Carfree USA Blog

Scraper Bikes 101

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Should Women Embrace or Reject Chic Cycling?

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Carfree USA is fascinated by the discussion going on between women in our community.

The conversation has two very distinct arguments.

Biker Chicks of West Chester argues... "all those Bike Chic websites, do us all a favor and show some real women exercising."

In response, Change Your Life, Ride a Bike responds "I do not feel exploited, I am not objectifying myself and I am fully aware that I am the equal of any person out there."

Where do you stand on this issue?

Are Carfree Cities even possible?

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Great discussion going on over at MetaFilter.

Boris Johnson, Tory Cyclist to the Rescue!

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Well played, mate.

Verdict - Guilty: "Assault with a deadly weapon"

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:30:00 +0000

A physician accused of deliberately injuring two cyclists by slamming on his car’s brakes on a narrow Brentwood road last year was convicted Monday of assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem and other serious criminal charges.

LA Times

Parking in Bike Lanes

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:34:00 +0000

TV News in Philly takes on the bad guys.

Major Breakthrough in DC

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:26:00 +0000

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE RAY LAHOOD
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
U.S. SENATE HEARING ON CLEAN ENERGY JOBS AND AMERICAN POWER ACT OF 2009
OCTOBER 27, 2009

DOT, HUD, and EPA are working together to support the building of more livable neighborhoods with “complete” streets that increase safety and mobility for all users by giving Americans –whether they live in urban, suburban or rural communities--the choice of walking, biking, or riding transit instead of driving motor vehicles. If the presence of these alternatives promotes less driving, then that will reduce road congestion, reduce pollutants and greenhouse gases, and use land more efficiently.

Full Testimony here

European Commission on Streets and Cities

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:11:00 +0000

Reclaiming city streets for people - Chaos or quality of life?

There are many traffic management techniques and approaches and any given city will probably need to develop a package of measures to manage traffic effectively. This new handbook sets out some case studies where road space has been reallocated for other uses. New, attractive and popular public areas can be created on sites that were once blocked by regular traffic jams. If these are properly planned, they need not result in road traffic chaos, contrary to what might be expected.

Great stuff.

Critical Mass San Francisco - New Website

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:42:00 +0000

The granddaddy of all Critical Masses in the world has launched a new website.

Car-free cities: an idea with legs

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

A quarter of households in Britain – more in the larger cities, and a majority in some inner cities – live without a car. Imagine how quality of life would improve for cyclists and everyone else if traffic were removed from areas where people could practically choose to live without cars. Does this sound unrealistic, utopian? Did you know many European cities are already doing it?

Guardian UK

Well done Steve and Carfree UK!

How to Live Well without Owning a Car

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:17:00 +0000

WikiHow has a nice plan that covers the basics.

DWI in a La-Z-Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:45:00 +0000

A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk. A criminal complaint says 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson told police he left a bar in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor on his chair after drinking eight or nine beers.

AP

Editor: At least he was car-free.

Granny Pedestrian Shows Who is Boss

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Happy Walk and Bike to School Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:54:00 +0000

By far, the cutest day of the year.

(h/t elly blue)

October 1 is "Replace the Batteries in Your Blinkies Day!"

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:10:00 +0000

Hey Everyone.

Don't forget, Thursday is "Replace the Batteries in Your Blinkies Day!"

Let's stay safe and well-lit as we prepare for carfree life during the cold and dark months.

*In the Southern Hemisphere, October 1st is "Get Out Your Riding Sandals Day!" Have a great summer you all.

Feds Subsidize Parking Six Times as Much as Transit

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Streetsblog reports.

Yes, She's 49

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:12:00 +0000

Janette Sadik-Khan gets the recognition she deserves at Forbes.

Hummer Owners Claim High Moral Ground

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:49:00 +0000

Hummer drivers believe they are defending America's frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, which researched attitudes toward owning and driving Hummers, which have become symbols to many of American greed and wastefulness.

ENN (h/t The Ecologist)

related: FUH2

[Post-Gazette] Pittsburgh a rust-belt Venice?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilia Pilia) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:01:00 +0000

While the G-20 is convening in Pittsburgh, the City assured pedestrians and cyclists that they are welcome downtown... Except that they blocked the way.

photo by Timothy McNulty

Jym says: This is part of my bike route downtown from the North Shore and North Boroughs....

