JAN 19

$4 per Gallon Gas a Good Thing?

In Europe, where petrol prices are several times higher than the U.S., small, efficient cars are the norm. But there’s also an accompanying tradition of good mass transit, walkable cities, and a support for cycling. Perhaps a spike in fuel prices is just what we need in the U.S. We’ll be forced to stop developing sprawl, which in turn increases gas consumption, pollutes our air, causes global warming, and perhaps kills us all.

Speaking in Volumes: Cars, Buses, and Bikes

The photo above (larger image here) illustrates yet another resource that cars waste: public space. This triptych shows the amount of room needed to transport the same number of people by car, bus, or bicycle.

C.H.U.N.K 666: Punk-ass Bikers Have More Fun

C.H.U.N.K. 666 is a bicoastal group, with chapters in Brooklyn, NY and Portland, OR, dedicated to designing, building, and riding crazy bikes; drinking beers; acting like complete punk-asses; and having the best time they possibly can. All the time.

New York City’s Streets Discriminate by Design

A new report put out by Transportation Alternatives shows how New York City’s layout underserves its senior pedestrians. Traffic speeds are too high, streets are too wide for seniors to safely get across, and driver behavior puts these most vulnerable citizens at risk.

The Pleasant Revolution: A Two-Wheeled, 5,000-Mile Musical Road Show

While I wouldn’t say that going green has quite made the mainstream, it sure as heck is becoming more commonplace. Even rock bands on tour, typically associated with crazy consumption and smashing hotel rooms, have gotten in on the act. But no one has quite gone to the lengths that the Pleasant Revolution has.

Bikes N' Beers

Wow, not sure how I missed this one. Here's a mainstream ad, entitled "Alternative Fuel," that both carectomy patients and cheap beer drinkers can get behind - from Miller no less!

Find Your Home’s Walk Score

Walk Score is a website that rates a neighborhood’s walkability. Google Maps provides the backbone of the service; Walk Score maps out all of the amenities nearby and calculates a numerical score. An area’s Walk Score ranges from 0 (Driving Only, your life is miserable) to 100 (Walker’s Paradise, ditch the car!). The site is intended for real estate agents, home buyers, and renters to assess the foot-friendliness of a new home. Real estate agents are encouraged to post a property’s Walk Score on the listing’s website to flaunt what’s available nearby.

Comments (14)

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written by farang, January 19, 2008

The triptych you found is really welldone.
A simple picture is worth a 1000 words sometimes!

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written by bob, January 19, 2008

All I require is a public transportation system that has all the flexibility and convenience of a car, and for it to run between my place of employment, home, and anywhere else I might need to go at a moments notice.

Then I'll give up my car.

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written by T, January 19, 2008

I take the bus for regular, scheduled things like work or school. I take my car for "moments notice" things. I usually don't have to drive during the weekdays.

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written by T, January 19, 2008

I take the bus for regular, scheduled things like work or school. I take my car for "moments notice" things. I usually don't have to drive during the weekdays.

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written by Inga, January 20, 2008

Hee, the tryp about bus vs. car made me really proud, because it's an ad from my hometown Munster in Gemrany! Yay for using the bus (or bike) :)

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written by Wendy, January 20, 2008

I typed in my address and it came up with a walk score of 25. It's very true. Things are just very spread out in the upper midwest. It's impossible to get around without a car. You could bike, but not in the winter months when it's well below freezing and there is a foot of snow on the ground. That guy riding the bike in the snow -- nice message, but unrealistic. This is why I see some value in those new petal-powered vehicles.. it's the benefits of a bicycle, with the protection from the elements that a car provides.

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Impossible????
written by Karsten, January 21, 2008

Folks, could you please define "impossible"? Or "unrealistic"?

OF COURSE a car is more CONVENIENT!!!! There is a reason why it is popular. That is not really the issue. Or it should not be for people with foresight. The problem is that this (like anything else convenient) has a cost and you need to decide whether your convenience is more important than your health or ability to survive.

How about inconveniencing your self more and more and contributing to society that way? There are many ways to drive your car much less. And they are not impossible or unrealistic. They are just harder and more inconvenient. Get used to it before it is forced on you by the nature of the fact that we are living it up right now!

Karsten
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http://www.polluteless.com
Practical (and often inconvenient) Advice to Pollute Less

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Biking in the winter
written by Karsten, January 21, 2008

Before I forget, there are a few who ride their bikes here in the middle of the winter. This is in Quebec, so it is real winter. It is in town, and it is short distance, but don't say it is unrealistic! Most likely these people do not choose to ride their bikes but for them it is the only real method to get where they want to go fast. Some may be too poor to have a car, some may have lost their licenses, but they do it.

