Posts Tagged ‘Transport’
Traffic Roundabout: Award-Winning Civic Space
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on February 1st, 2012
Source: City Parks Blog
Photo: Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects
From “A Design that Celebrates the People”: Normal, IL Traffic Circle Wins Smart Growth Award as New Civic Space” by Colleen Gentles:
[In December last year], EPA announced the winners of the 2011 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. We are excited to report that Normal, Illinois is the recipient of the award in the Civic Places category for their traffic roundabout.
We’ve written before about how the town’s new traffic circle has successfully managed traffic flow at a busy five-way intersection, diverted thousands of gallons of untreated stormwater away from the nearby creek, and become the town center by bringing residents together in an attractive public space. The more recent news is how the traffic roundabout is spurring local economic development with the construction of a multimodal transportation station adjacent to the circle, courtesy of a U.S. Department of Transportation grant. Both the transportation hub, which will eventually have high-speed rail service and create an estimated 400-500 new jobs, and the circle take advantage of the town’s existing infrastructure, bus service, and the historic central business district to attract even more residents to the new town center.
“The one-third-acre roundabout does much more than move cars. It invites pedestrians with shade trees, benches, lighting, bike parking, green space, and a water feature. People have lunch, read, and play music, and the open space invites community gatherings such as a holiday caroling event. It is the anchor for a community-wide revitalization and is part of Uptown Normal’s LEED-ND Silver recognition.
A popular rails-to-trails conversion, the Constitution Trail, leads to and around the roundabout, helping both to revitalize Normal and to bring people from surrounding areas to Normal’s central district. A new Children’s Discovery Museum on the edge of the roundabout already receives over 140,000 visitors per year, and a hotel and conference enter have recently opened nearby. One indication of the success of the redevelopment is that property values in the district have increased by about 30 percent since 2004.” Smart Growth Awards
According to the short video, this traffic circle was almost banned to pedestrians. It’s a good thing town officials fought back. [Watching the video, it looks like there are weekly farmers markets held on the roundabout too. KA]
Read more about the project here, as well as the other winners from the 2011 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.
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The roundabout was designed by Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects. Check out their site for more photos and project details.
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Photo: Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects
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.
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Australia Electric Vehicle Conference
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on October 11th, 2011
Source: Alternative Technology Association(ATA)
The Australia Electric Vehicle Conference provides a unique opportunity to listen to renowned professionals and network across this fast growing industry. The program will focus on electric vehicles and their introduction on the Australian market, as well as a range of issues alongside their emergence.
Topics include the potential impact of EVs on the electricity grid, the provision of charging infrastructure, the development of appropriate policies, the economics of EVs and the role EVs will play in making a transition to cleaner and greener transport. CEOs such as Energex’s Terry Effeney and Chargepoint’s James Brown will be presenting alongside senior representatives of state government EV programs from WA, VIC and QLD. And in its world-first appearance, a full electric super-car based on Australian technology will be released and displayed.
When: 26th October
Time: 8.30am to 5.30pm
Where: Sebel & Citigate Hotel, Brisbane
For more information or bookings go to www.evconference.com.au.
Early bird registration until Oct 19!
Parcel Service Uses Streetcars for Deliveries
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on October 3rd, 2011
Source: Japan for Sustainability
From “Yamato Starts Using Streetcars for Low-Carbon Parcel Transport“:
[...]
Under the new system, Yamato Transport Co. charters a single streetcar from Keifuku Electric Railroad at its Saiin carbarn, loads the streetcar with container dollies bearing parcels, and delivers them to Arashiyama Station and Randen-Saga Station. In Arashiyama, sales drivers unload the dollies, reload them onto carriers pulled by electric bicycles, and then deliver the parcels to customers.
Yamato Transport had already been using railway to transport parcels between some of its service offfices; however, this is the first modal shift between one of its distribution terminals and its sales offices, where parcels are actually collected and delivered. The company will introduce this system at other Randen streetcar stations and try to collect and deliver parcels while minimizing its use of trucks.
Yamato Transport hopes to reduce carbon emissions in Kyoto City, a city that, as the birthplace of the Kyoto Protocol, aims to be a model of environmental stewardship under the slogan “Walking City, Kyoto.”
