian crossings. The overlooked intention of this was that it essentially said that every part of the street NOT in the crossing belongs to the automobile (or bus -- trams had a defined area to use which helps a lot -- they had problems with pedestrians earlier but we are not going back that far in history).

So, it was (also) automobile domination masquerading as pedestrian safety. (This is not an argument against pedestrian crossing implementation in a place - e.g. several developing world cities we have oft seen on sister lists to this one - where road traffic has completely taken over and top-down Shared Space is impossible and pedestrian over-under crossings are not recommended.)

Complete Streets is perhaps the pinnacle of the evolutionary trajectory which started back then. That original pedestrian crossing had a secondary or primary intention to preserve the right of automobiles to move inside cities. Let's be fair and specific and identify these as overwhelmingly private automobiles. Shared Space does the same thing. Shared Space is Complete Streets, with Wine, on the Way to the Cinema! Huh?....

Please see "Just Say No to Shared Streets" <http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/sharedstreets/index.php?id=198> Sort of unfortunate name, oh well. Also, they say "Streets" instead of "Space". I found that link on the Shared Space Wiki entry. Monderman addressed this issue by saying that consultations were necessary and at <http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/sharedstreets/index.php?id=203> you can see that some kind of compromise has been suggested some time back (the "safe space") but it still seems that the campaign is ongoing, full steam.

What is missing from their campaign? Shared Space, Complete Streets, and Just Say No to Shared Streets basically take it as a given, even a permanent given, that unguided rubber-tyred road vehicles will always be in cities. Shared Space and Complete Streets create friendly-sounding solutions which can and do provide benefits, if not to all pedestrians. Just Say No... also makes the big error of not questioning automobile dominance. In the USA, Complete Streets isn't just language but existing and proposed legislation <http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2009/11/regarding-compleat-streets.html>, or laws which intend to make concrete oversimplified or even revisionist language.

There is an additional and not less important issue regarding the huge amount of resources needed to produce and repair automobiles and finally the question of what all these vehicles do when not in Shared or Complete Space.

- T

* I realise that cities and towns cannot be made carfree (better: inappropriate vehicle system free) overnight, so I support carshare as a short- to medium-term solution until cities and towns are optimised to the point where automobiles and other inappropriate vehicles and their systems are neither needed nor desired.
** Bicycles and vision-impaired people together in carfree shared space is for me an interesting topic -- do we have statistics on any bike vs. blind collisions?

Morten Lange wrote:

Hi Todd

I agree, losely, and want to point to two concepts, that you probably all know, but still :

* A competing and in a way opposite approach to complete streets : Shared space

* The hierarchy, with the pedestrians on top : Strict Liability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/02/strict-liability.html

( And other e.g by googling strict liability bicycle , shared space )

--
Regards / Kvedja
Morten Lange, Reykjavík

--- On Sat, 27/2/10, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@greenidea.eu> wrote:
From: Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@greenidea.eu>
Subject: Re: [WorldCityBike] Hands on handlebars?
To: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "Mikael // Copenhagenize.com" <copenhagenize@gmail.com>, "Henry Cutler" <henry@workcycles.com>, "Michael Koucky" <michael.koucky@koucky.se>, "Joachim Bergerhoff" <agimjo@gmail.com>, "Ian Perry" <ianenvironmental@googlemail.com>, "Carlos F. Pardo" <carlosfpardo@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, 27 February, 2010, 11:12
Hi Ian,

My guess is that in the Netherlands or specific regions etc. talking on a mobile whilst cycling is not permitted but is unenforced. (Even the helmet laws for various age groups in other parts of Europe are not enforced).

The real issue is nonsense laws and dangerisation- oriented safety promotion which ignore the whale in the fishbowl/fox in the chicken coop/elephant in the china shop/fighter jet in the bus, wasting time and putting an excess of responsibility onto cyclists (or pedestrians) who are already so responsible (relatively speaking, compared to drivers) that they should be able to sell their responsibility credits on the open market.

In the Canadian-USA pedestrian realm, there are now many complaints about how mobile phone-talking encourages pedestrians to ignore their surroundings. This can be annoying to others, but even if it risks a crash with a vehicle (motorised or not), should the pedestrian be blamed? Again, a legal driver, driving slowly in a tiny little car powered by biogas from organic kibble-eating kitty cats and puppies is still far more obnoxious and inappropriate and undemocratic than any pedestrian (unless the ped is a fascist or shown to be suicidal). I believe the oft-quoted and perhaps slightly misunderstood "99.9% of the time blame the driver in automobile vs. soft road user collisions law" in the NL - and elsewhere - is based on the idea of reality (there are cyclists, who, e.g. have to make sudden movements around obstacles) combined with the proper or even compassionate (or Calvinist) idea of road hierarchy, with peds and cyclists at the top). I am curious if Dutch drivers are also at fault if they hit people chatting away on their mobile.

All of these proclamations from Canada-USA seem to have such a reasonable intention, e.g. "respect other road users" but which manifests itself physically in the bête noire of supposedly progressive urban infrastructure design known in the USA as "Complete Streets".

Transporting clogs by hands-free bicycle is heroic.

- T

eIan Perry wrote:

I am rather shocked to read that Californian cyclists face $100 fines for using a mobile phone when cycling. In Europe (Netherlands) , it is common to see people (cyclists) talking on their phones – sometimes with an additional person balanced on the back of their bicycle.

I presume that under this proposed law I would have been liable for a fine when taking the attached photograph – of a Dutch girl cycling, at speed, with a clog in each hand.

Ian

http://www.sacbee. com/static/ weblogs/capitola lertlatest/ 2010/02/bill- would-rais. html
-- ------------ --------- --------- --------- -----
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
edelman@greenidea. eu
www.greenidea. eu
www.flickr.com/ photos/edelman
CAR* is over. If you want it.
"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

-- --------------------------------------------
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
edelman@...
www.greenidea.eu
www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
CAR* is over. If you want it.
"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

#927

From: "Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory" <edelman@...>
Date: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:48 pm
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Hands on handlebars? [1 Attachment]]

traintowards...

From Henry Cutler:

Todd en Co.,

Actually talking on the mobile while cycling is perfectly legal in the Netherlands. There are some working to change that but it doesn't seem a serious initiative or issue. Yes, a Dutch motorist who hits a cyclist talking on the mobile, smoking, carrying a bundle of tulips, all on a bike with no lights or brakes... is still at fault.

As far I I know there are still also no helmet laws in the NL for any age, though the province of Zeeland (with amongst the lowest cycling rates in the country) has made some noise about promoting helmet use for kids.

Groeten,

Henry

--�

Henry Cutler

WorkCycles B.V.

Lijnbaansgracht 32B-Hs � �1015 GP Amsterdam

t +31 020.522.6000 � � � � � �f +31 020.522.6009

Veemarkt 150 A � � � � 1019 DE Amsterdam

t +31 020.689.7879� f +31 020.689.2261

m +31 06.1874.1307 � ��

skype: henrycutler

www.workcycles.com

www.workcycles.nl

& for fun & philosophy: www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl

On 27 feb 2010, at 12:12, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory wrote:

Hi Ian,

My guess is that in the Netherlands or specific regions etc. talking on a mobile whilst cycling is not permitted but is unenforced. (Even the helmet laws for various age groups in other parts of Europe are not enforced).

The real issue is nonsense laws and dangerisation-oriented safety promotion which ignore the whale in the fishbowl/fox in the chicken coop/elephant in the china shop/fighter jet in the bus, wasting time and putting an excess of responsibility onto cyclists (or pedestrians) who are already so responsible (relatively speaking, compared to drivers) that they should be able to sell their responsibility credits on the open market.

