High speed rail; homeless Hummers; Berlin fixie ban; traffic in India; traffic in Indonesia; the gender gap; genetics; walking; playing in the street
Hang on to your hats, folks, there’s a lot of news this week.
– A NY Times Op-Ed speculating that Detroit, with its disappearing population and wide, empty streets, could be transformed into a bicycling utopia has been causing a stir around the web. A reader sent in a link to this story about how the bicycle craze of the late 19th century paved the way for Detroit to become the iconic motoring city (thanks Dan!).
– On the whole, the population of US cities is beginning to grow again, reports Streetsblog.
– The Sightline Institute has found that we’re using less gas in the Pacific Northwest — in fact, in the past year we’ve dropped down to 1965 levels.
– A compendium of the Obama administration’s transportation goals.
– Will a proposed tax on Wall Street oil speculation fund our country’s new, modern transportation system?
– A long NY Times Magazine article (from a couple of weeks ago) on the future of high speed rail in California.
– A California court has deemed it illegal for the state to use public transit funds for other purposes.
– London’s transportation secretary, Lord Adonis, talks up high speed rail and bicycling.
– In Mumbai, India, one proposal for reducing car traffic is to ban people who don’t own their own parking spot from buying a car in the first place.
– In Jakarta, Indonesia, one proposed solution to traffic safety issues is to require people with disabilities to wear special traffic signs when walking in public spaces.
– The city of Berlin has banned fixed gear bicycles that aren’t equipped with handbrakes.
– The Oregonian has a piece on the power of Portland’s neighborhood associations — most recently in blocking the proposed stadium in Lents.
– Portland’s newest light rail line, the MAX Green Line, took its inaugural trip last week. Chris Smith shares his impressions.
– The Chinese government has blocked a Chinese firm’s acquisition of the Hummer brand, saying that providing a home to the behemoth vehicles would go against the country’s green agenda.
– Several recent articles about the gender gap in cycling have caused a flap among transportation bloggers — the Streetsblog Network thoughtfully rounds up the interesting conversation that has resulted.
– David Hembrow in the Netherlands draws a provocative comparison between US military and transportation spending.
– From the same source — reports of a serious bicycle parking shortage in the Netherlands.
– The active folks at our new, local Bike Temple have started a sensitive and interesting discussion about reaching out to people who are overweight and ride or want to ride bikes. It begins here and continues here.
– On the Vélocouture blog, a call for “the great unrolling” (of your pants leg, after installing a chainguard on your bike).
– A post on the new World Carfree Network blog suggests ditching your bike for the most radical form of transportation and transformation of cities — walking.
– Thought of the day… Tom Vanderbilt quotes a book passage on how modern mobility is causing the world’s populations to genetically merge.
And finally, a fun video of a day long party in a temporarily reclaimed street in Guadalajara.