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The boss of New Zealand's largest vehicle company wants Kiwis to pay more for their petrol.

Toyota New Zealand CEO Alistair Davis says our fuel prices are far too low - the fourth-lowest in the OECD in fact.

That's encouraging us not only to own bigger cars, but to drive them longer distances. And that means we're in reverse when it comes to meeting international greenhouse gas emission obligations.

"Our greenhouse gas emissions have actually gone up 23 per cent since 1990," he told a media briefing in Auckland last week.

"Our population has risen 26 per cent in...

So, for those who prefer not to wear helmets, here is an alternate option - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/hovding-helmet-airbag-for-head.php

:)

The last 3 years have seen a substantial and welcome increase in the availability of the utility style bicycles that are the vehicle of choice for the vast majority in countries where bicycling is well-established. 

http://sites.google.com/site/urbanbicycles/bicyclesnz

Two years ago I wrote For Bicylists, There is Safety in Numbers noting the work of Chris Rissel, who said "It appears that motorists adjust their behaviour in the presence of increasing numbers of people bicycling because they expect or experience more people cycling."

Last year we asked Is there "safety in numbers"? and quoted Peter Jacobson's 2003 study that concluded that "Where, or when, more people walk or bicycle, the less likely any of them are to be injured by motorists. There is safety in numbers."

Now cycling activist Elly Blue follows up on Grist with more...

Vehicles within the classic cartoon "The Flintstones" were all foot powered. The mechanism that propels the bicycle hasn't really been improved on since it was invented. That is, until now. A design firm out of Oregon has come up with a car that can sustain speeds of about 30 mph, with electric assistance. It doesn't use any gas. It can whip you into shape too.

Meet the HumanCar

In the late 60s, engineer Charles Greenwood saw habits that he did not like, for instance too much commuting and not enough exercise. He also saw an opportunity. Since then,...

The other morning when I was walking along Wellington's waterfront to work, a cyclist had the grace to ring her bell to let me know she was coming up fairly slowly behind me.

Not so the "boy bike racers", who treat the confines of the waterfront as a training track. Some of them are capable of sprint speeds of 50kmh, which could be very injurious were they to hit a pedestrian.

This likelihood is quite high because you can't hear their bikes coming up behind you, and these cyclists don't slow down when the path width narrows to a couple of metres at Shed 5. Instead, they weave...

Improving Safety of Cycling Public Education Programme Report
July - September 2010

To: Gerry Dance, New Zealand Transport Agency
From: Cycling Advocates' Network
30 September 2010

The aims of the Improving Safety of Cycling Public Education Programme are to:
a. deliver a national safety education and promotional programme in the high priority walking and cycling communities at risk areas, directly contributing to high priority areas of the Government's Safer Journeys Strategy: Safer roads and roadsides, Safer speeds and Increasing the safety of all...

The days are progressively getting shorter, and so more and more cyclists will be biking in light conditions that definitely aren't optimal. Most cyclists are good about trying to wear clothing and accessories that are highly reflective and easy to see in the dark, but according to a new peer-reviewed study (page 56), cyclists might not actually be as visible as they think they are, which can increase danger.

Here's the abstract of the paper:

"Visibility limitations make cycling at night particularly dangerous. We previously reported cyclists’ perceptions of their own...

The nation's transport ministers have acknowledged there's been a lack of investment when it comes to encouraging people to get out of their cars and onto their bicycles.

Federal and state transport ministers on Friday signed off on the third National Cycling Strategy, which aims to double the number of people cycling during the next five years.

The strategy acknowledges that while there have been many initiatives to get more people riding in the past 10 years cycling had not been supported by a high level of investment.

"To help counter this, (the 2011-16...