In the Canadian-USA pedestrian realm, there are now many complaints about how mobile phone-talking encourages pedestrians to ignore their surroundings. This can be annoying to others, but even if it risks a crash with a vehicle (motorised or not), should the pedestrian be blamed? Again, a legal driver, driving slowly� in a tiny little car powered by biogas from organic kibble-eating kitty cats and puppies is still far more obnoxious and inappropriate and undemocratic than any pedestrian (unless the ped is a fascist or shown to be suicidal).� I believe the oft-quoted and perhaps slightly misunderstood "99.9% of the time blame the driver in automobile vs. soft road user collisions law" in the NL - and elsewhere - is based on the idea of reality (there are cyclists, who, e.g. have to make sudden movements around obstacles) combined with the proper or even compassionate (or Calvinist) idea of road hierarchy, with peds and cyclists at the top). I am curious if Dutch drivers are also at fault if they hit people chatting away on their mobile.

All of these proclamations from Canada-USA seem to have such a reasonable intention, e.g. "respect other road users" but which manifests itself physically in theb�te noire�of supposedly progressive urban infrastructure design known in the USA as "Complete Streets".�

Transporting clogs by hands-free bicycle is heroic.

- T

eIan Perry wrote:

[Attachment(s)�from Ian Perry included below]
I am rather shocked to read that Californian cyclists face $100 fines for using a mobile phone when cycling.��In Europe (Netherlands), it is common to see people (cyclists) talking on their phones � sometimes with an additional person balanced on the back of their bicycle.

I presume that under this proposed law I would have been liable for a fine when taking the attached photograph � of a Dutch girl cycling, at speed, with a clog in each hand.

Ian

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/02/bill-would-rais.html

-- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory Urbanstr. 45 D-10967 Berlin Germany Skype: toddedelman Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081 edelman@... www.greenidea.eu www.flickr.com/photos/edelman CAR* is over. If you want it. "Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification) * "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

-- --------------------------------------------
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
edelman@...
www.greenidea.eu
www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
CAR* is over. If you want it.
"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

#928

From: Ian Perry <ianenvironmental@...>
Date: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:00 pm
Subject: Re: Hands on handlebars?

ecomobilitian

Hi Todd,

Regulation that appears harmless or unenforced today, may present us with problems tomorrow. �Bicycles can be dangerous, and one of the motives for New York's traffic code in 1897, that restricted bicycles to 8mph - which was probably at that time�unenforceable.�

Would a regulation to force people to have two hands on the handlebars, force those who currently cycle despite only having one arm to purchase a car?

I argue that�hands-free�mobile phone use is more dangerous than holding a handset, and gives you the appearance of being "a little mad". �We are currently educating people to believe that it is safe to talk on the phone if you are �hands free�. �Holding your phone makes driving or cycling more difficult, allows others to know what you are doing and perhaps keeps you from "drifting off" into the conversation...

In this part of the Netherlands, the police are super keen to fine cyclists who are missing a bicycle light or have gone through a red traffic light - despite evidence from the next town that removing traffic lights increases safety.�Cycling should be liberating and not risk the unwanted and unnecessary attention of the police.

Holding a mobile phone is not dangerous when cycling - or no more so than holding bags, or using one hand to steady the crate of beer that you have balanced on your bicycle behind you.��What is important is that the cyclist pays attention to their surroundings and avoids "conflict".� Is regulation suitable for this?

The pedestrian, who may be blind or intoxicated, should always have right of way.��Car drivers and cyclists should not expect pedestrians to be paying attention, no matter what their apparent age or physical appearance.�

There are very few taxi�s in this part of the Netherlands, because most people are able to cycle home from bars, despite consuming a lot of alcohol.� If Dutch cyclists were regulated under the same laws as motorists in the Netherlands, there would be very few bicycles here. ��

It is interesting that �shared space� is a problem in some countries and a solution in many parts of Europe, and increasingly the US, New Zealand, etc. �Is this because motorists are better regulated in these countries and fear legal and financial consequences of being involved in an accident, or is it social expectations that ensure drivers behave considerately and �responsibly� when children are stood in the street in front of them?�

It is too true that most people expect the automobile to dominate our streets forever.

Ian

On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 2:16 PM, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@...> wrote:

Hi Morten,

Regarding Shared Space and Complete Streets, it is perhaps best to step back a few years in time....

So, here we are, sometime in the early 20th century (depending on where you are - if just in the West and not all of the developing world). Automobiles are going fast, people are getting hit. However, these road vehicles have not quite taken over yet. One response is to install pedestrian crossings. The overlooked intention of this was that it essentially said that every part of the street NOT in the crossing belongs to the automobile (or bus -- trams had a defined area to use which helps a lot -- they had problems with pedestrians earlier but we are not going back that far in history).

So, it was (also) automobile domination masquerading as pedestrian safety. (This is not an argument against pedestrian crossing implementation in a place - e.g. several developing world cities we have oft seen on sister lists to this one - where road traffic has completely taken over and top-down Shared Space is impossible and pedestrian over-under crossings are not recommended.)

Complete Streets is perhaps the pinnacle of the evolutionary trajectory which started back then. That original pedestrian crossing had a secondary or primary intention to preserve the right of automobiles to move inside cities. Let's be fair and specific and identify these as overwhelmingly private automobiles. Shared Space does the same thing. Shared Space is Complete Streets, with Wine, on the Way to the Cinema! Huh?....

Please see "Just Say No to Shared Streets" <http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/sharedstreets/index.php?id=198> Sort of unfortunate name, oh well. Also, they say "Streets" instead of "Space". I found that� link on the Shared Space Wiki entry. Monderman addressed this issue by saying that consultations were necessary and at <http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/sharedstreets/index.php?id=203> you can see that some kind of compromise has been suggested some time back (the "safe space") but it still seems that the campaign is ongoing, full steam.

What is missing from their campaign? Shared Space, Complete Streets, and Just Say No to Shared Streets basically take it as a given, even a permanent given, that unguided rubber-tyred road vehicles will always be in cities. Shared Space and Complete Streets create friendly-sounding solutions which can and do provide benefits, if not to all pedestrians. Just Say No... also makes the big error of not questioning automobile dominance. In the USA, Complete Streets isn't just language but existing and proposed legislation <http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2009/11/regarding-compleat-streets.html>, or laws which intend to make concrete oversimplified or even revisionist language.

There is an additional and not less important issue regarding the huge amount of resources needed to produce and repair automobiles and finally the question of what all these vehicles do when not in Shared or Complete Space.

- T

* I realise that cities and towns cannot be made carfree (better: inappropriate vehicle system free) overnight, so I support carshare as a short- to medium-term solution until cities and towns are optimised to the point where automobiles and other inappropriate vehicles and their systems are neither needed nor desired.
** Bicycles and vision-impaired people together in carfree shared space is for me an interesting topic -- do we have statistics on any bike vs. blind collisions?

Morten Lange wrote:
�
Hi Todd�

I agree, losely, and want to point to two concepts, that you probably all know, but still :

* A competing and in a way opposite approach to complete streets : Shared space

* The hierarchy, with the pedestrians on top : Strict Liability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space

http://www.copenhag enize.com/2010/02/strict-liability.html

( And other e.g by googling � strict liability bicycle , shared space )

--
Regards / Kvedja
Morten Lange, Reykjav�k

--- On Sat, 27/2/10, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@...> wrote:
From: Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman@...>
Subject: Re: [WorldCityBike] Hands on handlebars?
To: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "Mikael // Copenhagenize.com" <copenhagenize@...>, "Henry Cutler" <henry@...>, "Michael Koucky" <michael.koucky@...>, "Joachim Bergerhoff" <agimjo@...>, "Ian Perry" <ianenvironmental@...>, "Carlos F. Pardo" <carlosfpardo@...>
Date: Saturday, 27 February, 2010, 11:12
�
Hi Ian,

My guess is that in the Netherlands or specific regions etc. talking on a mobile whilst cycling is not permitted but is unenforced. (Even the helmet laws for various age groups in other parts of Europe are not enforced).

