Here’s the news that caught our eye in the last week:
– Friday was a notable news day across the board, and we would be remiss not to point out several of the more important transportation stories broken that day: New York City has unveiled its truly visionary new transportation plan, even if one prominent politician has suddenly become a surprise advocate for greener alternatives.
– Okay, seriously now, in NYC, the campaign (in which the above mentioned politician has a role) to abolish a successful new bike lane turns out to be something other than the grassroots initiative by safety-conscious citizens that it’s purported to be. Who knew?
– A Danish researcher shows that despite common assumptions to the contrary, bicycling is safer than driving.
– In the weeks since the big quake in Japan, many of the Tokyoites who started bicycling when the trains stopped running are still getting around on two wheels.
– The European Union plans to ban “conventionally fueled cars” from major urban areas by 2050 as part of an environmental initiative.
– British national cycling initiatives have been defunded—here’s a look at what that will mean on the ground.
– Seattle is looking into building “bicycle greenways,” inspired by neighboring cities’ coordination of bicycle infrastructure and stormwater management.
– In Charlottesville, North Carolina, the city is making a “major effort” to enhance its bikeway network by painting sharrows.
– In Washington, DC, cycling is up 86% in the last decade.
– A well made economic case for cities to invest in bicycling. (I’ve also been writing about this elsewhere…)
– Newspaper editorial boards in Baltimore and Columbus have issued pleas for everyone to “share the road.”
– Two Los Angeles police officers have donated a bunch of bike helmets to be given to Critical Mass participants under age 18.
– A nice pictorial history of bicycling in Los Angeles.
– In case you can’t get enough of the NYC bike lane saga, here’s more good stuff. And don’t miss P.J. O’Rourke’s diatribe in the Wall Street Journal.
– Video of the week: Streetfilms continues their stellar Moving Beyond the Automobile series with a film about highway removal…
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Highway Removal from Streetfilms on Vimeo.