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Must-see videos: Birds on bikes, bikes on trains, and BRT

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In the last few hours I’ve come across three videos that you don’t want to miss.

The first is the latest from Streetfilms. In their first-ever foray into Asia, it focuses on the bustling metropolis of Guangzhou, China. One of the fastest growing cities in the world, Guangzhou is “winning the future” with the most inspiring example of Bus Rapid Transit I have ever seen.

According to Streetfilms, the Guangzhou BRT system opened in February 2010 and it now carries 800,000 passengers a day, “seamlessly connecting riders to both the metro system and the city’s new bike-share network.” BRT is fascinating to me and it seems to be a big success whenever it’s done right. Trouble is, in America BRT seems to have taken a back seat to rail transit (which is a lot more expensive and takes years to implement). My gut says there’s a lot of cultural bias and politics wrapped into that trend. Maybe China’s success will raise some eyebrows…

Bus Rapid Transit in Guangzhou, China from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

The next video will inspire you in a different way. It comes from our friends Russ Roca and Laura Crawford. As we shared last month, they’re planning a new trip. Today they took things to the next level with the release of this awesome video about their vision and how they plan to “redefine the American road trip.”
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And just when you thought you could go back to your to-do list, I present the latest spoof on the spoof that is Portlandia. Andrea and Aaron from Pedal Nation (their big PDX Bicycle Show is coming next weekend!) have done the infamous “Put a bird on it” sketch justice with “Put a bike on it.” Hilarious…
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