An occasional update on items from the Velo-city.
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E-BIKES ON THE WAY
Saw ’em everywhere in Shanghai, and it looks like this is one trend that truly covers the planet:
In the first half of 2011, 663,000 new bicycles were sold in the Netherlands, of which 17% were battery powered. … Sales of E-bikes – bicycles with electrical pedal support – also showed steady sales during the first 6 months of 2011. 113.000 of these were sold until the end of June 2011, which is an increase of 8,7% compared to the first half of 2010.
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TWO ECONOMIC WRITERS GO AT IT
On the subject of bikes lanes:
Olaf Storbeck:
What really annoys my inner economist is that (New Yorker writer) John Cassidy is using improper economic arguments. He writes:
from an economic perspective I question whether the blanketing of the city with bike lanes (…) meets an objective cost-benefit criterion. Beyond a certain point, given the limited number of bicyclists in the city, the benefits of extra bike lanes must run into diminishing returns, and the costs to motorists (and pedestrians) of implementing the policies must increase. Have we reached that point? I would say so.
I find it absolutely incredible how such a smart economist can get it so woefully wrong. For a number of reasons his economic arguments are deeply flawed.
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MO-MENTUM
It feels a bit like those flying-cars-of the-future pieces in Popular Science, c 1956, but the idea of some techno economic synergy among cycling, transit and car-sharing seems like such a good idea as to be inevitable, if not quite so squeeky perfect:
mo subscribers can rent bikes, cargobikes, ebikes and cars or use public transportation with just one card. With mo it pays to be eco-friendly: choose an eco-friendly transport or use your own bike to collect momiles. The more momiles the lower your bill. For instance if you mostly ride bikes, renting a car gets cheaper. Cycle and save money.
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VELO-CITY: CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
They’re asking for submissions:
The conference theme, Cities in Motion, will spotlight communities that are enabling and encouraging people of all ages to choose cycling as a daily form of active transportation and recreation.
We encourage all cities and regions around the world – small, medium and large – to share how they are creating healthy, livable, inclusive, vibrant green communities through cycling and enhancements to the built environment that are both supportive of and enabled by embracing cycling as an integral component of combined, sustainable and smart mobility.
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