Here is the news that caught our eye last week:
– At December’s summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Saudi Arabia is planning to push hard for wealthy countries that successfully reduce oil use to compensate oil producing nations.
– US Rep Earl Blumenauer (representing Portland) has just announced a federal Livable Communities task force. Meanwhile, the NY Times has a big profile Earl Blumenauer, focusing on his fight for a health care bill with a public option.
– Streetsblog refutes a disingenuous take on congestion pricing by the Wall Street Journal.
– An interesting look at Orenco Station, Hillsboro’s famous example of a transit-oriented development community. Residents use their car less and take transit more than other suburban residents, but their commutes to work are still largely by car.
– USA Today reports on a trend in “eco-friendly” parking garages.
– In Oregon, Metro is recommending that the Urban Growth Boundary not be expanded in 2010.
– A local architecture firm has proposed an innovative solution for creating walkability in the wavy, disconnected residential streets of Tigard, Oregon — just bypass the street system.
– Construction of a pedestrian bridge that would connect Portland’s South Waterfront Development with the neighborhoods west of the freeway is delayed yet again as a round of bids comes in well over budget.
– In Utah, developers and cities want to create walkable areas — but banks are reluctant to lend the money.
– DJC Oregon reports on the connection between street layout and public health.
– The Google Maps Trike team (we wrote about it most recently here) is accepting requests for where to send the trike next, either in the Portland region or farther afield.
– If you take your folding bike on Air Canada, you must pay the same fee as for a full-sized bike, the government has ruled.
– A new level of regulation is coming to New York City’s pedicabs; meanwhile an internet video of a brawl between a pedicab operator and a taxi driver is making waves; and the NY Times columnist sees cause to ban automobiles from Manhattan.
– Minneapolis is experiencing growing pains with their new cycle track on Hennepin Ave, which has also been redesigned to allow two-way traffic.
– In Oakland, California, transit advocates have experienced a lot of ups and downs, but are making a lot of progress lately, according to a blog post that details the ins and outs of some of the major issues.
– The Cascade Bicycle Club is pushing for a law to protect vulnerable road users in Washington State.
– Chinese police may soon begin to penalize the passengers of drunk drivers.
– California first lady Maria Shriver has been caught on camera three times in recent weeks using a hand-held cell phone while driving — a practice that her husband has outlawed.
– As we remember two fatal right hooks in Portland two years ago, news comes from California of a fatal collision between a woman on a bicycle and a right-turning truck. No consequences appear to have resulted for the man driving the truck, and a chorus of voices blame the woman on the bicycle — who was obeying the law at the time of the crash.
– Researchers who conducted a study on bike crash injuries in a trauma ward in Denver warn of a coming “injury epidemic.”
– Economically, bike manufacturers are doing better than car makers — but this isn’t true across the board.
– Art students at NY’s Cooper Union have found an innovative workaround to the unfriendly bike parking policies at their campus’s new LEED Platinum building.
– And finally, the video of the week. Not recent, but timeless nonetheless — a quick view of what it takes to walk across the street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (For a more upbeat alternative, check out this scene from Portland.)