Scotland has one of the highest levels of obesity in OECD countries with over a million adults and over 150,000 children obese. This is predicted to worsen with adult obesity levels reaching over 40% by 2030. Overweight and obesity brings with it a risk of disease and a cost to society that will directly impact on our ability to achieve sustainable economic growth. This situation is avoidable.
People move about our cities in many ways. Babies are pushed around in buggies, people with disabilities propel themselves around in electric wheelchairs. People walk or ride bicycles; others catch public transport - buses, trams or trains. Many people rely on carbon-based fuels to power the technology that moves them about: they take their own cars. To support the 'just-in-time' delivery systems, drivers move goods all over our cities many times a day in light vans. Heavy truck drivers take goods to and from the ports and airports.
Although the city already had a private bike-sharing program, the government of the Mexican capital has recently launched the official Ecobici.
Includes recommendations by Jan Gehl, which were:
David Darlington's stirring narrative shows the devastating price paid by cyclists when the legal system and society fail to hold drivers accountable for deadly recklessness on our roads.
This article hits home on the issues for advocates in preventing/responding to tragic collisions by motorists with cyclists...
Boys who cycled to school were 30 percent more likely to be fit, but there was an even more dramatic difference in fitness among female subjects. Girls who biked to school were seven times more likely to reach the minimum fitness standard than girls who used motorized transport.
Bikes@Work is a Melbourne-based business helping to promote workplace health and sustainability through active transport initiatives.
Active transport (such as walking and cycling) has an important role to play in reducing transport costs, congestion, air pollution, promoting health and enhancing the safety and livability of our cities.
If you're thinking about traveling to Buenos Aires, consider taking your bike with you. The promise of 100 kilometers of new bike paths is becoming a reality with new safe, separated-from-traffic lanes popping up in different parts of the city. Take a look at the map inside.
Welcome to the harbour city - home of the opera house, the bridge and traffic chaos. A battle is on for not only the streets of Sydney but the environment, the economy and just common sense. Will cars and bikes ever get along in Sydney? Strap on your helmet and come watch The Battle of Sydney unfold.
Short Films: Councillor on a Bike, and
Doctor on a Bike
Jackie Fristacky’s excellent day on wheels. This is the story of the day I spent following ( on a bike) a very inspiring politician around the streets of Yarra city, which is part of Melbourne. Jackie has been part of a push which has seen Yarra city climb to the highest rate of bike commuting of anywhere in Australia. Jackie Fristacky’s story might look like just another movie on YouTube. But actually it’s a very special tool for change, at least potentially.
And here’s a companion story, another busy professional who not only uses a bike on the job but, like Jackie, has interesting ideas about how bikes can make our lives better. This is Ian Charlton, The Doctor on a Bike. Seeing patients, Ian prefers to prescribe a bike than a pill.