The real issue is nonsense laws and dangerisation- oriented safety promotion which ignore the whale in the fishbowl/fox in the chicken coop/elephant in the china shop/fighter jet in the bus, wasting time and putting an excess of responsibility onto cyclists (or pedestrians) who are already so responsible (relatively speaking, compared to drivers) that they should be able to sell their responsibility credits on the open market.

In the Canadian-USA pedestrian realm, there are now many complaints about how mobile phone-talking encourages pedestrians to ignore their surroundings. This can be annoying to others, but even if it risks a crash with a vehicle (motorised or not), should the pedestrian be blamed? Again, a legal driver, driving slowly� in a tiny little car powered by biogas from organic kibble-eating kitty cats and puppies is still far more obnoxious and inappropriate and undemocratic than any pedestrian (unless the ped is a fascist or shown to be suicidal).� I believe the oft-quoted and perhaps slightly misunderstood "99.9% of the time blame the driver in automobile vs. soft road user collisions law" in the NL - and elsewhere - is based on the idea of reality (there are cyclists, who, e.g. have to make sudden movements around obstacles) combined with the proper or even compassionate (or Calvinist) idea of road hierarchy, with peds and cyclists at the top). I am curious if Dutch drivers are also at fault if they hit people chatting away on their mobile.

All of these proclamations from Canada-USA seem to have such a reasonable intention, e.g. "respect other road users" but which manifests itself physically in the b�te noire of supposedly progressive urban infrastructure design known in the USA as "Complete Streets".

Transporting clogs by hands-free bicycle is heroic.

- T

eIan Perry wrote:

�

I am rather shocked to read that Californian cyclists face $100 fines for using a mobile phone when cycling.� In Europe (Netherlands) , it is common to see people (cyclists) talking on their phones � sometimes with an additional person balanced on the back of their bicycle.

I presume that under this proposed law I would have been liable for a fine when taking the attached photograph � of a Dutch girl cycling, at speed, with a clog in each hand.

Ian

http://www.sacbee. com/static/ weblogs/capitola lertlatest/ 2010/02/bill- would-rais. html
-- 
------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory

Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany

Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081

edelman@greenidea. eu
www.greenidea. eu
www.flickr.com/ photos/edelman

CAR* is over. If you want it.

"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" 
- B. Brecht (with slight modification)

* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity
-- --------------------------------------------
Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory
Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany
Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
edelman@...
www.greenidea.eu
www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
CAR* is over. If you want it.
"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity

#929

From: "Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory" <edelman@...>
Date: Mon Mar 1, 2010 8:27 pm
Subject: Re: Bike Sharing in Mexico City

traintowards...

Stockholm City Bikes - Original.pdf

Hi Xavier,

Thanks for all this info.

MORE below: Xavier Treviño wrote:

>>* How they show lots of unhelmeted people talking about and enjoying
>the bikes
>>* How it seems it is going to drive new pro-cycling regulations --
>though of course it would be nice if this happened already

In the same day of the Ecobici opening, there was an interesting change on bike regulation:
http://www.consejeria.df.gob.mx/gaceta/pdf/FEBRERO_17_10.pdf

WAS this something about helmets, mentioned below? Could not find it...

[...]

>>I AM CONFUSED:
>
>>* About the helmeted cyclists -- what do they do with their helmets
>whilst not riding? As I understand it, helmets are not meant to be
>carried around too much as it can weaken them. Since people who want to
>use helmets will be limited in their spontaneity, showing them in the
>video implies safety which in reality may be hard to achieve (assuming
>helmets always help in a crash). One guy was wearing a helmet very
>poorly, with loose straps. Not good.

Helmets are now non mandatory, so given the small area of the bike system, I do not think anybody will use helmet.

THIS is really great news. As you might know Israel has already or soon might be rolling back some helmet legislation and of course we all know about Australia and New Zealand.

>>* Why it shuts down at midnight? Did the taxi lobby make this happen?

Some type of security issue. I don´t really know. Clear Channel imported the system from Europe, I don´t know if Barcelona has this kind of restrictions

OK, LET US compare this to other Clear Channel bike share operations at the closest latitude - if not attitude -to D.F...

BARCELONA - BICING (info is machine-translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/2hm2qc>
"...The service is operational 365 days a year on this schedule:
Sunday to Thursday: The service is open all day except for midnight until 5am, beyond which time can only be realized returns of bicycles.
Friday and Saturday: The service operates 24 hours..."

MILANO - BIKE MI
<http://tinyurl.com/dekzth>
"The service is available 365 days a year from 7 am to 11 pm (until 2 am in the summer)."

PERPIGNAN - BIP! (translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm>
"The service is operational 365 days a year and 24/24."

***

.

>>* About the age cut off... is it 16 or 18? What is the problem if these
>people can get financial guarantees from their parents? (What is the
>legal driving age in Mexico?)

It really does not matter, because the parents can buy the card and give to anybody.

I OF course have no interest in making cycling seem more dangerous but what happens if someone under 18 has a crash? Is their case weakened in regards to blame? Criminal action against parents, etc. is possible?

BARCELONA - BICING
<http://tinyurl.com/yc6zs4g>

"16 or older. People between 16 and 18 always authorized legal guardian..."

MILANO - BIKE MI
<http://tinyurl.com/dekzth>
"You must be 16 years or older to use the BikeMi service"

PERPIGNAN - BIP! (translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm>
"This service is prohibited to minors under 14 years."

>>I HAVE NO information about the financing

A small part (maybe 20% or so?) will be advertising, maybe 15% fares (25 dlls per year) and the rest direct $ from city government.

>>* I tried looking around the website and many of the news articles
>(with Google translate) but could not find a thing. So it is hard to
>comment on this crucial point.

You can ask me if you want. This kind of contracts are rarely public.

This just in from Stockholm City Hall, regarding the contract between Stockholm City Hall and Clear Channel for "Stockholm City Bikes":

"Dear Mr Edelman
Thanks for your letter. This contract is like most public contracts, according to Swedish law,
totally open for everyone. Please notice attached file."

Hopefully this info can help you in D.F. The original, a scan of hard copy document in Swedish AND OCR version - also in Swedish - are attached to this email. I tried a Swedish to English translation with Google Translate, but it did not work so well, i.e. way too much clean up. So people will have to work with these two documents, and translate (also manually) to Spanish, etc.

We wanted to know the Barcelona experience before signing the contract in Mexico City, in order to don´t making the same mistakes, but the catalán guys (from the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) did not help us.

THANKS again,
T

>
>>Have fun on your bikes,
>>T
>
>>Eric Britton wrote:
>
> >>
>>Eric,
>>
>>Your
>>readers interested in Public Use Bicycling might be
>>interested in the largest and newest bike sharing program in the
>>Spanish
>>speaking Americas: http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/2010/02/north-americas-newest-and-largest.html
>>
>>Russell
>>Meddin
>>>>Bike Share Philadelphia
>>www.bikesharephilad elphia.org
>>>> http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com
>>>>(o)215 567 6767 (fax) 215 567 6769
>>>>(m)215 460 0046
>
>
>--
>------------ --------- --------- --------- -----
>
>Todd Edelman
>Green Idea Factory
>
>Urbanstr. 45
>D-10967 Berlin
>Germany
>
>Skype: toddedelman
>Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
>
>edelman@greenidea. eu www.greenidea. eu www.flickr.com/ photos/edelman
>
>CAR* is over. If you want it.
>
>"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!"
>- B. Brecht (with slight modification)
>
>* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity
> >
>

2 of 2 File(s)

Stockholm City Bikes - OCR Swedish text.doc

Reply | Messages in this Topic (5)

#930

From: Utkin Marek <mutkin@...>
Date: Mon Mar 1, 2010 10:44 pm
Subject: ODP: Bike Sharing in Mexico City [2 Attachments]

mutkin@...

