Posts Tagged ‘bicycle’
Insight: How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on December 28th, 2011
From “How the Dutch got their cycle paths” by Sarah Goodyear for Project for Public Spaces:
Given the reputation of the Netherlands as a cyclist’s paradise, you might think that its extensive cycling infrastructure came down from heaven itself, or was perhaps created by the wave of a magic wand. Not so. It was the result of a lot of hard work, including massive street protests and very deliberate political decision-making.
The video [click through below] offers vital historical perspective on the way the Netherlands ended up turning away from the autocentric development that arose with postwar prosperity, and chose to go down the cycle path. It lists several key factors, including public outrage over the amount of space given to automobiles; huge protests over traffic deaths, especially those of children, which were referred to by protesters as “child murder”; and governmental response to the oil crisis of the 1970s, which prompted efforts to reduce oil dependence without diminishing quality of life.
The Netherlands is often perceived as an exceptional nation in terms of its transportation policies and infrastructure. And yet there is nothing inherently exceptional about the country’s situation. As the narrator says at the end of the film, “The Netherlands’ problems were and are not unique. Their solutions shouldn’t be that either.”
Watch the video. It’s inspiring (“…it seems so simple”) and frustrating (“aaargh…it seems so simple!”) at the same time.
—
Mo-bility: Design Concept for Integrated Transport Credits
Posted in Visions by Kate Archdeacon on November 9th, 2011
Via Sustainable Cities Collective
„mo“ – a flexible mobility system for the city of tomorrow
mo is a new mobility system – it helps make the city a better place to live. mo subscribers can rent bikes, cargobikes, ebikes and cars or use public transportation with just one card. With mo it pays to be eco-friendly: choose an eco-friendly transport or use your own bike to collect momiles. The more momiles the lower your bill. For instance if you mostly ride bikes, renting a car gets cheaper. Cycle and save money.
About the design concept: Under the direction of Munich design agency LUNAR Europe, a “human-centred” design process has been used to develop an innovative mobility system by the name of “mo”. The concept study, developed in collaboration with environmental organisation Green City e.V. and the University of Wuppertal, is based on a flexible, affordable and sustainable combination of bike rental systems, local public transport and car sharing.
>> Read more about mo.
—
—
Pop-Up Placemaking
Posted in Movements, Visions by Kate Archdeacon on September 21st, 2011
Via Sustainable Cities Collective
Photo by John Niedermeyer via flickr CC
From “Cities rethink urban spaces with ‘pop-up’ projects” by Siri Agrell:
‘Pop-up’ urban planning gives cities the freedom to experiment with projects on a temporary basis, allowing innovative ideas a trial run without expensive commitment of taxpayer money. Cities around the world are embracing the idea, leading in many cases to permanent changes in the urban landscape.
If there is a reigning Queen of Pop-Up, it is Janette Sadik-Khan, the New York city transportation commissioner. In 2009, Ms. Sadik-Khan famously closed Times Square to traffic, transforming it into a pedestrian mall by simply throwing down some pylons and offering a smattering of lawn chairs. Although some drivers howled, Ms. Sadik-Khan was ready for the criticism, and began citing statistics she gathered by closely tracking the experiment.
The city quickly found that revenues from businesses in Times Square had risen 71 per cent, and that injuries to motorists and passengers in the project areas dropped 63 per cent. The city installed GPS units into 13,000 taxis so that the Department of Transportation could track the impact on car traffic, and found that northbound trips in the west midtown area around Times Square were actually 17 per cent faster.
The pop-up projects didn’t stop there. Ms. Sadik-Khan brought temporary public swimming pools onto Manhattan streets last summer, and, over the course of a single weekend, she turned a Brooklyn parking lot into a park by painting a white border and filling it in with green to represent grass. “It was a quick way of showing you can transform a space in a matter of hours instead of a matter of years,” she told Esquire magazine.
She performs most of her transformations without capital funds from the city, scrounging up cash and resources and avoiding actually asking permission.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration has embraced the tactic, and now uses the term “pilot project” to introduce programs into other departments, including education, making them exempt from the usual approval processes.
Read the full article by Siri Agrell for The Globe and Mail.
—
For an interesting follow-up, read this March piece in the NY Times, outlining the difficulties faced by the city officials mentioned above. KA
—
Connecting Suburbs: A Walkable, Rideable Car-Free Bridge
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 31st, 2011
Source: Streetfilms via Going SolarTransport Newsletter
From “Breathtaking Bike Infrastructure: Minnesota’s Martin Olav Sabo Bridge” by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.:
In 2007, in order to route cyclists away from a challenging 7-lane crossing on busy Hiawatha Avenue, Minneapolis built the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge. The first cable-stayed bridge of any kind in the state, it’s breathtaking, even to the people who have been riding it for years. It provides a safe, continuous crossing and offers up a glorious view of the downtown skyline (especially at sunset!). The sleek Hiawatha light rail line runs beneath it, and there are benches to sit on and take everything in.
