Let’s Use Airships Instead of Airplanes
Travelling via airplane is safe for you as an individual, but collectively all of using planes is unsafe. At ground level the emissions from airplanes are bad and are even…
Transportation
Let’s do Better than Bike Lanes
In North America bike lanes are afterthoughts slapped on infrastructure meant for heavy metal objects that kill people and the planet. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can…
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone Cuts Toxic Air Pollution by a Third
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) can be considered a roaring success. The ULEZ was created by London mayor Sadiq Khan to combat the health crisis created from too many…
It’s Time for Less Speed and More Efficency
A regularly seen warning on roads is that “speed kills” and cities have been slowing traffic around the world to protect pedestrians. However, have you thought about how speed as…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – David Leonhardt discusses how the U.S.’ tax system has become definitively regressive, featuring this chart as to how the wealthiest few now pay…
We All Benefit When We Build Safe Streets
The climate crisis requires solutions at all levels and that includes the streets. Safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists ensures that more people will use sustainable transit (and not drive…
Free Transit In Dunkirk a Success
The French city of Dunkirk recently made a major decision to make all their public transit free to anyone. It’s worked really well and now people are hoping the idea…
Not on time, not on budget
Since actual payments are almost 3x the contractual obligation, it looks like the Sea to Sky Highway improvement project will eventually cost $1.5 billion. And remember, the province financed one…
Toronto’s Bloor Bike Lanes Boost Local Businesses
Despite being only 2.4 kilometres long the bike lane on Bloor street in Toronto was heavily contested. It was debated in local politics for decades and was only declared permanent…
Politics outranks good policy
After banking large contributions from taxi owners, governing BC Liberals had declined to change provincial rules to allow ride hailing. They also failed to ensure adequate expansion of fleet sizes.…
Boost Local Shopping Streets by Going Car Free
Berlin wants to support its local businesses by banning cars, and historically this has worked well for other cities. Cities the world over are converting streets built for cars into…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Robert Reich points out that the most significant political divide is the one between the wealthiest few and the rest of the…
Cities Collect Big Bucks from Bike Lanes
Regular readers know that bike lanes are good for people, cities, transportation, and the economy. Yet another article has been written about the greatness of bicycle transportation in case you…
Vaughn Palmer, noted engineer and road-builder
Today, a poll from Mario Canseco’s Research Co. reported, “The governing New Democratic Party (NDP) is the top choice in British Columbia’s current political landscape…” This might explain why some…
Christiana Figueres: The Climate Risk Reward Ratio has Changed
The architect of the Paris Agreement, Christiana Figueres, is optimistic about the future of the planet and she sees the technology sector key in moving our economy to a carbon…
London’s Congestion Pricing Works
Back in 2003 London rolled out its congestion pricing to reduce traffic going into the city and provide more funding for transit solutions. The results have been predictable insofar that…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Tony Burman writes about the seismic change we can expect as the importance of our climate crisis – as well as the…
How Bogota Convinced People to Give up Cars Once a Week
Not Bogota, but a nice place nonetheless. Every Sunday the city of Bogota stops cars from entering the city and they let the streets be used by everyone. Once cars…
Interview with Julia Szwarc of Free Transit Ottawa
https://earthgauge.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/juliaszwarc-freetransitottawa-forair.mp3 What do you think of Ottawa’s bus system OC Transpo? Is it too expensive? Not convenient or reliable enough? Should it be free? Julia Szwarc, a member of Free…
Make Cities Slow Again
Bad urban design makes for poor living conditions and when cars are involved it can mean lethal conditions. As people know all to well, the last century’s bizarre love of…