And the local paper published the following Open Letter:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Open Letters A car-free zone
...Downtown Pittsburgh should become pedestrian-only -- free of cars. We are blessed with a Downtown that is a perfectly walkable size. So draw a line north to south from river to river through the new hockey arena, and from there to the Point is our car-free zone. We'd be a wonder! It would be glorious! Parking could be across shore and people would ferry over or walk across the pedestrian bridges.
...
JASON KOTTLER
Mount Oliver

[Detroit Blog] Car Capital of the World loves bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Lilia Pilia) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Detroit Blog: Taking back the streets one bicycle at a time by Karen Dybis
...“Bikes are all about freedom. It's about access. And that's what makes a city great,” Clein said.

Detroit has the room for cyclists, Clein argues. Its major roads, like Michigan Avenue, have a stunning nine lanes. That is because the city once had cable cars and modes of transportation that needed space. Plus, Detroit used to have more than 2 million residents filling its 140 square miles.

Today, the population is around 900,000....

Fake NYP on Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (Lilia Pilia) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:37:00 +0000

"SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST from The Yes Men on Vimeo.

Today is World Carfree Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:00:00 +0000

World Carfree Day - Press Release 2009

List of Worldwide Events Here

MEDIA CONTACTS AROUND THE WORLD:

World Carfree Network invites organisations and individuals everywhere to join in on the world wide celebrations! Any questions or for more information about World Carfree Day in your area, please contact:

Europe
Ms. Bonnie Fenton
Tel: (+49) 178/9 62 66 92
E-mail: bonnieinbremen [at] yahoo.de

North America
Ms. Eleanor Blue
Tel: (+1) 503 810 9443
E-mail: eleanor.blue [at] gmail.com

South America
Mr. Étienne von Bertrab
Tel: (+5233) 1281-1307
E-mail: etiennevon [at] hotmail.com

South Africa
Ms. Gail Jennings
Tel: (+27) 83 658 5386
Email: gail [at] mobilitymagazine.co.za

General inquiries
World Carfree Network, International Coordination Centre
Tel: +(420) 274-810-849
E-mail: info [at] worldcarfree.net

Chuck the Clunkers on Sept. 22!
The word clunker refers to an old, worn-out vehicle, a car. By another definition a clunker is a failure; a flop.

– I consider all cars as clunkers, flopped vehicles failing to meet any criteria of sensible means of transport, states Tanja Eskola from World Carfree Network. Let’s have a look at the true costs of car ownership for instance: Comparative studies show that in Europe, the average annual cost of a car is estimated to be around 6,000 - 9,000 Euros. That is to say a budget of around 500 to 750 Euros per month whereas in the majority of large European towns, a metro, tram or bus ticket costs around 1.5 Euro per unit. Car also is the greediest form of transport in terms of space: the same journey by bicycle takes up four times less room, by bus up to thirty times less. And needless to add, a car emits three times its own weight in pollutants every year, whereas a bicycle does not pollute.

– World Carfree Day, a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars, is an en excellent opportunity to rethink and rediscover our personal mobility and the urban environment we live in, encourages Eskola. With the economy in freefall it is well worth contemplating chucking the clunkers and exploring the alternatives!

World Carfree Day, an annual celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars, is intended to advance the economic, social and environmental benefits of self-propelled or mass transportation. It is meant to promote more sustainable ways of transportation and new ways of building and thinking the urbanism of our cities, allowing streets to be a living space, rather than only a transit space.

Notes for editors
1. World Carfree Day was established in 2000 as a grassroots movement by the World Carfree Network to coincide with the European Mobility Week. It has grown to involve official and unofficial participants in over 1,000 cities in 40 countries.

2. The World Carfree Network brings together organizations and individuals dedicated to promoting alternatives to car dependence and automobile-based planning at the international level and working to reduce the human impact on the natural environment while improving the quality of life for all. Activities of the Network include the publication of the quarterly Carbusters Magazine and other carfree-related publications, and conducting the annual Towards Carfree Cities Conference.

3. For more information, please visit www.worldcarfree.net. For a listing of WCD events in cities around the world, visit the World Carfree Day WIKI.

Teabags and Douchebags Unite!

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

CEI Takes a stand against World Carfree Day

Thanks for the free publicity, you knuckleheads.

Portland Bicycle Rider Files Suit Against Car Driver

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:49:00 +0000

About time.

Critical Mass Co-Founder Reviews David Byrne's "Bicycle Diaries"

noreply@blogger.com (Editor) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:43:00 +0000

David Byrne is just a few years older than me, and from his early days with the band Talking Heads to his later work as an international musicologist and producer, he's been a presence in my cultural life. His new book is a personal, thoughtful odyssey across a dozen cities, places that his busy career has taken him, and places that he in turn has taken his bicycle.

SF Chronicle

HuffPost has an excerpt from the book.