Here’s the news that caught my eye this week:
– Hangzhou, China boasts the largest bike sharing system in the world, with 50,000 bicycles and strong integration with public transit.
– Bicycle transportation is hardly the proprietary realm of creative class residents of gentrified inner cities–in fact, bicycling has a rich heritage all over the globe, though that isn’t always reflected by outreach efforts, advocacy, and facilities locations in U.S. cities.
– While global consortia are unable to agree on approaches to climate change, cities around the world are tackling the problem, in part through promoting bicycling.
– Could it be true that a fifth of all crashes on city streets happen because of driveways? One researcher has found as much.
– In a Toronto public opinion poll, 72% of respondents were in favor of investing in separated cycletracks.
– Huntington Beach is now the first city in California to offer a diversion class for people given traffic tickets while riding bicycles.
– In Vancouver, B.C., they’re talking about the safety in numbers phenomenon–the more people riding bikes, the safer bicycling becomes.
– An intriguing look at a bikes-on-trains solution that was tested a couple of years ago in Seoul, South Korea, and a glimmer of hope for being able to roll your bike on board Amtrak trains.
– In India, a program to give free bicycles to girls helps them to complete their education.
– After being in a hit and run, a musician writes a bicycle commuter’s anthem and tours Canada singing it, by bike.
– A profile of randonneuring — that’s really, really, really long distance riding.
– In Denton, Texas, a lawn mowing business is run off of an intriguing electric bike setup.
– A how-to photo essay about something not to do, or maybe to do only in calmer waters: Bike rafting.
– Video of the week: A scintillating, behind the scenes look at the installation of those red pavement bike paths in the Netherlands.