The Vauban district is a green, planned community in the city of Freiburg in southern Germany. Construction of this community began in the mid-1990s and opened in 2000. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants living in a greener, more sustainable way. Now, the Vauban district is said to have 5,000 inhabitants and 600 jobs. A …
World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District Read More »
Big cities are often associated with pollution. However, if you look at pollution per capita, some of the world’s biggest cities are actually quite green. One key reason is that people in many big cities use efficient, public transportation more and drive less, and transportation is one of the leading causes of pollution worldwide. Researchers …
The Obama administration announced a proposal to dedicate $53 billion more towards high-speed rail in the next 6 years this week. That would significantly increase federal funding on high-speed rail. The administration awarded $8 billion to a national high-speed rail network early last year and another $2.5 billion later in the year, but a lot …
Obama Administration Proposes $53 Billion More for High-Speed Rail [VIDEO] Read More »
As if it wasn’t already completely self-evident, WikiLeaks has released a number of cables showing that Saudi Arabia is probably going to run out of oil a lot sooner than they’ve been claiming, and that, of course, their ability to keep oil prices down at a “reasonable level” isn’t going to last much longer. (Why …
The American Dream may be just that, a dream. Or, perhaps it is something we had access to in the past but no longer. Or, perhaps it is something just at the end of our fingertips. There are many ideas as to what the American Dream is, was, or could be. Scott Thill of Alternet …
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy recently announced the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award winner, which, as you can see, is Guangzhou, China. Its new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which integrates bike lanes, bike share and metro stations was a big reason why it won. Here’s a statement from Dario Hidalgo, a member of …
2011 Sustainable Transport Award Winner: Guangzhou, China Read More »
BikeRadar recently previewed the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Looks like a cool event. Here’s more: The seventh annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show is set to kick off February 25-27 in Austin, Texas and even though the event is still several weeks out, it’s already shaping up to the biggest and grandest iteration to …
North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2011 Preview – BikeRadar Read More »
Intercity buses are actually extremely efficient modes of transport, even beating rail. Apparently, they are becoming more popular with the public these days as well. They were the fastest-growing mode of intercity transport for the third year in a row last year, according to a new report by DePaul University researchers called “The Intercity Bus: …
Intercity Bus: Fastest-Growing Form of Transit in U.S. Read More »
The City of Lights could soon become the city without S.U.V.’s. Government officials in Paris are considering putting in effect a series of regulations that would heavily tax, or completely ban, S.U.V.’s and high-polluting, old diesel vehicles from entering the city center. That’s some recent news from perhaps my favorite city on the planet. One …
Know when the first subway system was launched? And where? Tony Long of Wired does. He recently wrote an interesting post on the history of subway systems around the world, starting with a little bit on the first subway system, which was launched this month in 1863. Here’s the intro: 1863: London inaugurates the world’s …
Chicagoans (yes, that would be residents of Chicago) love public transit. Even non-users support mass transit (maybe because it saves them a ton of time). But candidates running for Mayor of Chicago (election to be on Feb. 22) are hardly mentioning this topic… or transportation, in general, one of the most critical day-to-day issues for …
Transit: Huge Issue for Chicago Voters, Not on Potential Mayors’ Agenda Read More »
I reported earlier that riding public transportation can save you approximately $10,000 a year. Well, even for those who don’t ride public transit, you are benefiting form it. Of course, you are benefiting because of the cleaner environment you get to live in, but you are also benefiting because public transit saves you time. Think …
Public Transportation Saves U.S. 785 Million Hours a Year Read More »
In the most comprehensive analysis of U.S. traffic congestion imaginable, the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University just released its 2010 Annual Urban Mobility Report. Due to considerable technological advancements, the Institute said this report provided “much better and more detailed picture of the problems facing urban travelers” than any previous reports and it has …
Traffic Congestion Increasing as Economy Improves Read More »
We’ve written on China’s world-record-setting high-speed trains in the past, but I recently ran across these videos and thought they were worth a share. The first one walks you through a ride on one of the country’s bullet trains. Here’s a quote from the YouTube page: Why fly when you can travel the 1000km between …
We’re bicycling fans here on Ecolocalizer. Have you noticed? Why? Because it’s good for everything: our health, the livability of cities, the efficiency of our cities, equitable access to key needs, and the economy. Here’s more on that last part, the economy, from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin: Investment in a more bicycle friendly Wisconsin …
How Much is Bicycling Worth to the Economy? $1.5 Billion/Year in Wisconsin Read More »
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) releases figures regarding how much people save by riding transit in the U.S. every month in its Transit Savings Report. It calculates how much the average American saves as well as how much an average resident of twenty of the country’s largest cities (the cities with the most transit …
The Green Business Blog Carnival comes to EcoLocalizer! Following up on Green Business Blog Carnival post #17 on Cleantechnica (which featured a couple posts from EcoLocalizer), here’s the next edition of the Carnival for your reading pleasure. The first ride.. er, post of the day comes from Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, writing over on the SUNflitered blog. It was a …
The first Bicycle City is finally getting built! More on that and how Bicycle City got started via co-founder Joe Mellet below. I have seen advertisements for Bicycle City for years now. I remember when it first got started — it looked like a great initiative but was rather mysterious. “Where was “bicycle city” or …
London is one of the latest big cities to implement a modern bike sharing program. The “cycle scheme” (as they call it in England) is popularly called “Boris Bikes” now, named after London Mayor Boris Johnson. To help show the effect of this program, Oliver O’Brien of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University …
I was just writing earlier on the power of cities and the progressive transportation choices cities can take to turn the world around (environmentally, economically, and otherwise). Looking at this from a different (and perhaps more negative) angle, IBM recently released a global “Commuter Pain Study.”
Topping yet another bicycle list, Amsterdam is #1 here because of the great bicycle photos to follow along with the fact that 40% of traffic is bicycle traffic in Amsterdam and the city is full of bicycle facilities, including a 10,000-bicycle parking garage at its train station. Amsterdam may not have as high a percentage …
#1 Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour Read More »
Naked bicyclists, folding bikes, balloon bikes, and more — enjoy this bicycle photo tour of Barcelona. The third B in a row, Barcelona is next on this list of great bicycle cities (right ahead of Basel, Switzerland and Bogota, Columbia). As a dense city with a wonderful climate, Barcelona is naturally a wonderful place for …
#8 Barcelona, Spain: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour Read More »
