Sydney Bike Rage

In Sydney it is not about sharing spaces of mobility, but a "level of premeditation" by motorists leads to "bike rage".

"An international transport expert said Sydney drivers were more hostile towards cyclists than motorists of any other country."

Firecrackers (images: yuck danger) were thrown into a group of bikes. In 2008 "a motorist deliberately slammed on his brakes in front of up to 60 cyclists - including Olympians - before fleeing the scene."

Via news.com.130909
Image: Dysfunctional plastic bike for young people at Manly Beach

Businesses Nudge to use Bicycles in Berlin

Berlin sex workers are encouraging non petrol-guzzling customers. There are discounts for people arriving on bicycles and not emitting CO2.

"Customers who arrive on bicycle or who can prove they took public transportation get a 5-euro ($7) discount from the usual 70-euro ($100) fee for 45 minute session.. The green rebate has helped alleviate traffic and parking congestion in the neighborhood."

It would be a bright idea if more businesses and institutions could encourage staff and customers to use non-polluting bicycles.

Via>> Reuters 130709
Image: Graffiti, Berlin Wall with crack, by Kobe?

Separated Cycle Paths in the Netherlands

Physically separated cycle paths. A dream in Utrecht, nl. The physically separated paths from motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic keep the 'accidents' with vehicles to a minimum. The street design morphed in the last 200 years to this walking and cycling-friendly urban environment.



Cycling Amsterdamsestraatweg, Utrecht, Netherlands, via markenlei
via cyclelicious

Cartoon - Cycle to Work or Take the Bus?

Stuart McMillen draws informative cartoons and lives in Brisbane. He did a nice 'Bicycle vs Bus to Work' cartoon. Amongst many others, The Urban Heat Island and Energy Efficiency are also worth looking at.

Air pollution kills most

Although collisions with vehicles remain a serious danger to the lives and physical well-being of cyclists, the main danger is less visible. Air pollution is slowly killing far more cyclists than are being more rapidly killed by the vehicles we are forced to share the roads with. Diesel in particular is a major life-shortener. Where the hit-and-run driver may be found after claiming to go and get an ambulance and may have to pay for the action, the impersonal addition of poisonous particles to the commonly owned air we breathe cannot be attributed to any particular agent. This kind of mass poisoning seems to be permitted by law.

Image: Air hunger, public urban art, Frankfurt

The high cost of helmets

A new study by mathematician Piet de Jong of Macquarie University shows that mandatory helmet laws are responsible for substantial extra costs on health care systems. If other countries followed the Australian lead and made helmets compulsory, the costs would be substantial. It "would cost the US $4.8 billion per year, Netherlands $1.9 billion, and the U.K $0.4 billion."
The costs come about because helmets discourage cycling and the health benefits of cycling are thereby reduced. This translates into increased hospital costs due to heart disease.
The additional costs due to poor health far outweigh the costs of accidents that are due to not wearing helmets.
Video: Free helmets and hugs... instead of separated cycle paths. via Metafilter

Franco Volpi is no longer cycling...

At the age of 57 the Italian Franco Volpi died when he "was hit violently by a car". Yet again, unsustainable petrol-fueled mobility eradicates life and social capital.
Volpi was professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Padua, specialising in Martin Heidegger and Arthur Schopenhauer. He also translated and edited works of Gadamer, Carl Schmitt and Rosa Luxemburg and wrote in „La Repubblica“. There seems to be a lack of information in the Anglo MSM.

Image not far from where Rosa Luxemburg was murdered.

Barcelona cycling

Barcelona in 1908, an ambience of tree-lined streets, very little fossil fool powered mobility. Slow walking and cycling where all have an acute sense of their public space. Not yet car-eaten.


via Noticiasdot

No Bikes ok!

Beyond words... Manly Beach walking arcades in Whistler St.

User-pays cars in Holland

In the Netherlands, a user-pays system for motorised vehicle use is being introduced. Motorist and motorcyclists will pay for every kilometer they drive on roads, just like gas and electricity is billed by volume. Usage of roads will be charged according to the time of day and place. Vehicles which have higher emissions will pay a higher rate.
In Holland there have been discussions for a long time about the introduction of road use taxes to reduce traffic jams as well as pollution. Each morning there are 160km of traffic jams in Holland and 180 km in the evenings. Agreement could not be reached about local road tolls or petrol usage tax, but the user-pays system has achieved high levels of popular support.
Instead of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users paying for road use through general taxation, drivers will pay as they drive.
If introduced in other places, such a system would discourage such anti-social practices as driving around to avoid paying parking fees in popular locations such as beach suburbs. It would fairly distribute the cost of driving onto the car owners and make polluters pay. Drivers would reconsider each kilometer driven if the true cost was to be paid and may avoid senseless journeys. It would allow tax money paid by cyclists to be used for cycle paths. Pedestrian facilities could be upgraded. The transport system could reflect true costs rather than subsidising motor vehicles.
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