Author name: Derek Markham

Derek Markham lives in southwestern New Mexico and digs bicycles, simple living, organic gardening, sustainable lifestyle design, slacklining, bouldering, and permaculture. He loves good food, with fresh roasted chiles at the top of his list of favorites. Catch up with Derek on Twitter, RebelMouse, Google+, or at his natural parenting site, Natural Papa!

Residents Of Helsinki, Finland, May Not Need To Own Their Own Cars By 2025

In at least one Scandinavian city, owning your own car may not be necessary a decade from now, thanks to the forward-looking plans of the government of Helsinki, Finland. While the goal of eliminating the need for private car ownership in that capital city within 10 years may seem incredibly ambitious, it’s a laudable initiative, …

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Bike Sharing & Electric Bikes May Play A Part In California’s Zero Emissions Plan

Getting the largest economy in the United States, that of California, to a net-zero emissions one is an incredibly ambitious goal, and one that will take a great many baby steps to achieve, among which is the aim of getting 1.5 million zero emissions vehicles on the road by 2025. And the state, which is …

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Atlanta’s MARTA Will Pilot Soccer + Transit Program

In what may be the first location of a future “Station Soccer League” in Atlanta, MARTA’s Five Points transit station will be home to a small soccer field, which will be suitable for 5-on-5 and futsal-style games. The new pilot program came about through a partnership with Soccer in the Streets, a nonprofit organization that …

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London Bike Couriers Will Help Map City’s Pollution Levels

The Greater London area will eventually have “the world’s most advanced air pollution map,” thanks to a collaboration between Drayson Technologies, Inmarsat, and the bike courier company Gophr. 50 bike couriers with Gophr will be outfitted with Drayson’s CleanSpace Tags, which are small air pollution sensors powered by wireless signals, and these sensors will collect …

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Bike Sharing + Protected Bike Lanes = More Cycling, Reduced Risk

How can cities get more people using bikes for transportation, while also reducing the risk of injuries or death? It turns out that it might not really be that complicated, and that by combining bike sharing systems with protected bike lanes, cities can boost bike transportation rates and increase bicycle safety, especially for low-income and …

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Y Combinator To Study “Building New, Better Cities,” But Is It Shortsighted?

According to a recent blog post from Y Combinator, an early stage technology startup incubator, the organization wants to “study building new, better cities.” At first blush, this desire to improve something really basic — our daily living habitat — as opposed to the fairly conventional challenges that many tech startups take on, which maybe …

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Big Jump Project Seeks To Triple The Number Of Cyclists In 10 Places In 3 Years

Incremental change can be good, and in fact, in some instances it’s the only sustainable way to make changes that truly stick, but sometimes this ‘progress at a snail’s pace’ is too little to make a difference, and what’s called for is a virtual sea change – a big jump, if you will. And that’s …

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mBike Brings Accessible Bikesharing To College Park, MD

Bikesharing programs have done quite a bit to help get more people on two wheels and reduce the use of fossil fuels in personal transportation, but there’s one aspect of many bikeshare initiatives that isn’t often considered, much less accounted for, which is the lack of accommodation for riders who can’t use conventional two-wheelers. To …

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Bikes vs Cars Documentary Released Nationwide, Companion App Tracks Cycling Impacts

The crowdfunded documentary Bikes vs Cars has been released nationwide, and is being screened at select theaters, as well as being available for streaming and download on Vimeo. The film, which is essentially about cycling as a tool for positive change, as well as the conflict between the two named modes of transportation when it …

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