It's quite stupid to have non-operational bikes at night. Someone, who missed
the bus or metro in the middle of the night, would demolish a bike, which is
standing on the street and can't use it -- due to frustration.

We in Warsaw are preparing PSB system and it should work 24/7.

Marek Utkin
________________________________________
Od: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com [WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com] w imieniu Todd
Edelman, Green Idea Factory [edelman@...]
Wysłano: 1 marca 2010 21:27
Do: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com
Temat: Re: [WorldCityBike] Bike Sharing in Mexico City [2 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory included below]

Hi Xavier,

Thanks for all this info.

MORE below: Xavier Treviño wrote:

>>* How they show lots of unhelmeted people talking about and enjoying
>the bikes
>>* How it seems it is going to drive new pro-cycling regulations --
>though of course it would be nice if this happened already

In the same day of the Ecobici opening, there was an interesting change on bike
regulation:
http://www.consejeria.df.gob.mx/gaceta/pdf/FEBRERO_17_10.pdf

WAS this something about helmets, mentioned below? Could not find it...

[...]

>>I AM CONFUSED:
>
>>* About the helmeted cyclists -- what do they do with their helmets
>whilst not riding? As I understand it, helmets are not meant to be
>carried around too much as it can weaken them. Since people who want to
>use helmets will be limited in their spontaneity, showing them in the
>video implies safety which in reality may be hard to achieve (assuming
>helmets always help in a crash). One guy was wearing a helmet very
>poorly, with loose straps. Not good.

Helmets are now non mandatory, so given the small area of the bike system, I do
not think anybody will use helmet.

THIS is really great news. As you might know Israel has already or soon might be
rolling back some helmet legislation and of course we all know about Australia
and New Zealand.

>>* Why it shuts down at midnight? Did the taxi lobby make this happen?

Some type of security issue. I don´t really know. Clear Channel imported the
system from Europe, I don´t know if Barcelona has this kind of restrictions

OK, LET US  compare this to other Clear Channel bike share operations at the
closest latitude - if not attitude -to D.F...

BARCELONA - BICING (info is machine-translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/2hm2qc><http://tinyurl.com/2hm2qc>
"...The service is operational 365 days a year on this schedule:
Sunday to Thursday: The service is open all day except for midnight until 5am,
beyond which time can only be realized returns of bicycles.
Friday and Saturday: The service operates 24 hours..."

MILANO -  BIKE MI
<http://tinyurl.com/dekzth><http://tinyurl.com/dekzth>
"The service is available 365 days a year from 7 am to 11 pm (until 2 am in the
summer)."

PERPIGNAN - BIP! (translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm><http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm>
"The service is operational 365 days a year and 24/24."

***

.

>>* About the age cut off... is it 16 or 18? What is the problem if these
>people can get financial guarantees from their parents? (What is the
>legal driving age in Mexico?)

It really does not matter, because the parents can buy the card and give to
anybody.

I OF course have no interest in making cycling seem more dangerous but what
happens if someone under 18 has a crash? Is their case weakened in regards to
blame? Criminal action against parents, etc. is possible?

BARCELONA - BICING
<http://tinyurl.com/yc6zs4g><http://tinyurl.com/yc6zs4g>
"16 or older. People between 16 and 18 always authorized legal guardian..."

MILANO -  BIKE MI
<http://tinyurl.com/dekzth><http://tinyurl.com/dekzth>
"You must be 16 years or older to use the BikeMi service"

PERPIGNAN - BIP! (translated)
<http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm><http://tinyurl.com/y9qlbrm>
"This service is prohibited to minors under 14 years."

>>I HAVE NO information about the financing

A small part (maybe 20% or so?) will be advertising, maybe 15% fares (25 dlls
per year) and the rest direct $ from city government.

OK

>>* I tried looking around the website and many of the news articles
>(with Google translate) but could not find a thing. So it is hard to
>comment on this crucial point.

You can ask me if you want. This kind of contracts are rarely public.

This just in from Stockholm City Hall, regarding the contract between Stockholm
City Hall and Clear Channel for "Stockholm City Bikes":

"Dear Mr Edelman

Thanks for your letter.

This contract is like most public contracts, according to Swedish law,
totally open for everyone. Please notice attached file."

Hopefully this info can help you in D.F. The original, a scan of hard copy
document in Swedish AND OCR version - also in Swedish  - are attached to this
email. I tried a Swedish to English translation with Google Translate, but it
did not work so well, i.e. way too much clean up.  So people will have to work
with these two documents, and translate (also manually)  to Spanish, etc.

We wanted to know the Barcelona experience before signing the contract in Mexico
City, in order to don´t making the same mistakes, but the catalán guys (from
the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) did not help us.

THANKS again,
T

>
>>Have fun on your bikes,
>>T
>
>>Eric Britton wrote:
>
> >>
>>Eric,
>>
>>Your
>>readers interested in Public Use Bicycling might be
>>interested in the largest and newest bike sharing program in the
>>Spanish
>>speaking Americas:
http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/2010/02/north-americas-newest-and-largest.html
>>
>>Russell
>>Meddin
>>>>Bike Share Philadelphia
>>www.bikesharephil<http://www.bikesharephil>ad elphia.org
>>>> http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com
>>>>(o)215 567 6767 (fax) 215 567 6769
>>>>(m)215 460 0046
>
>
>--
>------------ --------- --------- --------- -----
>
>Todd Edelman
>Green Idea Factory
>
>Urbanstr. 45
>D-10967 Berlin
>Germany
>
>Skype: toddedelman
>Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
>
>edelman@greenidea. eu www.greenidea<http://www.greenidea>. eu
www.flickr.com/<http://www.flickr.com/> photos/edelman
>
>CAR* is over. If you want it.
>
>"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!"
>- B. Brecht (with slight modification)
>
>* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately,
opportunistically or without creativity
> >
>

Reply | Messages in this Topic (5)

#931

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue Mar 2, 2010 12:34 pm
Subject: Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development

fekbritton

It's March. Let's go to the movies:

Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development

"Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development in New York City" opens a new Streetfilms series that examines what went wrong in the early part of the 20th Century, when our cities began catering to the automobile, and how those decisions continue to affect our lives today. The irrepressible Elizabeth Press points her camera at Paul White of New York's Transportation Alternatives who tells us the story.

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

--> Discussions on New Mobility Forum at www.newmobility.org (Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com)

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#932

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Mar 3, 2010 3:52 pm
Subject: The World Streets Forum, Library and Reading Room

fekbritton

The World Streets Forum, Library and Reading Room

There are several alternative ways of accessing and keeping track of the considerable daily contents of World Streets, among them the various RSS links and bookmarks you will see the top of the menu just your left. It has been our experience in other programs of the New Mobility Agenda, that one of the best ways for colleagues to tie all of this together is by joining the group forum, as introduced here.

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

--> Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#933

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Mar 3, 2010 4:33 pm
Subject: World Streets - change in notification routine starts today

fekbritton

Heavy traffic on the way to sustainable cities and sustainable lives . . .

Paris, Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Dear New Mobility colleagues,

Yesterday World Streets celebrated its first anniversary. Hurrah! And one of our hopes for Year 2 is that we will now become not only better but also more efficient, including in our certainly too copious mailings to several of our New Mobility fora in our (too) earnest attempts to keep you all informed about progress and publications.

As part of this, starting today we have decided to simplify radically the process of communication about our articles and contributions. To this end we have created a separate forum which you are invited to visit at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets/. And for an explanation of how this works, we would refer you to today's lead posting at www.WorldStreets.org, entitled "The World Streets Forum, Library and Reading Room".

Against this backdrop, the present note is to invite you, if you are interested to follow what is going on in the world's only sustainable transportation daily, to do one of two things, both of which considerably more efficient than my relentless peppering of several of our New Mobility fora with almost daily postings over these last months.