If you keep saying that things are "impossible" or "unrealistic" even though they were possible (and widespread) just a few decades ago you nurture the perception that all significant habit changes are more than inconvenient. And that is just not true.

Difficult does not equal impossible!

Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less

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Truth in advertising
written by Mark R., January 21, 2008

While that is a neat picture re the cars/bus triptych. it is CRAP, and I'll start my rant now. I love how they cropped the image with the cars to make it look like there wasn't enough room on the street to hold all the cars. BOGUS! LOOK CLOSE. It makes the "green" minded people look bad with this type of bogus trickery. Same kind of thing the "green" would hammer Bush on. So let me hammer away. BOGUS BOGUS BOGUS. There is at least 50 yards x 25 yards of street missing at the top of the picture with the cars you could probably fit another 20-30 cars on the street behind where the image is cut off. The image is bogus, then if you look again you can count the arches on the first floor and you will see there are 5 arches missing to the bottom left of the car photo. Which means if you overlaid the 2 images the back bumper of the bus is about even with the front bumper of the first row of cars. so your looking at about another 8 cars that will fit on that stretch of road. Bogus misleading crap advertising!!!!!

Just calling it like it is, I've ranted now I feel better ;D

PS I agree with getting the cars off the road and walking or riding a bike, and buses. but lets all vote for TRUTH IN ADVERTISING. Not misleading people with feel good LIES.

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Great article!
written by Gavin Hudson, January 22, 2008

Excellent article!! Plus, I've been looking for that picture of the comparative size of different commute options for ever!! Thank you!!! ;D

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written by Aaron, January 22, 2008

I have but one question for Mark R.
How may engines are in the bus picture vs. the car picture?
It really doesn't matter if it's cropped or not, or whether you could fit another 70 cars on that street... 80 car engines vs. 1 bus engine is the benefit that the picture is trying to illustrate. The picture isn't misleading in any way IMO.

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written by Mark R., January 23, 2008

Aaron, you'll get no arguments from me that 1 bus is better than all the cars they show and all those bikes are even better than the one bus.
However, I disagree the picture is misleading, it would not have the same visual impact had it not been cropped. If it did have the same impact they would not have cropped it. It is an advertisement from a government designed to give the appearance that a bus or bikes would empty the street of cars, which isn't true when you look at the uncropped images. There is no way it would have the same impact if the image wasn't cropped otherwise they would not have cropped it. The point of my disdain for the picture is that the "green" should not stoop to the level of those that would lie, cheat and steal to get the results they want. And this is a prime example of a "green" purpose perverted by lying to get a desired result. But it is likely more about the bus not making the money they want for the government and needing to do a hard sell to make that pig attractive. But you are totally right about one thing. 1 bus is better than 80 cars, but only if the bus is properly maintained. As for me I would have skipped the bus picture and gone strait from the cars to the bikes, so there you go.

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written by Suburban Currmudgeon, January 26, 2008

When I was much younger and in college, I rode a 5-speed Schwinn everywhere, (even in the winter) including home a couple of times (50 miles one way). But then I was 18-20, not 53. Now I live in the suburbs where everything is located on busy 4-lanes with idiot drivers. ABout the only thing I've done is plan my trips more carefully to get more bang for the gallon. I drive a Nissan Altima (2.5L 4cyl.)I'd get a Harley but the wife would kill me.

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Poke, Poke...
written by Kyllein, January 27, 2008

While I hate to poke holes in nice arguments, let's see: The cars make it possible for people to go where they want to. The busses make it possible to go where the bus goes, when the bus runs. Bicycles have the advantages of cars, but for those of us who are mobility-compromised; they're useless.
And both the bus and bike are not fun in inclement weather, the bike being the worse.
Most American cities are not pedestrian-friendly places. Walking somewhere is like planning to climb Everest; it's a long way to go and no easy way to get there.
If busses ran 24-7 on every route, they might be an answer. They don't, so they aren't. There are some places that busses just don't go: period!
Bikes are fun, if you're young and have no physical problems; which are two strikes against them right there as America ages. Plus, against a bus, a bicycle is as vulnerable as it is against a car.
As long as cities are laid out for automobiles, that's the form of transport that will be needed. Most cities just aren't that foot friendly.

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