transportation

Time To Put My Bike Helmet Back On? Two Toronto Accidents Are Making Me Think Twice.

In Toronto, it's not just the cars that are killing and injuring people; it's the unfriendly roads themselves

Google’s Self-Driving Car Reaches 300,000 Miles Without an Accident

I, for one, welcome our new robot-car overlords.

Ford C-Max Hybrid Gets An Even 47/47 MPG Rating from EPA

A company understating its product's performance is a rare thing, yet it seems to have happened to Ford with the C-Max hybrid.

Public Transport at the Olympics is Smooth Running–So Far

Despite the Olympic hysteria about the subway system, everything is moving well so far.

Airbus Could Reduce Plane Fuel Consumption 15% with Hydrogen Fuel Cell

The idea is to take a load off the plane's engines by powering non-propulsion systems - basically everything that run on electricity in the plane, light the entertainment electronics avionics, lights, etc - with a fuel cell rather than with the engines.

Why Do You Ride?

A new website profiles cyclists, shows the passion behind this great way to get around while having fun.

Should Bike Lessons be Required to Get a Driver’s License? (Poll)

This could make roads safer for cyclists, and almost certainly have the added benefit of 'creating' new cyclists by showing more people how fun and convenient biking can be.

A Remote-Controlled Mini Mini Picks Up the Javelins at the Olympic Stadium

It's a remote-controlled mini Mini, just the thing to pick up the javelins from the kitchen, oops, stadium floor.

Chevy Volt Leads the Plug-In Pack in July Sales Numbers

The sales numbers are out for plug-in vehicles in the U.S. for the month of july, and it seems like the Chevrolet Volt has a nice lead.

Luminous Fish Bikes Light Up Sydney Festival

A trio of awesome fish bikes made a rousing debut at this arts festival in Australia.

Why Transportation And Walking Are Central To Discussions About ‘The Fattest People In The World’

by Paulina Essunger

Scott W. Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, wants Americans to take responsibility for being “the fattest people in the world.”

Seems like a good idea: personal responsibility and accountability are important.

And Atlas is right about a lot of things: “the burden of obesity on the US health care system is at crisis levels (and it’s only expected to increase in coming decades); there is no silver bullet to solve [the obesity problem]; government policy can play a crucial role.”

Atlas points out:

Obesity, one of the most serious public health problems in America, has yet to be honestly discussed.

But in order to have that honest discussion about the obesity crisis, we’re going to have to stop ignoring the heavy animal in the middle of the room: the crisis in American walking.

It seems odd for someone who takes responsibility so seriously to say that increasing rates of obesity are “primarily due to overeating and insufficient exercise” without acknowledging a major factor leading to insufficient exercise: the changes in our transportation infrastructure that deprive us of opportunities for active transportation. Yet Atlas’ commentary ignores the elephant in the room.

We know that the less we use active transportation, the more obese we are. And we know that the more we use active transportation, the less obese we are.

However, factors that are outside the direct control of most individuals have dramatically changed how active we are in our daily lives, have led to the death of walking as a transportation option.

Back in 1951, Ray Bradbury had a foreboding of a society in which being a pedestrian would seem criminal. Compared to other wealthy nations, with obesity figures much lower than ours, we’re well on our way to making walking seem like a dangerous, radical-fringe idea.

Atlas says: “the most effective message government and society can send is to hold individuals accountable for their decisions.” He means hold individuals accountable for their—our—decisions about what they—we—eat and how active we are. But in the context of working to reverse obesity trends and their immense human and monetary costs, here’s another top level decision we are accountable for: our decision whether to let our elected officials—government—know that we are holding them accountable for their decisions.

Yes, let’s have an honest discussion about being the “fattest people in the world.” Every day, “decision makers” make transportation infrastructure and planning decisions that favor cars over people, decisions that make walking and biking—walking or biking to real public transit options, to work, to school, to the store—come to seem more and more…radical. It is indeed time we took responsibility for these and for the full range of consequences they entail. Let’s take some personal responsibility and make sure we as a society make the decisions that instead favor people over cars, favor transportation infrastructure built around the human scale.

Paulina Essunger is a science editor/writer who specializes in climate change. This piece was originally published at 350.org Vermont and was reprinted with permission.

Could Heathrow’s Autonomous Podcars Be Scalable to City-Wide Use?

Robert Llewellyn checks out Heathrow's driverless podcars and gets very, very excited.

After Tragic Death, Are Mandatory Helmet Calls a Distraction?

Olympian Bradley Wiggins has called for mandatory helmet laws after a tragic crash. Why are bike advocates so angry?

George Clooney Sells his 2008 ‘Signature 100′ Tesla Roadster for Sudan Charity

George Clooney has decided to auction off his 2008 'Signature 100' Tesla Roadster electric car and donate the proceeds to the Satellite Sentinel Project, a non-profit that monitors the humanitarian situation in Sudan.

Some People LOOOOVE Trains. And Then There’s This Guy! (Video)

Have you ever heard a grown man have a traingasm?

Americans Happy with Smaller Vehicles, Downsizing Trend Continues

According to a survey by JD Power, drivers in the land of mammoth vehicles are warming up to smaller models.

Charging ahead at the Googleplex

We’re hosting a forum at our headquarters today on the future of workplace electric vehicle (EV) charging. Organized by CALSTART, a leading clean transportation technologies and fuels nonprofit, the conference will explore the opportunities and challenges of developing electric vehicle technology and infrastructure.

Along with our biodiesel shuttle program, which transports about 4,500 Googlers to campus and back home every day, our programs reduce the stress of commuting for employees and the need to build expensive parking. The net environmental savings are like taking 3,000 cars off the road.

We think green transportation is great for the environment and for business. But the world needs to continue expanding the infrastructure necessary to support clean transportation, and there are still challenges ahead. At today’s forum, leaders from government, the transportation industry, and other companies will discuss these important issues -- from incentives for building owners and employees, to the impact of EV’s on the electricity grid. We’re excited by the possibilities, and hope the development and deployment of EV technology continues to accelerate.

 Posted by Rolf Schreiber, Technical Program Manager, Electric Transportation

Riding the New £60M Olympic Cable Car

It's a short ride with a spectacular view of the eastern part of London and the Thames River.

The $9 Cardboard DIY Bike (Video)

Giora Kariv, a designer and cyclist, built himself a functioning bicycle out of recycled cardboard.

Poll: Should EV Charging Stations Bill by the Hour or kWh?

The industry is still trying to figure it out...