By Feargus O’Sullivan in City Lab, 6 June 2018 Why is London’s public transit thriving while New York City’s is struggling? It might be tempting to ascribe the difference between the two cities as one of social and political culture—high European public spending versus American agnosticism about the state. According to Ricky Burdett, professor of urban studies at the London School …
1000 Electric Buses To Spearhead Paris Goal Of 100% Zero Emissions Public Transportation
April 23rd, 2018 by Steve Hanley, Clean Technica Paris is known as the City of Light, but in recent years, its splendor has become shrouded by a blanket of smog so thick it has even made the Eiffel Tower disappear on occasion. Paris is fighting back; new laws restrict motor vehicle access in the center of the city and require the roofs of all …
Electric buses at Schipol, Amsterdam Airport, “top off” their batteries during pick-ups
Amsterdam Airport Uses Heliox Chargers to Power Fleet of 100 Electric Buses: In a shift towards greater sustainability, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has chosen roof-mounted, Heliox chargers to power its large fleet of buses. By, Mia Bevacqua Apr 14, 2018, FutureCar.com author: Mia Bevacqua A lineup of electric buses tethered to roof-mounted chargers is quite a site to see. Travelers will stumble upon …
AI And Open Data Show Just How Often Cars Block Bus And Bike Lanes: Bike lanes have obstacles 40% of the time in NYC study
Fast Company, 03.21.18, AI And Open Data Show Just How Often Cars Block Bus And Bike Lanes: Using publicly available camera footage and a machine-learning algorithm, we can now say that the lanes are blocked almost always. BY EILLIE ANZILOTTI Alex Bell, a cyclist, programmer, and lifelong New Yorker, is fed up with vehicles drifting into lanes that are not meant for them. …
Free transit in Brussels now on high pollution days, plus speed limit cuts and wood-burning bans
By Arthur Neslen, the Guardian, Mon 26 Feb 2018 Buses, trams and metros will be free to ride if air pollution peaks for two consecutive days. Photograph: Kevin Man#145910/Flickr Vision Brussels has moved to make the city’s public transport and bike share system free on the smoggiest days in a bid to drive down pollution levels and meet EU air quality directives. …
Benefits of transit access often don’t accrue to low-income riders but provisions for affordable housing nearby can help, and some agencies are taking action
From Transit Center Feb 06, 2018 Affordable Housing: A Next Frontier for Transit? Putting people near transit (and vice-versa) boosts ridership, and many transit agencies talk about transit-oriented development. But in growing recognition that the benefits of transit access often don’t accrue to low-income riders, two agencies are testing strategies to encourage affordable development near transit. Last year, Metro Los Angeles assumed the role …
Germany considering free public transportation to take on air pollution
DW Feb 2018 Facing EU penalties over poor air quality, Germany has said it wants to test free public transport in five cities. Bonn and Essen are among the cities to serve as testing ground for the new project. Under pressure from the European Union to rein in air pollution, the German government said it is considering a plan that …
Selling the vision for transit and pooling
Car companies sell a dream, where cars literally represent the American dream. In these ads, the car itself is freedom. It allows you to find your true self, your dream self where you drive fast, you go into the mountains and nothing stands between you and panoramic vistas. In the city version of your car-commercial-dream-self, you skid around corners on empty streets …
Southern Californians purchased cars at a rate four times higher than they did during the 1990s
The UCLA authors weren’t able to conclusively link gentrification-driven displacement in central Los Angeles to ridership loss—the data needed to draw such a conclusion isn’t readily available—but they did say there are plenty of indicators that show such neighborhood change might be linked transit declines. The topic, they say, “warrants substantial further research.” The lion’s share of Metro’s ridership loss is taking …
An increase in car ownership is actually behind the drop in bus and rail trips taken last year in LA
BY DANIEL C. VOCK, GOVERNING / FEBRUARY 2, 2018 (DAVID KIDD) In Los Angeles, the number of bus and rail trips taken last year was the lowest in more than a decade. Over just the last five years, transit ridership has declined 15 percent. WHAT’S BEHIND THE HUGE DROPS? Cars. More specifically, the fact that a lot more people who might otherwise ride the bus …