(Photo: Tony Kyriacou/Rex Features)
Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:
– A 21-year old student from the U.K. is making waves on the web for his foldable bike with a unique theft-deterrent — it can bend around a pole and lock to itself.
– JetBlue knows how to please it’s bike-loving customers. To celebrate the Tour de France, they’ve decided to let bikes fly free (fee is usually $50) and they’re beaming coverage of the race from Versus via their seatback televisions.
– A new study using data from the Netherlands to show that, statistically speaking, the health benefits of riding a bike far outweigh the risks.
– “What could possibly go wrong” with Seattle’s plan to bore a freeway tunnel along their waterfront? One local paper is keeping a tally.
– A new restaurant slated to be opened along a bike path in Madison, Wisconsin, will be inaccessible by car.
– A leaked memo provides insight into the powerful-yet-ineffective lobby against regulating cell phone use and texting while driving. “Auto, tech, and insurance industries, among others, have become collateral damage in this transportation battle.”
– The latest round of federal transit grants was released last week, going to fund new streetcar systems and rapid bus services in cities from Cincinnati to Fort Worth.
– The U.S.’s two new bike sharing systems have been in place for a few weeks now and reviews are starting to roll in. Requests for expansion are already coming in for the Nice Ride bikes in Minneapolis (where I am now). News of B-Cycle in Denver has been overshadowed by manufactured “bikes vs cars” memes but appears to be going strong.
– Shoppers choose to walk and take transit to a new mall in Manhattan, leaving its giant, above-ground parking garage mostly unused.
– Living in the suburbs costs an average of 18% more than living in the city.
— Send links for consideration in the Roundup to Elly Blue at eleanor[dot]blue[at]gmail[dot]com.