· The first option is to invite you to sign in to the new forum, for which you will find full details in today's lead article.

· The second will be to suggest you set up an RSS link, for which you will see full guidelines in the left column of the journal.

That's it. World Streets is a great read, but we have to make it easier and more agreeable for all of us in the future. I hope you appreciate this advance, and as always we look forward to your suggestions and eventual contributions to the Journal.

With all good wishes,

Eric Britton

Managing editor

For World Streets at worldstreets.org

#934

From: Morten Lange <morten7an@...>
Date: Fri Mar 5, 2010 2:48 pm
Subject: Reinventing the Wheel: Why Cycling Saves Lives ( Insurer site on green issues)

morten7an

Hi,

I thought some of you might be interested in this article :


Reinventing the Wheel: Why Cycling Saves Lives

The freezing, windswept roads of Iceland don’t sound like the best place for
avid cyclists. Morten Lange, head of the Icelandic Cyclists' Federation,
disagrees, arguing that cycling could save your life.

http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/energy_co2/transportation/cycling_b\
ike_iceland_danger_accidents.html


The background :

The editor of this greenish website of the german insurance comapany Allianz,
noticed some comments from me criticising the safety messages on the site, as
well as (via twitter) pointing out bicycling as a viable alternative when his
article pointed out the many pitfalls of biological fuel replacelments.

He then contacted  me via twitter and conducted the interview above  by email. I
am telling you this as an example of advocacy taking strange paths ... and of
course some of the ideas and knowledge I feel need more exposure, transpire in
the interview.



--
Regards / Kvedja
Morten Lange, Reykjavík

#935

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Fri Mar 5, 2010 6:32 pm
Subject: [World Streets] Reinventing the Wheel: "Why Cycling Saves Lives"

fekbritton

Reinventing the Wheel: "Why Cycling Saves Lives"

The freezing, windswept roads of Iceland don’t sound like the best place for avid cyclists. Morten Lange, head of the Icelandic Cyclists' Federation in an interview with the editor of the Allianz Knowledge Partnership, disagrees, arguing that cycling could save your life.

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

-- > Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#936

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon Mar 8, 2010 8:39 am
Subject: Musing: Chopin, sustainable transport and sustainable lives

fekbritton

Musing: Chopin, sustainable transport and sustainable lives

All of us who show up here, well most of us anyway, have come to understand that we can't simply cut matters of "transport" with one snip away from the rest of the fabric of our daily lives. Which is why we continually keep repeating phrases like "sustainable cities and sustainable lives" (perhaps much to your annoyance, eh?). Which brings us on this early and cold Sunday morning in Paris to the perhaps surprising link between World Streets and Fr�d�ric Chopin. That's right, Fr�d�ric Chopin.

------------------------------------
Is this too much of a weekend stretch? You tell me.

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/�

-- > Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

�� +331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#937

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:04 am
Subject: [World Streets] Il bike sharing in Italia: (This is a language laboratory experiment)..

fekbritton

Il bike sharing in Italia: un'istantanea del 2010.

(This is a language laboratory experiment)

You may have noticed that the first half of the title of this journal is the word "World", and that to us carries a real obligation. If we bear in mind that there are barely five hundred million of us who use English more or less easily as our daily working language, that leaves something like six billion who do not. Oops. So if we feel any commitment at all to be true to that first half of our title, this is clearly something we have to figure out.

Figure out with a little help from our friends, fortunately, in this case Google Translate. So this first "language lab" experiment will be in cooperation with our excellent Italian sister publication Nuova Mobilità, from whom we have selected a recent article that we know will be of interest to many of our readers -- and then to turn it over to you so that, if you wish, the full text will be accessible to you in an operational if not quite Shakespearian English (or more than a dozen other languages of your choice), with a single click. And oh yes, the topic is our report on bicycle sharing in Italy. But of course you already figured that one out.

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

--> No broadband? No problem. Find it on the Open Edition at www.open.WorldStreets.org

-- > Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/ & www.open.worldstreets.org

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#938

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:55 am
Subject: Melbourne a step closer to city bike hire scheme

fekbritton

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-a-step-closer-to-city-bike-hire-scheme-20100317-qdm0.html

From: Fiona Campbell [mailto:fcampbell@...]
Sent: Wednesday, 17 March, 2010 04:57
To: eric.britton@...
Subject: Melbourne news

Hi Eric

FYI, below.

Regards

Fiona

Fiona Campbell
Transport Planner - Cycling
City Of Sydney
Tel: 9246 7587
Mob: 0401 628 742
fcampbell@...
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Melbourne a step closer to city bike hire scheme

CLAY LUCAS

March 17, 2010 - 11:03AM

A CITY bike hire scheme for Melbourne is closer to being launched, after Roads Minister Tim Pallas this morning announced the location of the first 10 docking stations, to open on May 31.

On Ride-2-School Day, Mr Pallas was at the City Square this morning where one of the first docking stations will be installed. Riders will take and drop off bikes from the stations.

The bike scheme has been derided by some transport experts as little more than a $5 million publicity stunt using taxpayer funds to help the government appear "green".

However, the city bike scheme idea is popular with many Melburnians, and the schemes have been a hit in many international cities, including Lyon, Barcelona, Stockholm and especially Paris, where thousands of free bicycles have been installed across the inner city.

At least three tourists have been killed riding the bikes in Paris since they were introduced in 2007.

There is no evidence available that the bike schemes have reduced car use in any city where they have been installed.

The stations in Melbourne will be put in at 10 city locations to begin with, which will hold 100 public bicycles.

Ultimately there will be more bike stations dotted across the city, holding a total of 600 bikes.

"The Brumby Labor Government is building a better transport system and we understand how important cycling is as a viable, sustainable and accessible travel option," said Mr Pallas - who has previously opposed new bicycle lanes on St Kilda Road because they would have taken away lanes for cars.

"This is another important step in delivering Melbourne's first-ever bike hire scheme, which will be fully operational by the middle of the year," he said.

"The early set-up means people have a great opportunity to try the system along one corridor before the system expands to 600 bikes across inner Melbourne."

The government plans the first 10 stations to be set up at locations including:

* the Arts Centre in St Kilda Road

*Federation Square

*the corner of Swanston and Flinders street, outside McDonald's

*the City Square

*the Bourke Street mall

*RMIT University

* the State Library of Victoria

*Lincoln Square in Swanston Street

* Melbourne University in Swanston Street

* Melbourne University in Tin Alley

Mr Pallas said the bike share scheme had been developed to provide a sustainable transport option that offered convenience and value for money.

Users will have to pay a small membership fee — $2.50 a day or up to $50 a year — which will enable them to release one of the bikes out of automatic racks.

Users then have the bike for up to half an hour for free, and can return it to any of the racks installed across the city.

Those who fail to return a bike within half an hour will be penalised heavily.

Bikes returned after two hours will cost $20, and bikes kept for more than 10 hours will cost $370. The charge will likely be deducted from a credit card, which users will have to register if they want to use the system.

Spur-of-the-moment decisions to use a bike will be hampered by the requirement for all users to wear a helmet. In other cities where the bike hire schemes have been a success, helmets are not compulsory as they are in Melbourne.

Mr Pallas said that regular users should bring their own helmet, and also said the government was exploring a range of option to make helmets available to riders to buy or hire from a range of locations in the city centre.

RMIT's Paul Mees, an expert on transport planning, said similar schemes had been tried in many other cities, beginning with Copenhagen in the mid-1990s. "They have all failed to make any difference to transport patterns. The only reason Copenhagen kept its scheme is because it's popular with tourists."

"People who want to cycle to the city will bring their own bikes with them," he said.

