Cars and money, bikes and public health, London bikesharing snag, why do cities work, how can cities work better, Barcelona before the car.
This week in the world of bikes and beyond:
– President Obama is digging deep into the U.S. auto industry crisis. His plan includes tax incentives for people who buy new cars.
– A new study found that on average, if an Arizona household paid off all of its transportation expenses before any other spending, starting at the beginning of the year, they would be in the clear on March 23rd — that’s nearly three months worth of income.
– Plans for a bikesharing program in London have hit a snag as the Mayor has decided to forbid anyone locking the bikes up anywhere but the official docking stations. Local bike advocates have not yet convinced him that this rule would increase bike theft and prevent people from actually using the bikes as intended, for short trips.
– April’s American Journal of Public Health cover features a street full of bikes in Copenhagen taken on Carfree Day in 2005. AJPH editorializes about the cover: “The United States can benefit from ideas and initiatives around the globe in reforming health.”
– A thoughtful comparison in the New York Times of the emergence of Wikipedia to the genesis of cities, invoking Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs, poses the question of how these behemoths can work at all, much less well.
– Also in the Times, a call for rethinking the design of cities in a post-Cold War, post-Reagan, “post-Kyoto” era. Case studies of New Orleans, L.A., the Bronx, and Buffalo, including some good planning history.
– For inspiration: a video of Barcelona in 1908, sans cars.
As always, add your own links, ideas, and analysis in the comments.