Some cyclists prefer style over safety, including when it comes to safety lighting. Cyglo Tyres appears to offer both, ditching the bulky bulb on the handlebars for LEDs embedded in the tires themselves. When spinning, they form a perfect circle of colored light. The best part is that the lights are powered by the spinning wheel itself. But there seems to be at least one significant design flaw.
IBM (yes, the IBM) recently released a global study of traffic, surveying over 8,000 adult drivers in 20 major cities. Perhaps the results are not that surprising - traffic is perceived by drivers as getting worse in the last three years. Thirty percent of those surveyed felt increased stress while 27% reported increased anger. Twenty nine percent reported that traffic harmed their performance in work or school, and 38% reported having cancelled a planned trip due to anticipated traffic.
London's new bike rental scheme, like Paris's velib scheme before it, may be a huge hit. But there's a young upstart on the block that is looking to offer an alternative to these large-scale schemes—and it says it can make ordinary bike owners some money in the process.
This is the first in a series of ideas for Wellington, which will be mostly bicycle, and public transport related.
Well-designed urban bike paths are a cyclist's dream, making it easy for folks to ditch their cars for a more eco-friendly commute. Sometimes, however, it just doesn't seem worth the effort to build them at all.
In a very interesting initiative that began last January, a group of three non governmental organizations from Mexico City are organizing bike rides for the blind and visually impaired. The rides are guided by volunteers on tandem bikes, and are offered on Sunday mornings, when a few streets in the historical center of the city are closed for pedestrians and human powered vehicles. What does this do for these people? More than you would think.
When challenged to come up with a way to inspire more people to bike for transportation in addition to recreation, three three "former non-bikers" from New York City proposed a campaign to focus on mutual respect between drivers and bikers. The team, calling itself "!ola," was one of four competitors in a contest sponsored by Yoxi, a new site dedicated to social innovation. In its debut competition, Yoxi (pronounced yo-see) posed this question:
As bike culture comes into its own, many people switching to two-wheeled transportation want to ride with style.
In a city where bike theft is a very good reason to make you doubt about riding somewhere, providing parking facilities is almost as important as creating new bike paths.
Researchers have identified policies in Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands that have made cycling safe, convenient and mainstream in these countries. Coordinated transport, educational and land use measures have increased the popularity of this sustainable mode of transport over recent decades.
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