For information on how the public bike scheme will work go to: www.melbournebikeshare.com.au.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the addressee(s)

and may contain information that is confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you receive this

email and you are not the addressee (or responsible for delivery of the email to the

addressee), please note that any copying, distribution or use of this email is prohibited

and as such, please disregard the contents of the email, delete the email and notify the sender

immediately.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

#939

From: Lee Schipper
Date: Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:38 am
Subject: Melbourne bike scheme

fekbritton

http://metrostudies.berkeley.edu/

From: Lee Schipper
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 11:54 AM
To: lotslesscars@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [LotsLessCars] Melbourne bike scheme

She is framing the issue incorrectly. One must ask

“Do cycle programmes reduce car use from what it would have been without the programmes?”

That’s not an easy question to answer, but a bit of evidence we examined in Santiago de Chile

See the 2^nd appendix here: http://metrostudies.berkeley.edu/pubs/reports/Shipper-ConsidClimateChange-LatinAmer.pdf

says YES.

We hear the same !@#!@# after bus rapid transit systems are put in and occupy former lanes of traffic (see appendix 1 in the same diagram)

In both cases, after discounting induced trips and, for cyclists, pleasure and exercise trips, one finds that some of those using the cycleway (or BRT) USED TO use their cars.

QED?

Lee Schipper, Ph.D

Project Scientist

Global Metropolitan Studies

2614 Dwight Way 2^nd floor
University of California Berkeley

CA 94720-1782 USA

TEL +1 510 642 6889

FAX +1 510 642 6061
CELL +1 202 262 7476

skype: mrmeter

Senior Research Engineer

Precourt Energy Efficiency Center

Stanford University

From: LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Simon Norton
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:12 AM
To: lotslesscars@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LotsLessCars] Melbourne bike scheme

The article cited by Fiona Campbell says that "there is no evidence that bike
schemes have reduced car use in any city".

This doesn't say whether there is evidence that they have not reduced car use.
Have any studies been conducted, and if so with what results ? If not, why not ?
Are there insuperable problems with finding out whether cycle hire schemes have
displaced cars ?

There is also the possibility that while cycle hire schemes by themselves may
not reduce car traffic, they could as part of an overall strategy. This will be
the case particularly if significant traffic reduction is necessary before the
bulk of the population see city streets as suitable for cycling.

Simon Norton

Reply | Messages in this Topic (2)

#940

From: Richard Layman <rlaymandc@...>
Date: Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:41 pm
Subject: Re: Melbourne bike scheme

rlaymandc

the other issue is that it takes longer than a few months or a couple of years for changes to start showing up, and more years for significant change to result. Changing in-grained mobility practices takes a long time. Expecting immediate results is a mistake. E.g., in the Washington, DC region, it took more than 20 years to begin to see significant impact from the WMATA subway system on land use development practices. Sure the downtown intensified/experienced continued growth, in the places that were most proximate to the subway, but the process for other locations less proximate to the CBD can be much longer, or have less impact, depending on the spatial patterns, population density, quality of station area plans, and quality-interest of developers in doing urban-empathetic projects.

RL

--- On Thu, 3/18/10, Lee@... <Lee@...> wrote:

From: Lee@... <Lee@...>
Subject: [WorldCityBike] Melbourne bike scheme
To: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 11:38 PM

From: Lee Schipper
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 11:54 AM
To: lotslesscars@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: RE: [LotsLessCars] Melbourne bike scheme

She is framing the issue incorrectly. One must ask

“Do cycle programmes reduce car use from what it would have been without the programmes?”

That’s not an easy question to answer, but a bit of evidence we examined in Santiago de Chile
See the 2^nd appendix here: http://metrostudies .berkeley. edu/pubs/ reports/Shipper- ConsidClimateCha nge-LatinAmer. pdf

says YES.
We hear the same !@#!@# after bus rapid transit systems are put in and occupy former lanes of traffic (see appendix 1 in the same diagram)

In both cases, after discounting induced trips and, for cyclists, pleasure and exercise trips, one finds that some of those using the cycleway (or BRT) USED TO use their cars.
QED?

Lee Schipper, Ph.D

Project Scientist
Global Metropolitan Studies

2614 Dwight Way 2^nd floor
University of California Berkeley
CA 94720-1782 USA

TEL +1 510 642 6889
FAX +1 510 642 6061
CELL +1 202 262 7476
skype: mrmeter
http://metrostudies .berkeley. edu/

Senior Research Engineer
Precourt Energy Efficiency Center
Stanford University

From: LotsLessCars@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:LotsLessCar s@yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Simon Norton
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:12 AM
To: lotslesscars@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: [LotsLessCars] Melbourne bike scheme

The article cited by Fiona Campbell says that "there is no evidence that bike
schemes have reduced car use in any city".

This doesn't say whether there is evidence that they have not reduced car use.
Have any studies been conducted, and if so with what results ? If not, why not ?
Are there insuperable problems with finding out whether cycle hire schemes have
displaced cars ?

There is also the possibility that while cycle hire schemes by themselves may
not reduce car traffic, they could as part of an overall strategy. This will be
the case particularly if significant traffic reduction is necessary before the
bulk of the population see city streets as suitable for cycling.

Simon Norton

Reply | Messages in this Topic (2)

#941

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:15 pm
Subject: Toyama and JcDecaux's Cyclocity Introduce Bike Sharing to Japan

fekbritton

Source: http://www.cityryde.com/blog/toyama-and-jcdecauxs-cyclocity-introduce-bike-sharing-to-japan/?utm_source=Ryder+Wire+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9fb77fc08c-Promotional_Offer_A_B_Split+-+03_24_2010&utm_medium=email

The Japanese city of Toyama recently launched Japan’s first full scale bicycle sharing system on Saturday. Like many others, Toyama’s bike sharing system was established in hopes of lowering traffic congestion on many busy highways while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The system was launched by Cyclocity, Inc. a subsidiary of the French advertising giant, JCDecaux. Cyclocity will evaluate the popularity of Toyama’s bike share system with hopes of one day expanding bike sharing throughout all of Japan.

The system includes 15 stations that are positioned every 300 meters in central Toyama with a total of 150 bicycles being available. Users can ride bicycles for up to 30 minutes without an extra charge for the monthly pass fee of 500 yen (around $5.50 USD). The city’s government invested 150 million yen ($1.66 million USD) to improve facilities for the bike share system. The system will rely on advertisements for profits as there is advertisement space available on the stations and bikes.

#942

From: "ecomobilitian" <ianenvironmental@...>
Date: Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:46 pm
Subject: Re(bi)cycling

ecomobilitian

A number of students in the Netherlands have had to revert to walking after a
bicycle refurbishing organisation moved into town�  They seize bicycles that are
abandoned or appear to have been abandoned, such is their state of repair, take
them away and refurbish them.

Many students use bicycles whose wheels are almost square, and can be noisier
than cars.  These are easily mistaken for "wrecks" when parked.

Jobseekers and young people gain experience and skills by doing the
refurbishments of the bikes.  The bikes are then offered for sale, with many
ending up owned by students again.

http://www.re-bike.nl/

Ian Perry

#943

From: "henrycutler" <henry@...>
Date: Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:20 am
Subject: Re: Re(bi)cycling

henrycutler

Ian,
I suspect you don't completely understand how this system works. Firstly the
bike refurbishing organizations cannot "collect" the bikes themselves. That is
done by the city and generally several conditions must be met before a bike can
be declared "abandoned" (weesfiets or fietswrak). The conditions vary by town
but typically the bike must have enough things broken to be declared to have
"negative economic value". Further, the bikes are usually (but not always)
tagged a month or so before they're taken away. If the tag is removed the bike
won't be taken. Of course the systems aren't always followed to the letter but
in any case not many people are getting useful bikes "seized".

