Speed Camera Lottery

Who knew reducing speed in urban areas, and consequently improving the quality of the urban environment could be, well, fun?

History of Cycle Paths in the Netherlands

Interesting video detailing the evolution of Cycle Paths in the Netherlands.

More info: A view from a Cycle Path

China: The (lost) Kingdom Of Bicycles?

photo: Wang Wenlan

According to Wang Fuchang, the Chinese director of the Department of Equipment Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "it is estimated that automobile ownership in China will exceed 200 million in 2020, causing serious energy security and environmental issues." Currently, there is a year on year increase of approximately 30% in private car numbers.

Urban Mobility Beyond Cars: Dublin

Ecological Urbanism is delighted to announce that my research proposal 'Urban Mobility Beyond Cars" has recently been shortlisted for a research competition organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. The competition,
3Twenty10, was a call for Irish Architects to identify solutions to the challenges facing Ireland’s built environment in the aftermath of the boom years. It explores how the profession can contribute to the wider debate about national recovery.

Reclaiming car parking spaces with bike racks

one car parking space can park up to 14 bicycles.

Copenhagen has been stealthy and steadily with it's bicycle revolution. One of the city's central policies in bringing about the huge transformation towards the world's no. 1 cycle city status has been the slow removal of car parking spaces in the city centre over the last 30 years, a policy promoted by renowned Danish architect, Jan Gehl. With 2% of the city's on street car parking removed every year, the citizens don't notice this happening, according to Gehl.

Transport Innovations in China

Breaking High-Speed Train Speed records, Planning routes to Europe, and the development of radical new concepts for futuristic urban trains, China is trailblazing its way to the top of the race to build low carbon alternatives to air transport. Here are some recent developments on transport innovation in China.

Vintage Velo

And in I went to Velo to get my bicycle fixed and there they did give me this beauty of a replacement bicycle, lucky number 7, and what a looker she is! Must be a classic dame... strong, elegant and handy. Pre-cursor to the brompton? Possible. Is she a former mistress to Belgian grandfathers? Before anyone was mentioning jargon such as 'intermodality' and 'sustainable cities', was this one being riden to the train station, taken aboard and then onto the eventual destination? A total transit solution for the 1950's?

Transit Score

San Francisco Transit Heat Map

Covering more than 40 US cities, Transit Score is a web utility that assesses how well a neighbourhood is served by public transport. Transit Scores are based on schedule data released in a standard format by public transit agencies. To calculate a Transit Score, WalkScore.com assign a "usefulness" value to nearby transit routes based on the frequency, type of route (rail, bus, etc.), and distance to the nearest stop on the route. The "usefulness" of all nearby routes is summed and they normalize this to a score between 0 - 100.

Populist Proof: Commuting is bad for you

Americans with longer commutes suffer higher levels of back pain, higher cholesterol, and higher levels of obesity.

After surveying 173,581 employed Americans over the past year, a recent Gallup-Healthway's survey has concluded that American workers with lengthy commutes are more likely to report a range of adverse physical and emotional conditions, leading to lower overall scores on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

Polluted Air

Graph by Martha Klang McGill

Urban Pollution has a major impact on the health of cities' populations and is also a good indicator to the level of combustible engine congestion on the city's road network. Of course, there are issues of industrial activity in the city and also the local climate, but there is no doubt that more focus on a sustainable transport network based on clean energy sources can dramatically improve the air quality of cities such as LA and Houston, Texas.