There was a lot of news this week. We broke it down by region.
National news
– The $3 billion federal Cash for Clunkers program has been slightly hard on used car dealerships, but is great for auto salvagers, con artists, people who couldn’t previously afford to get an SUV, and new car manufacturers, particularly ones in Asia. The program has, however, helped catch one hit and run perpetrator.
– One major car company claims its new electric vehicle gets 230 mpg on short trips; one news source points out it would only get 62.5 on longer ones.
– Check out this Kafka-esque saga in Los Angeles — when residents protested a plan to remove bike lanes from a major thoroughfare, LADOT claimed that no such plan had ever existed.
Local news
– Starting in January, you’ll have to pay full fare for a short bus ride in downtown Portland — transit agency TriMet has decided to limit its downtown fareless square to light rail and streetcar rides only.
– Portlanders had a chance to test various bikesharing programs this weekend (Jonathan demo’d bikes from all the vendors and he’ll post a full report with photos soon); Boston may become the first US city to implement such a system on a large scale.
– A visitor to Portland is alarmed by the high cost of used bikes here, and does some comparative research.
Around the region
– Bicycle transportation is becoming politically viable in Washington County (the mayor of Tigard likes his electric bike so much that he started an online e-bike store) and looks likely to get a further, major boost from Metro’s active transportation initiatives.
– Public works crews in Eugene will increase the clean-up of leaves in the city’s bike lanes this fall.
– Bend is the Oregon city with the most bicycle fatalities in 2008.
– August 19th is a banner day for train travelers — you’ll now be able to take the train all the way from Portland to Vancouver, BC, without staying in Seattle overnight or switching to a bus.
Around the world
– Auto pollution is the prime culprit in the unbelievable 70% incidence of respiratory disease among residents of Calcutta.
– A man in Britain has been jailed, and faces a year-long ban on driving for causing a fatality while on his bicycle when he ran down an elderly man who was walking.
– The nation of Samoa is planning a controversial transition from driving on the right to driving on the left, so Tom Vanderbilt treats us to a comprehensive history of road directionality around the world.
– The world’s longest bike tunnel has been built in the Basque region.
– In Australia, one woman is on a crusade to fight her country’s all-ages helmet law.
– A couple of fun, inspiring links: Want to fix yourself up a Dutch style ride without buying an imported bike? Here’s what it takes. And here’s the story of a couple bike punks on a tallbike tour of Indonesia.