Read the full article on Japan for Sustainability.
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Freight Efficiency: Combining shipping loads from different companies
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on September 29th, 2011
Source: Transport Intelligence
Image © Schneider Logistics Inc
From “Schneider Logistics offers new LTL pooling service“:
Schneider Logistics, Inc., part of the Schneider National enterprise, has unveiled a new service offering for shippers with re-occurring less-than-truckload (LTL) moves. Integrated Delivery Services (IDS) utilises Schneider’s Supply Chain management technology, cross-docking abilities and dedicated trucking experience to provide a new, cost-effective supply chain solution for shippers willing to pool their cargo.
“Schneider saw an opportunity to provide a smarter solution for shippers moving LTL freight in the same geographic markets,” explained Todd Jadin, vice president of IDS for Schneider Logistics. “Integrated Delivery Services is especially attractive to shippers in the automotive aftermarket, heavy truck and equipment manufacturers, and specialty retailers. Companies within each of these industries run common routes and have similar distribution locations and dispatch schedules; by pooling their deliveries, we provide tremendous efficiencies and cost savings.”
Schneider piloted Integrated Delivery Services in Denver, Colorado with shippers of competing brands who had similar delivery windows, routes, shuttles and cross-dock locations. Through a shared-channel approach, Schneider merged freight and created customised routes based on multiple shippers’ cross-docking, dedicated delivery, pool distribution, reverse logistics and LTL consolidation needs. Schneider’s Integrated Delivery Service currently operates in eight networks across the US: Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Los Angeles, California; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Lenexa, Kansas; Jackson, Mississippi; Winchester, Virginia, and Memphis, Tennessee. Markets targeted for expansion include the Midwest and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.
Read the original article on Transport Intelligence.
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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.
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For an interesting follow-up, read this March piece in the NY Times, outlining the difficulties faced by the city officials mentioned above. KA
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Hong Kong Urban Intensity: Public Lectures
Posted in Events, Research by Kate Archdeacon on September 7th, 2011
Photo by Mike Behnken via flickr CC
The Melbourne School of Design presents a series of free public lectures by Professor Tom Kvan celebrating the book launch of The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric.
These lectures examine one of the most intense cities in the world. Hong Kong’s irregular coastline and steep terrain has resulted in built-up areas that are compact, rich in spatial experience, all parts close to hills and water and connected by an exceptional public transport system. The lectures will present how the authors see value in these conditions: a metropolis with a small urban footprint, 90 per cent use of public transport for vehicular journeys and proximity to nature which has arisen from a culturally and topographic specific condition.
This fascinating book, with over 200 original illustrations, adds to the current urban debate around high density compact cities and interconnected public transport systems as one means of reducing urban energy use and carbon emissions. The lecture will explore why urban intensity is vital for more than ecological reasons and presents propositions based on these observations.
This lecture and book launch is part of a national tour. A reception will follow each lecture. Please register on the Melbourne School of Design website.
- Sydney Monday 19 September
- Adelaide, Tuesday 20 September
- Perth, Thursday 22 September
- Brisbane, Friday 23 September
- Launceston, Friday 30 September
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The New Urbanism & Smart Transport 2011 International Conference
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on September 6th, 2011
The New Urbanism & Smart Transport 2011 International Conference Perth – Australia
Towards Liveable Cities & Better Communities
The New Urbanism is a vision that is becoming a reality in a few new communities. New Urbanism claims to offer a real, smart growth method of town and city planning that will repair cities and make them the livable, vital things they once were. New Urbanism and smart growth involves much more than light rail transportation.
Planners, architectural design and related professions as well as academics, government representatives, and smart growth advocates around the world are talking about a more comprehensive transportation overhaul, one that includes mass transit between and within cities and bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The key here is less reliance on cars only and stronger relationships between transportation systems and the communities themselves.
Attendees will include local, national and international experts in a range of planning, architectural design and related professions as well as academics, government representatives and others interested in developing more liveable cities and better communities.
September 26 & 27, Perth, Western Australia
www.newurbanism-smarttransport.com
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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.
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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.
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