:excerptstartThe City of Lancaster, California, converted a drab, automobile-oriented arterial at the heart of downtown into a lively, pedestrian-friendly center. The nine-block makeover of Lancaster Boulevard has become a regional draw and attracted significant economic development in its first two years. In a dramatic demonstration of the value of smart streetscape investment, Lancaster spent $11.5 million on […]
Where Covid’s Car-Free Streets Boosted Business
Yelp data shows greater consumer interest at restaurants on pedestrian-friendly “slow streets” that limited vehicle traffic during the pandemic.
Laura Bliss May 11, 2021
At first, the empty city streets of the pandemic were an eerie sign of a world in disorder. But when dozens of cities converted some of them to pedestrian-friendly corridors with restricted vehicle access, they became something else: an example of how readily urban space can be repurposed for mobility and play, and how quickly human activity can surge back when cars are removed.
April 26, 2021
There’s a crisis plaguing cities throughout the U.S. that’s driving up poverty, homelessness and carbon emissions. It lowers quality of life, brings respiratory illness and makes cities less affordable. It also makes our streets more dangerous — and it’s entirely preventable.
The culprit: minimum parking requirements, which force developers to set aside vast amounts of valuable land and construction budgets to create vehicle parking for residential and commercial buildings alike.
In the UK, one-third of our carbon emissions come from transport, and private cars are the biggest contributor. Not only do we need to drastically reduce our car use to reach climate targets, but our aim of fewer cars on the road will help people live healthier lives too.
The current way our cities are structured means that we accept the harm that comes with cars – the grime, pollution, and congestion. This affects us all. But older people, disabled people, children, and communities where people of colour, and poorer people live are hit the hardest.
Mark Sutton28 May, 2021
The Department for Transport’s annual National Travel Attitudes (Wave 5) study has found that the majority of people (nearly two thirds) support the roll out of dedicated cycle lanes, even if it comes at the expense of less road space for cars.
Each year the online and telephone survey of people across England seeks to gauge the public mood on various travel forms and, coming on the day #BikeIsBest launch a witty new campaign video (below) asking whether the appropriate tool for the job is used for many journeys, the DfT data confirms a warming stance on cycling for transport.
The legendary guitarist clearly likes to ride his bicycle, saying cycling saved his life after a heart attack.
May needed surgery last year, but believes cycling has given him a new lease of life after the operation: “It really saved me,” he told Kerry Ellis on her Keep Calm and Kerry On podcast.
“When I’m in pain, which I was a lot, getting on the bike makes you feel human again. I’m finding life hard right now, this whole lockdown thing – I find the physical stuff is what gets me through.”
May also revealed that he thinks his heart attack could have been brought on by COVID-19, believing that he likely caught the virus while Queen were touring in early 2020, and that gardening was another pastime that helped him through lockdown:
Victim Scott Walker’s family say they were “let down” by justice system as Ian McFarlane handed community order
Scott Walker, aged 43, died from “catastrophic” head injuries sustained when Ian McFarlane knocked him off his bike on the A917 Elie to St Monans Road in Fife on 8 July 2019, reports Courier.co.uk.
McFarlane, aged 76 and from Dundee, pleaded guilty last month at Dundee Sheriff Court to failure to stop and report the collision and to driving while uninsured, the only offences with which he was charged in connection with the fatal crash.
Fossil fuel firms are being held responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a good thing
Fri 28 May 2021
History was made in the Hague district court this week. Judge Larisa Alwin ruled that Shell, one of the world’s biggest oil companies, must cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 relative to 2019 levels. Until Wednesday, courts in the Netherlands, France and Germany had concentrated on holding governments to their commitments under the Paris climate deal of 2015. States were found guilty of denying basic rights to future citizens, triggering more ambitious climate plans. The landmark Hague ruling shows that corporations can now be ordered to comply with the goals of the Paris agreement.
Mark Sutton25 May, 2021
A study into the economic benefits of installing bike paths on key city arteries in Helsinki has found a €3.6 euro gain for every €1 invested in the capital city.
Despite its notoriously cold weather for much of the year, the cycling infrastructure was not only found to be profitable, but also reduced travel times for citizens, according to the Handshake project study.
Idea was first mooted in 2013; could expansion of hiring zone see it expand to hillier parts of capital?
