High speed rail, the demise of the car in the US, its rise in China, Bush’s transportation policies, free bikes, carfree in Canada, a repealed bike license law, disgustingness reduction strategies
Welcome to Monday. Here are the headlines from around the Web that caught my eye last week…
– The NY Times waxes nostalgic about the rise and fall of General Motors. Michael Moore’s take on the matter is less reverent — more scathingly jubilant.
– P.J. O’Rourke misses the automobile age already and in a Wall Street Journal essay he blames environmentalists for its demise. In a counterpart piece for NPR, he blames feminism and Facebook instead.
– High speed rail is coming, fast. Biden has been meeting with governors. LaHood has been researching rail systems in Spain. Nancy Kete of the World Resources Institute gives some sage advice (via WorldChanging) on how to make these new rail investments worthwhile — including some surprising conclusions.
– Carfree Sundays are sweeping Vancouver, BC.
– Yes, there may be a silver lining to Oregon’s new highway-heavy transportation bill, reports Chris Smith at PortlandTransport.
– Bush’s former transportation secretary dishes inside dirt on transportation policy in the making during the Bush years, including the demise of a gas tax increase he proposed.
– China now leads the world in new car purchases.
– The stats are in: the safety in numbers phenomenon is being proved in New York City as an increase in bicycle ridership correlates with a decrease in casualties.
– Toronto’s city council draws fire for prioritizing spending on transit, walking and biking facilities rather than roads.
– Automobile subsidies are not a good way to stimulate the economy, writes economist Todd Litman. (See this local analysis for Eugene, Oregon, providing an argument for investing in bicycling instead.)
– The City of Los Angeles has repealed its bicycle license fee.
– GM has announced plans to build compact cars in the US.
– “How the auto-centric lifestyle hurts our kids”
– One way around construction congestion — give commuters who ordinarily drive the route free bikes to check out at a park and ride before the forecasted choke point. Anyone who uses the bike often enough can keep it.
– “New car-free zones make Times Square 36% less disgusting,” proclaims travel blog Jaunted.