Used by an average of 2,500 riders a day, peak use can hit 5,000 to 6,000 per day on some gorgeous summer weekends, according to Shaun Murphy of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works. The bridge was named in honor of Minneapolis’ Martin Olav Sabo, a former U.S. Representative from the 5th District who helped secure much of the $5 million needed to build it.
Thanks to the Bikes Belong Foundation for enabling us to feature this majestic piece of bike architecture and to show that investing is cycling and walking is well worth every penny for our communities.
Watch the Streetfilm of the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge.
—
Bike Repair Station & Spare Parts Vending Machine
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 19th, 2011
From “Self-Service Bicycle Repair Station” by Joop de Boer:
Bike Fixtation is a DIY bicycle repair station recently launched to serve stranded bicycle riders in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The smart initiative offers self-service kiosks on an extended-hours basis for bicyclists. The place offers all equipment needed to get unlucky bicycle riders back on the track. You can buy a tube or patch kit, pump your tires for free, and make simple adjustments using supplied tools. Bike Fixtation is open for 365 days a year from six in the morning to midnight. The first shop has opened doors inside the uptown transit station in Minneapolis, a second shop is to be opened soon.
Read the full article by Joop de Boer.
—
Chromaroma: Public Transport Game for London
Posted in Models, Tools by Kate Archdeacon on May 26th, 2011
Via Springwise
Chromaroma is a game that shows you your movements and location as you swipe your Oyster Card in and out of the Tube (Bus, Tram and Boat coming soon). It connects communities of people who cross paths and routes on a regular basis, and encourages people to make new journeys and use public transport in a different way by exploring new areas and potentially using different modes of public transport.
At its simplest, Chromaroma is about amassing the most points possible. By watching your own travel details you can investigate interesting new ways to travel and exciting new destinations in order to get more points. Grab “multipliers” and bonus points by working with a team, building up connections with fellow passengers and discovering mysteries that are attached to locations on your routes.
Beyond competition and conquest, Chromaroma’s gameplay opens up the beauty in the city’s transport flows and reveals to its most persistent players some of the mysteries of travel, and even the strange characters travelling through the tunnels in the centre of the system, who may hold the secrets to your city.
—
I don’t totally understand this game, but mixing up social networking with real-time information and alternative transport use is something we’re pretty interested in at VEIL. Check out Chromaroma on Vimeo to find out (a little) more. KA
—
Cargo Bicycle Library: Sharing Sustainable Transport
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on February 22nd, 2011
The Watershed Bike Library contains a fleet of specialist cargo bikes and trailers to allow cyclists to carry things that might otherwise require a car – from shopping, to kids, household items and more. (Bike Sydney has a great article on the statistics for the Bike Library’s first 150 days of operation.)
Check out the fleet:
Gazelle Cabby cargo bike
- A large capacity bike perfect for hauling kids and shopping
- The Cabby tub seats two children with seatbelts and has maximum load of 75kg
Xtracycle Radish cargo bike
- A highly versatile cargo bike
- The Xtracycle has a long wheel base, a large wooden platform behind the seat, and super size panniers
- Not suitable for transporting children
General purpose utility trailer
- Connects to most standard bicycles
- Perfect for carrying shopping and heavier loads
- Not suitable for transporting children
Pacific kiddie trailer
- A child bike trailer equipped with seats and seatbelts to carry one or two children
- Mesh front screen and fold up rain cover
- Maximum load of 36kg
Bikes are borrowed from and returned to:
The Watershed
218 King St, Newtown NSW 2042
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 10am – 4pm and Thursdays from 10am – 7pm
Telephone: 9519 6366
The Watershed is a sustainability resource centre in the heart of Newtown. A joint initiative of City of Sydney and Marrickville Councils, it is part of an ongoing commitment to supporting sustainable environments within the urban community. The Watershed is free and open to the public and offers a variety of services such as a library, free workshops, practical ideas for everyday sustainable living, educational and business programs. We hope that a visit to The Watershed will inspire you to take action for a sustainable future.
—
Get Cycling to Work
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on October 13th, 2010
Source: The Ecologist
Image: question everything via flickr CC
From “Pedal power: ditch the headaches and cycle to work” by Juliet Kemp:
Commuting to work by bike is easier – and the reasons not to do it flimsier – than you think. Here’s our guide to dealing with the excuses and improving pedal power in your workplace.
You arrive at the office on a Monday morning, cheerfully invigorated from your cycle ride in, and run into a colleague. ‘Oh, I drove past you on your bike this morning,’ she says. Then, inevitably, you’ll hear: ‘I don’t know how you do it – I could never cycle in myself.’
If you’ve ever had this conversation, you’ll know that there’s a few reasons that people always give for why they wouldn’t cycle to work. The good news is that most of them can be solved, with a little help from your employer.
