Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:
– The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has continued to worsen, and apparently to nearly overshadow news of another major oil spill in Alaska, when a pipeline largely owned by BP burst.
– As NYC closes streets to cars, people walking and bicycling suddenly have greater challenges in sharing the road…with each other. Pedestrian grumblings are starting to rise to the surface.
– A small town in Colorado has banned bicycles from several of its main streets.
– In Glendale, California, a school has implemented a “Park and Walk” system, asking parents to park several blocks away from the school and walk to pick up their kids.
– Folding bikes got some nice mainstream press for “making green travel greener.”
– When transit systems get cut back, private operators often jump in to the gap—as is happening with Dollar Vans in New York.
– There are all sorts of different flavors of Bus Rapid Transit. Systems like Bogota’s devote an entire lane to buses only. The proposed system in Barcelona will instead give buses priority similar to emergency vehicles.
– Portland and Vancouver, BC are pioneering a new kind of urban density centered around legalizing and encouraging the use of small houses in the back yards of existing lots.
– So what’s really the difference between boys’ and girls’ bikes, hmm?
– Utility bikes keep getting cooler, and the Taco Bike—a full kitchen on three wheels—might be the coolest one yet.
– An upscale take on the mobile bicycle home.
– And the feel good story of the week…this stolen bike made national headlines, and was found and returned last week.