Couple rode thousands of miles to plot GPS image to raise awareness about climate crisis and encourage bike use
Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope and Arianna Casiraghi, accompanied by their dog, Zola, have just finished 4,500-mile (7,250km) bike ride across Europe to draw a giant GPS-plotted bicycle across seven countries to raise awareness of how cycling can help tackle the climate emergency. It is believed to be the world’s largest GPS drawing. You can see photos of their trip on their Instagram account.
We really, really love cycling. Like everyone, we’ve become more aware of climate change, and we wanted to add our voices to what should be a bigger chorus. We think using the bike as a form of transport is a wonderful thing, and wanted to do something.
Location, Location, Location: Winning (and Losing) the Housing – Transit Lottery – California YIMBY
Do people have innate transportation preferences that they express independently of their living conditions, or does the built environment of our neighborhoods influence those preferences? New evidence from researchers at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz analyzed data from San Francisco’s affordable housing lottery, and found that the transportation, parking, and other amenities located near a home play a significant role in the mode of transportation people use.
The study, “What Do Residential Lotteries Show Us About Transportation Choices?,” shows that households randomly assigned to housing throughout the city make significant mode shifts depending on the availability of parking and transit. Despite random variation, more available parking results in more automobile trips, supporting the thesis that parking spots “induce” people to drive more.
Affordable Housing for Humans Means Less Housing for Cars – California YIMBY
A new analysis by Garcia & Tucker (2021) at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation crunches the numbers on Asm. Laura Friedman of Glendale’s proposed Assembly Bill 1401, which would eliminate parking requirements statewide for housing developments within a half-mile of public transit.
Key takeaways:
• Local on-site parking requirements significantly drive up the costs of affordable housing projects.• Eliminating parking requirements may substantially reduce the amount of new parking in developments, but developers will likely still provide some.• State density bonus incentives for affordable housing are seldom used across the state, but when they are, reducing on-site parking is a popular option.AB 1401 would “prohibit a local government from imposing a minimum automobile parking requirement, or enforcing a minimum automobile parking requirement, on residential, commercial, or other development if the development is located on a parcel that is within one-half mile walking distance of public transit.”
Major cities blighted by nitrogen dioxide pollution, research finds | Air pollution | The Guardian
Fiona Harvey
Cities in relatively prosperous countries are blighted by serious levels of air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, often without realising the extent of the problem, research has found.
Moscow is the world’s second worst city for nitrogen dioxide pollution, behind Shanghai in China, while St Petersburg takes fourth place. Other cities near Russia follow close behind, including Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, and Minsk, capital of Belarus, at seventh and eighth place respectively, according to the research, published on Wednesday.
Pallavi Pant, senior scientist at the Health Effects Institute in the US, who oversaw the research, said: “Finding several Russian cities at the top of the list [for NO2 air pollution] was definitely surprising for us. It is likely to mainly come from traffic pollution and a vehicle fleet that is older.”
Teachers say air pollution worsens students’ concentration and performance – AirQualityNews
Nearly three in five teachers deemed a classroom with poor air quality to be ‘not fit for purpose’ – for either teachers or pupils.
The Air Quality in UK Classrooms Report – conducted by ventilation experts Airflow – asked teachers at 133 schools across the UK for their insights.
The report found that conditions impacted student health, with three in five (61%) teachers believing classroom air quality is aggravating asthma and other lung conditions in pupils.
Ill-effects on health were 55% more likely in cities, where both industrial and road pollution are more prevalent.
Cyclists could be made to have registration plates and insurance – report | Road safety | The Guardian
Tom Ambrose
Bikes could be made to have registration plates and insurance as ministers weigh up bringing speed limits for cyclists into line with those for drivers.
The government is also considering the possibility of cyclists receiving licence penalty points and fines if they break speed limits or run red lights, the Daily Mail reported.
It comes as the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, proposed a Whitehall review of how cyclists who flout the law can be tracked down by police.
“Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists,” he said.
Cycling organisations outline priorities for coming years – Cycle Industry News
Wondering what the organisations supporting cycling uptake have been up to since the world began trying to get back to normal, if such a thing exists? The London Cycling Campaign, Sustrans and Bikeability fill CI.N columnist Duncan Moore in on work that has been ticking along in the background to grow cycling rates and safety…
As people took to cycling during Covid lockdowns, to get their fitness fix as gyms and other facilities were closed, was the wider cycling industry able to engage with these people? And have those organisations that were successful in engaging with new cyclists been able to maintain the momentum?
Increase walking and cycling budget to relieve NHS, says Sustrans CEO – Cycle Industry News
Mark Sutton 19 August 2022
The CEO of sustainable transport charity Sustrans, Xavier Brice, has penned an open letter to the next Prime Minister calling for an increase to the five-year, £2 billion walking and cycling budget.
With an air of uncertainty surrounding active travel policy lingering since Boris Johnson announced he would leave office, many commentators, including Brice, are concerned that cycling has lost an ally in Number 10. Notably, Andrew Gilligan, Johnson’s right-hand man on cycling and a special advisor, is likely to be removed in the switchover.
As reported this week, anti-cycling sentiment is beginning to emerge in the transition of leadership, with both leadership candidates turning down the dial on climate policy, among other areas that could lend to increased active travel.
Tyre dust: the ‘stealth pollutant’ that’s becoming a huge threat to ocean life – theguardian.com
Karen McVeigh
For decades, coho salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to the creeks and streams of Puget Sound in Washington state to spawn were dying in large numbers. No one knew why. Scientists working to solve the mystery of the mass deaths noticed they occurred after heavy rains.
Toxicologists suspected pesticides, as the main creek they studied ran through a golf course. But no evidence of pesticides was found. They ruled out disease, lack of oxygen and chemicals such as metals and hydrocarbons.
Liverpool’s new cycle lanes will ‘fill gaps’ in network – transportxtra
Liverpool City Council is seeking public feedback on plans to install three segregated cycle lanes. The measures, equalling 6km of continuous cycle routes, would fill gaps in the existing network to “overcome significant barriers to cycling”, said the council.
The lanes would connect to other new routes such as the Princes Avenue cycleway in Toxteth and complement schemes such as Lime Street in the city centre.
The proposals are key to the new £3m phase of the city’s Active Travel programme, which will also feature new footpaths and pedestrian crossing facilities. It also includes improving 30 access points along the Liverpool Loop Line, which runs 16km through the city from Halewood to Aintree.
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