There’s a business case, as well as an environmental case, to be made for encouraging more people to cycle to work: a recent study estimated that increasing cycling by 20 per cent by 2015 would save employers £87 million by reducing absences, and that cycling to work reduces mortality by 39 per cent. Marshall some of the information from the article, recruit a few other office cyclists to work with you and get your management on board to bust those excuses.
Read the full article by Juliet Kemp, which addresses issues like security, road safety, employer options and bike loan schemes in the UK.
—
Getting Produce to Market: Transport “Innovation”
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 23rd, 2010
Source: Nourishing the Planet: Worldwatch Institute
From “Innovation of the Week: Getting to the Market” by Molly Theobald:
For many farmers, an abundant harvest is only the first step toward feeding their families and earning an income. Vegetables ripening in the field—or even harvested and stored nearby—are still a long way from the market where they can be sold for a profit.
One farmer in Sudan’s Kebkabyia province, Abdall Omer Saeedo, has to travel 10 kilometres twice a week to the nearest market to sell his vegetables and green fodder. Without a cart, truck, or other means of transporting a large amount of goods efficiently, he couldn’t make enough money to cover his production and packing costs, let alone the cost of seeds for the next season, education for his children, and other household needs. And after making it to market with his 10 sacks and five bags of produce on the back of his donkey, he was still at risk for loss if he wasn’t able to sell it all. Instead of dealing with the hassle of trying to pack it back home again, he would throw away whatever wasn’t sold.
Saeedo sought the help of Practical Action, a development non-profit that uses technology to help people gain access to basic services like clean water and sanitation in order to improve food production and incomes. Working with local metal workers, the organisation designed a donkey cart for him. Now, Saeedo is not only able to cart his produce to market twice a week, he can also easily bring back whatever he is unable to sell. His income has increased along with the quality and quantity of his product, which is no longer lost or destroyed by travel time and conditions.
Practical Action’s transportation innovations are helping to improve farmer livelihoods throughout sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. In Kenya, the organisation introduced bicycle taxis as a way for people to earn a living, as well as an energy-efficient means to transport people from place to place. In Nepal, Practical Action’s bicycle ambulances help carry sick or injured people from remote areas to hospitals safely and comfortably. And in Sri Lanka, the group’s bicycle trailers—capable of carrying loads of up to 200 kilograms—are used to transport goods to market, people to hospitals, and even books to local communities.
Read the full article by Molly Theobald.
—
Pedal-Power Machines for Local Enterprise
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 18th, 2010
Source: The Ecologist
From “Reusing bike parts to power water pumps, corn crushers and more” by Mira Olson:
A tiny workshop in rural Guatemala is pioneering cheap, eco-friendly, pedal-powered machines made from discarded bicycle parts. A group of elderly, indigenous women wearing traditional hand-made dresses sit in a circle and exchange stories. Their continuous pedalling would go unnoticed, were it not for the noisy churning of the blenders placed on top of tables in front of them. The machines have enabled these women to form their own business: the sale of blue agave shampoo produced at their humble, cinderblock home. The pedal-powered blenders are capable of speeds of up to 6,400 RPM and are used in multiple capacities in the community, from simple food processing to more creative applications.
They are but one example of several bicimáquinas (bike-machines) designed and built at Maya Pedal, a locally-run NGO in the small, rural town of San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, which is still primarily inhabited by the Mayan people of Cakchiquel descent. Thanks to the organisation, community members benefit from water pumps to irrigate their fields, mills to grind corn, devices for manufacturing concrete tiles, electricity generators capable of storing electricity in car batteries, coffee pulping machines that can accumulate up to 8000 pounds daily, trikes and trailers to transport people and goods within the community, and even three-cycle washing machines, all operated essentially while exercising.
The NGO itself is the product of a collaboration that took place in 1997 between a group of Canadians from the organisation Pedal and local mechanic Carlos Marroquín. Jointly, they created what would be Maya Pedal’s first and arguably most revolutionary machine: the bicidesgranadora de maíz, a device that removes the kernels from up to 15 corn husks per minute, allowing farmers to bag up to two dozen 43-kilo sacks per day. Marroquín explains: ‘It was necessary to find a path and an alternative that would meet the needs of the locals and we researched and invested all that we could to do so.’
[...]
More than 4,600 Maya Pedal machines are now in use in San Andrés Itzapa and surrounding communities; some 400 volunteers, many from Europe, have also dirtied their hands to help in the process. And because of its growing international network, several of the ideas from the NGO have been implemented in indigenous communities throughout South America, North America and even in Africa. This tiny workshop in a forgotten Mayan town in rural Guatemala highlights the ingenious power humans possess to overcome adversity and implement ecologically-friendly solutions for our daily needs.
Read the full article by Mira Olson.
—