Here’s the news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…
– Metro council candidate Bob Stacey says Oregon is “banking a lot on technology” and fuel-efficient cars to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets; but Slate warns that so-called “soft solutions” aren’t enough to solve our environmental problems.
– A city ordinance requiring San Francisco businesses to allow bikes indoors is being hailed as a victory for people who bike to work but most acknowledge it’s only one small step towards meeting the city’s future ridership goals.
– Driverless cars are closer to reality than science fiction and while they could increase the motor vehicle capacity of our roads some of the research on their use isn’t factoring in sharing the road with people transporting themselves by bike or on foot.
– Former (and future) Portland residents Russ Roca and Laura Crawford completed their ride through New Zealand and are headed back to the states. Reflecting on their journeys, they ask the question: what is bicycle travel?
– In bike sharing news: the city of Beijing expects to have 20,000 bikes at 1,000 stations around the city by the end of the year; Dublin’s bike share system is getting 1,000 new bikes this summer; San Francisco is launching a pilot program with 500 bikes at 50 stations around downtown; and a variety of bike share programs are popping up around New Jersey.
– What do you do when you find a motor vehicle blocking a bike lane? If you’re in NYC you have a new tool to deal with the problem: BKME.org is a “platform that channels the power of cyclists to reclaim bike lanes from vehicles.”
– Planners in Charlottesville, VA are hoping a smartphone application will give them insight into where people on bikes are traveling.
– An opinion piece in The Washington Post looks at the ways grocery stores and other businesses subsidize customers’ automobile use.
– Europe could soon see more bicycles from China if officials decide to ease the current tariff on imported bikes.
– An article from Business Insider calls driving a “dying activity” and looks at data showing America’s declining driving habits.
– Two recent college graduates have embarked on a 10,000 mile bike ride to document Europe and Asia’s local entrepreneurs. You can see what they’ve found so far on the site for the project, Postulate One.
– A judge in Rhode Island banned a 17-year old from driving for life after the teen crashed a car into a tree while driving intoxicated with a suspended license.
– An architecture firm’s rendering shows what the Chongming Bicycle Park could look like once it’s constructed on Chongming Island, just north of Shanghai, China.
– A man who lost both his arms over two decades ago hopes to ride his bike in the 2012 London Paralympics.
– Electric bicycle manufacturer the JD Group introduced an automatic shifting system for standard (non-electric) bicycles at the Taipei Cycle Show.
– Another hybrid bike-repair-and-coffee shop, the Denver Bicycle Cafe, has opened in Colorado.
– The Chilean feminist group Macleta is promoting bicycling as a “tool for social change.”
– Peugeot has a new bike that eliminates the need for a laptop compartment in your backpack by including room for a computer in the bike’s frame.
– A bicycle counter in Ottawa, Canada has been removed because it was built from parts not intended for use in winter weather. City staff isn’t sure yet whether they’re reinstall the counter in the spring.
– And finally, a few video gems… Here’s a look at cycle-skating, 1923’s “new sport” (found via Sydney Cycle Chic):
And the video of the week (at least in terms of popularity) is the hilarious rap ode to Bicyclistus Americanus, “Motherfuckingbike”…
Did you find something interesting that should be in next week’s Monday Roundup? Drop us a line. For more great links from around the web, follow us on Twitter @BikePortland.