-Henry

--- In WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, "ecomobilitian" <ianenvironmental@...>
wrote:
>
> A number of students in the Netherlands have had to revert to walking after a
bicycle refurbishing organisation moved into town�  They seize bicycles that are
abandoned or appear to have been abandoned, such is their state of repair, take
them away and refurbish them.
>
> Many students use bicycles whose wheels are almost square, and can be noisier
than cars.  These are easily mistaken for "wrecks" when parked.
>
> Jobseekers and young people gain experience and skills by doing the
refurbishments of the bikes.  The bikes are then offered for sale, with many
ending up owned by students again.
>
> http://www.re-bike.nl/
>
> Ian Perry
>

#944

From: "ecomobilitian" <ianenvironmental@...>
Date: Sun Apr 4, 2010 1:24 pm
Subject: Re: Re(bi)cycling

ecomobilitian

Hi Henry,

The organisation has been granted permission to collect from private land... and
appear to have been a bit overzealous on a couple of occasions!  The condition
of some of the bicycles used here would shock most!

Many individuals are also constantly on the lookout for "wrecks" to strip away
the parts they need to build a "new" bicycle.

Ian

--- In WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, "henrycutler" <henry@...> wrote:
>
> Ian,
> I suspect you don't completely understand how this system works. Firstly the
bike refurbishing organizations cannot "collect" the bikes themselves. That is
done by the city and generally several conditions must be met before a bike can
be declared "abandoned" (weesfiets or fietswrak). The conditions vary by town
but typically the bike must have enough things broken to be declared to have
"negative economic value". Further, the bikes are usually (but not always)
tagged a month or so before they're taken away. If the tag is removed the bike
won't be taken. Of course the systems aren't always followed to the letter but
in any case not many people are getting useful bikes "seized".
>
> -Henry
>
> --- In WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, "ecomobilitian" <ianenvironmental@>
wrote:
> >
> > A number of students in the Netherlands have had to revert to walking after
a bicycle refurbishing organisation moved into town�  They seize bicycles that
are abandoned or appear to have been abandoned, such is their state of repair,
take them away and refurbish them.
> >
> > Many students use bicycles whose wheels are almost square, and can be
noisier than cars.  These are easily mistaken for "wrecks" when parked.
> >
> > Jobseekers and young people gain experience and skills by doing the
refurbishments of the bikes.  The bikes are then offered for sale, with many
ending up owned by students again.
> >
> > http://www.re-bike.nl/
> >
> > Ian Perry
> >
>

#945

From: Henry Cutler <henry@...>
Date: Tue Apr 6, 2010 8:07 pm
Subject: Re: Re: Re(bi)cycling

henrycutler

Hi Ian,

I would imagine only the owners/managers of the private property could grant that permission but regardless some abuse is always to be expected.

Certainly there's a lot of "theft" of parts and whole bikes amongst bikes that appear to abandoned. I think everybody who's handy with bikes has "removed" a bike after it's been left to rot in front of their home for a couple years. In some areas the municipalities aren't good about removing orphan bikes so people take matters into their own hands to clear up space in fully occupied bike racks... and perhaps score a better rear wheel for their own ride.

-Henry

Henry Cutler

WorkCycles B.V.

Lijnbaansgracht 32B-Hs 1015 GP Amsterdam

t +31 020.522.6000 f +31 020.522.6009

Veemarkt 150 A 1019 DE Amsterdam

t +31 020.689.7879 f +31 020.689.2261

m +31 06.1874.1307

skype: henrycutler

www.workcycles.com

www.workcycles.nl

& for fun & philosophy: www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl

On 4 apr 2010, at 15:24, ecomobilitian wrote:

Hi Henry,

The organisation has been granted permission to collect from private land... and appear to have been a bit overzealous on a couple of occasions! The condition of some of the bicycles used here would shock most!

Many individuals are also constantly on the lookout for "wrecks" to strip away the parts they need to build a "new" bicycle.

Ian

--- In WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, "henrycutler" <henry@...> wrote:
>
> Ian,
> I suspect you don't completely understand how this system works. Firstly the bike refurbishing organizations cannot "collect" the bikes themselves. That is done by the city and generally several conditions must be met before a bike can be declared "abandoned" (weesfiets or fietswrak). The conditions vary by town but typically the bike must have enough things broken to be declared to have "negative economic value". Further, the bikes are usually (but not always) tagged a month or so before they're taken away. If the tag is removed the bike won't be taken. Of course the systems aren't always followed to the letter but in any case not many people are getting useful bikes "seized".
>
> -Henry
>
> --- In WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com, "ecomobilitian" <ianenvironmental@> wrote:
> >
> > A number of students in the Netherlands have had to revert to walking after a bicycle refurbishing organisation moved into town� They seize bicycles that are abandoned or appear to have been abandoned, such is their state of repair, take them away and refurbish them.
> >
> > Many students use bicycles whose wheels are almost square, and can be noisier than cars. These are easily mistaken for "wrecks" when parked.
> >
> > Jobseekers and young people gain experience and skills by doing the refurbishments of the bikes. The bikes are then offered for sale, with many ending up owned by students again.
> >
> > http://www.re-bike.nl/
> >
> > Ian Perry
> >
>

#946

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Apr 7, 2010 7:35 pm
Subject: Americans want alternatives.

fekbritton

Fair enough. We all want choices. That is no more than human nature, But when it comes to transport policy and practice in the United Stats at the highest level, the idea of real choices is no less than a revolutionary statement. Right from the mouth of President Obama's Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, who continues to surprise and delight. (But now, vigilant citizens, let's see where the $$$ go. There is no such thing as passive democracy.)

US Transportation Secretary on Biking, Walking and ‘What Americans Want’

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

--> No broadband? No problem. Find it on the Open Edition at www.open.WorldStreets.org

-- > Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/ & www.open.worldstreets.org

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#947

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Apr 7, 2010 1:38 pm
Subject: Vancouver Olympics - Lessons For Transport Planners

fekbritton

Every once in a while sustainable transport and sustainable city planners get a break. Some of these are immediately recognizable as such, for example when your city has decided to host some important international event such as the Olympic Games, a World Expo, or some kind of international athletic, cultural or political event, all of which occasions which may provide the funding and vision of the city which is simply not there in the ordinary hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. But these "opportunities" may also take a far less rosy form, such as a crippling transit strike or even natural disaster which may temporarily or permanently wipe out some part of the city's normal transportation arrangements. In this article, our friend and colleague Todd Litman reports from Canada on one of the more happy occasions for transition and innovation. But at the end of the day there is always the question, "what is the legacy of all this?"

Way-To-Go Vancouver Olympics - Lessons For Transport Planners
- Todd Litman, Executive director, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Victoria BC

--> The full text of this article appears in today’s World Streets at http://WorldStreets.org/

--> No broadband? No problem. Find it on the Open Edition at www.open.WorldStreets.org

-- > Discussions on World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreets (Post to WorldStreets@yahoogroups.com )

Read World Streets Today at http://www.worldstreets.org/ & www.open.worldstreets.org

New Mobility Partnerships – http://www.newmobility.org

8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France, Europe

+331 4326 1323 eric.britton(at)newmobility.org Skype: newmobility

#948

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:40 am
Subject: [World Streets] Why Women Bike . . . and Why They Don't

fekbritton

To follow up on yesterday's piece by Janice Turner on "dull cycling" in the UK, the ever-stylish biker April Streeter reports from Portland on a survey of why women in the US cycle, and why they do not. (And if you are a female cyclist and have views on why women cycle, or perhaps do not, in your country, let us hear from you too.)

Full piece in World Streets at www.WorldStreets.org

#949

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:40 am
Subject: En Vélib’ dans les éco-quartiers <br/> By Vélib’ in Paris "ec...

fekbritton

Okay, dear reader. If you want to get to the bottom of this update on how Paris's famous Vélib's are being integrated into the city's mobility and land use plan at a fair level of detail, you will have to make your way through this largely untouched machine translation of an article just published by the Vélib team here in Paris. Courage!

(If you want to know you will know. If you don't, you won't.. .)

Full piece in World Streets at www.WorldStreets.org

#950

From: Ian Perry <ianenvironmental@...>
Date: Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:54 pm
Subject: Campus bike-sharing expands in the US

ecomobilitian

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20100331/NEWS01/103300076/1009

At University of Kentucky�Wildcat Wheels recently expanded the Residence Hall Bicycle Program from a pilot fleet of 12 bikes to 42.

The program began in 2004 in UK Sustainability Coordinator Shane Tedder�s living room, which eventually moved to his garage.

Drew Combs, one of the shop managers, said they started with a fleet of 12 and over the past six years, with a lot of help and a lot of generosity, were able to expand to four fleets of more than 150 bikes.
�Our fleets began with a general fleet, of which we now have close to 80,� Combs said. �This provides free, sustainable transportation to students, faculty and staff that many times would not be available and may be replaced by a car.�

The general fleet is distributed on a first come, first serve basis at the beginning of each semester to students, faculty and staff for the full semester. Some of the other fleets aim toward daily rentals for departments and residence halls for people to use for errands and travel during university hours, Combs said.

The biggest and most recent expansion in the program is the residence hall fleet, Combs said.

"This fleet consists of 42 bikes, two for each residence hall on campus,� he said. �The idea is that students without access to a bike can check out the bike for a day and go to the grocery, run to class, etc., without having to depend on a car.�

The university currently funds Wildcat Wheels, though much of the funding is received through independent grants. Student Government was a founding funding partner, and the Student Sustainability Council and Resident Student Association also provide support.

For students looking to visit Wildcat Wheels, the shop hours vary throughout the semester, but the organization is open beneath Blazer Hall four days a week.

�These hours are open to any affiliate of UK to come in a learn how to work on their own bike, get advice from our mechanics and staff and to volunteer,� Combs said. �This is an enormous resource for the university, providing free, practical knowledge to anyone that will listen that will only make your experience on a bike more fulfilling.�

Beginning this semester, the program also offered traveling workshops available to residence halls with tutorials on bike maintenance and upkeep, Combs said. Having more bikes to offer students is a major benefit, but being able to offer department rentals and weekly rentals allows the organization to help the entire UK community, he said.

�The students are really why we exist in the first place, but having an opportunity to reach other members of the university only makes the programs better,� Combs said. �Plus, everything we offer is completely free.�

Source:�http://kykernel.com/2010/04/04/more-wheels-now-offered-on-campus/

At the College of St. Benedict and St. John�s University:

St. Ben�s will introduce its Green Bike Initiative on April 23 as part of Earth Week. Organizers are looking for gently used adult bicycles that students can use for free around the two campuses.

The program needs 20-30 bicycles to start, said Marcia Hilbert, director of St. Ben�s campus recreation. The program has received 15 donated bicycles so far, she said.

Bicycles will be divided into two categories. Half will be available for semester-long checkouts. The other half will be available for daily use.

�Our students are always looking for innovative energy savings to get back and forth,� Hilbert said. �Small programs like this can make a big impact on the environment.�

The program will be part of St. Ben�s and St. John�s efforts to become more sustainable. The efforts started in 2007 when both campuses� presidents signed the American College & University Presidents� Climate Commitment, said Theo Eggermont, sustainability fellow at St. Ben�s and St. John�s.

The commitment gives colleges and universities support to implement comprehensive plans to help the environment, according to the organization�s Web site,www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.

�That set the stage that we would be serious about sustainability on campus,� Eggermont said. �It�s really growing.�

Bridget Reilly, a sophomore and a member of the St. Ben�s student senate, researched and helped start the program. The senate has a sustainability committee.

Reilly talked to other Minnesota colleges with bicycle programs, she said. Those conversations showed her what worked, Reilly said.

The program will officially kick off next fall, Hilbert said. St. Ben�s campus recreation will sustain the program, she said.

St. Ben�s has created safeguards to protect the bicycles. Students will check out the bicycles from a locked checkpoint, and will be given a bicycle lock to use, Hilbert said. Students who do not return the bicycles will be fined, she said.

St. John�s is also working on a similar program, Eggermont said. The school had a free bicycle program a few years ago, Eggermont said. It was stopped because the bicycles were damaged and not returned, he said.

The St. Ben�s program holds students accountable, Eggermont said. Those safeguards will help make the program popular, he said.

The bicycle program will be a great resource for international and out-of-state students who might not be able to bring their own bicycles to school. Eggermont said.

�It�s great,� he said. �Part of it is a health and wellness thing. We want to encourage people to get outside and exercise.�

#951

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:48 pm
Subject: The End of Climate? Hello Professor Krugman.

fekbritton

Engaging the battle to mitigate climate change is one of the fundamental driving principles behind World Streets, since we have taken it as our main metric for remedial action in the transport sector, which as you all know accounts for something like 20% +/-5% of all GHG emissions. By "metric" we mean that the climate emergency calls for sharp near-term reductions in emissions, and it just so happens that the transport sector is extremely well placed to do its part. But in light of recent attacks on the part of climate deniers, what is the score? Should we now give up on our climate metric? Let us hear what Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, has to say about it.

Full piece freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

#952

From: Timothy Ericson <tjericson@...>
Date: Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:01 am
Subject: CityRyde�s Spark Software to Power Boulder County, CO�s Bike Sharing System

tjericson

Original story:
http://www.cityryde.com/blog/cityrydes-spark-software-to-power-boulder-county-co\
s-bike-sharing-system/

Gravity Cycles, a long-standing client of CityRyde, was recently
awarded the contract to manage Boulder County, CO�s bike sharing
deployment along the Diagonal Highway. The bike sharing system will be
managed by CityRyde�s Spark software and will feature integration with
low-cost wireless locking mechanisms and a slew of additional features
making managing a bike sharing system simple. The system will feature
100 bicycles located at 5 different rental locations. The system is
designed to fill the gap of the last mile of transit and will be used
in conjunction with public transportation and car-pools. The fully
automated solution is expected to be launched this summer.

More details will come shortly as we are allowed to share details publicly.

Thanks,

Timothy Ericson
CEO and Co-Founder
CityRyde, Bike Sharing Experts
3225 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
USA: +1.215.475.5224 x200
Fax: +1.215.475.5011
E: tjericson@...

SCHEDULE A MEETING WITH ME: http://meetwith.me/tjericson

#953

From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:19 am
Subject: B-Cycle : America's first city-wide bike sharing service

fekbritton

Get the lowdown and vote for where they should go next at Bcycle.com

Kind thanks to Robert Moskowitz for this heads-up.

B-Cycle

America's first city-wide bike sharing service

Sure, Zip Cars can be convenient for getting around town, but what if you want your carbon footprint to be so small it can't even push down the accelerator on a Prius? Then flip the whip for a bike, with B-Cycle.

Set up like a certain car-share service for pedal-mobiles, B's setting up stations across cities that'll grant you access to a two-wheeler whenever you want, and not just because someone left it unlocked outside the bar, and it's freezing, and you're in college so what the hell's anyone going to do about it. Pick a membership option (24-hr to yearly) and B'll mail you a universal swipe card that'll unlock a ride, or just show up and rent on-site; once you've used, drop it off at any station you want, then get out of those spandex riding pants or risk undue attention for a suspicious package. The GPS-enabled cruiser-style bikes've been specially designed by Trek, and include proprietary tech to log data on your account page, from the length/duration of each ride, to your carbon offset, to how many calories you've burned riding/sweating that your friends will see you on a bike.

B debuts in Denver, but's polling visitors to determine the next location, so cast your vote or if they skip your 'burg you'll have no right to get Huffy.

--

For the whole skinny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way, please copy and paste this link to check out my blog:

http://blogadoccio.wordpress.com