Written by Pascal van den Noort
When the Spicycles project was launched in 2006, cycling was not the ‘hot’ mode of transport that it has become today. As project partners, we wanted to gather experience related to specific areas of cycling policy. We were keen to explore how key elements such as communication and awareness raising, and the building of local partnerships, might increase the modal share of cycling. We had big expectations at the beginning of the project regarding cycling planning, but could not have predicted the explosion in the popularity of public bicycle systems that has taken place during Spicycles.
In the course of the project, cycling became increasingly relevant to city policy makers and transport planners, as well as to citizens. This interest was heightened by the looming economic crisis: petrol prices rose dramatically, and economic recession became a reality. Public discussion of issues such as those raised in Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” began to change people’s way of thinking, and from being regarded as ‘old-fashioned’, cycling was increasingly perceived as a relevant and contemporary mode of transport.
Read the article...
via Velo Mondial
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Save The Velib bikes in Paris!!
"A popular bicycle rental scheme in Paris that has transformed travel in the city has run into problems just 18 months after its successful launch.
Over half the original fleet of 15,000 specially made bicycles have disappeared, presumed stolen."
"The company which runs the scheme, JCDecaux, says it can no longer afford to operate the city-wide network."
Read the article...
Is there a way we can save the bicycle rental scheme in Paris? What can JCDecaux do? What do you think?
Over half the original fleet of 15,000 specially made bicycles have disappeared, presumed stolen."
"The company which runs the scheme, JCDecaux, says it can no longer afford to operate the city-wide network."
Read the article...
Is there a way we can save the bicycle rental scheme in Paris? What can JCDecaux do? What do you think?
Monday, February 16, 2009
BIXI Urban Bike-Sharing
From Springwise:
"Urban bike-sharing is coming to North America in the form of Bixi, the new high-tech public bike system developed for the city of Montreal. Bixi follows the standard bike sharing principles: users take a bike from a stand, ride it to where they want to go, and drop it at another stand when they're done. To make the concept even more attractive to users, bikes will be equipped with RFID tags so that users can track availability online; real-time information is beamed to the web from the system's solar-powered bike stands."
Go to springwise
Go to BIXI
"Urban bike-sharing is coming to North America in the form of Bixi, the new high-tech public bike system developed for the city of Montreal. Bixi follows the standard bike sharing principles: users take a bike from a stand, ride it to where they want to go, and drop it at another stand when they're done. To make the concept even more attractive to users, bikes will be equipped with RFID tags so that users can track availability online; real-time information is beamed to the web from the system's solar-powered bike stands."
Go to springwise
Go to BIXI
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
It Will All Fade In Time
Richard replies to the previous post....
Not so much a reply but a comment...usually the "system" is made so that the infrastructure costs (roads, water/electricity supplies. sewage) are paid for by the developer who builds the shopping centre...i don't know about Sweden, but the two countries I have worked in (Italy and UK) both have legal systems for this and it would surprise me that Sweden wouldn't have the same regulations...
I am in no shape or for advocating the shopping centre!
The model is very old, in the UK for example (which has one of the most contemporary economic models in Europe, a.e. a service economy with loads of consumer debt and a desperate need for people to spend) the Mall model is being driven out of the developers minds by a mixture of long term unsustainability, economic crisis and the need for a massive initial investment. A series of large scale commercial schemes have been presented in the last few years, and they are all in central London (they are all now halted by the economic crisis obviously).
In Italy...well, here everything is 5 years behind Europe and 10 years behind the states, so cities have built their own "car park with shoebox in the middle" hell, but trends are turning here too, as we see, for example, the multiplex being discarded as it is no longer considered viable investment in new out-of-town developments.
so to wrap it up, don't worry, sweden is a small economy going through the same motions as any other western countries in the last 20 years, it will all fade in time, hopefully :)
Not so much a reply but a comment...usually the "system" is made so that the infrastructure costs (roads, water/electricity supplies. sewage) are paid for by the developer who builds the shopping centre...i don't know about Sweden, but the two countries I have worked in (Italy and UK) both have legal systems for this and it would surprise me that Sweden wouldn't have the same regulations...
I am in no shape or for advocating the shopping centre!
The model is very old, in the UK for example (which has one of the most contemporary economic models in Europe, a.e. a service economy with loads of consumer debt and a desperate need for people to spend) the Mall model is being driven out of the developers minds by a mixture of long term unsustainability, economic crisis and the need for a massive initial investment. A series of large scale commercial schemes have been presented in the last few years, and they are all in central London (they are all now halted by the economic crisis obviously).
In Italy...well, here everything is 5 years behind Europe and 10 years behind the states, so cities have built their own "car park with shoebox in the middle" hell, but trends are turning here too, as we see, for example, the multiplex being discarded as it is no longer considered viable investment in new out-of-town developments.
so to wrap it up, don't worry, sweden is a small economy going through the same motions as any other western countries in the last 20 years, it will all fade in time, hopefully :)
Supermarket Wonderland Sweden
Jacob Landefjord said...
I just dropped in, read the previous post and can't resist an urge to comment.
Living in supermarket wonderland Sweden, I always feel like I want to move to another country after visiting places like Denmark, Germany and Italy, where the important things in life is just around the corner. There are big infrastructure projects planned in my town (Stockholm) just to keep the cars moving. There are also big supermarkets planned in many cities across our country.
Everything feels so wrong when I compare our life to the life with our neighbours in Denmark. I think that at least here the problems emerge from the capital that sees opportunities to invest in supermarkets and earn a lot of revenue from that. They of course wants the planners to care for the infrastructure for this. And the planners happily helps them as taxes rise with more shops in there community. Perpetum mobile so to say...
So, are there any good examples out there of planners who have done something different?... Anyone?
I just dropped in, read the previous post and can't resist an urge to comment.
Living in supermarket wonderland Sweden, I always feel like I want to move to another country after visiting places like Denmark, Germany and Italy, where the important things in life is just around the corner. There are big infrastructure projects planned in my town (Stockholm) just to keep the cars moving. There are also big supermarkets planned in many cities across our country.
Everything feels so wrong when I compare our life to the life with our neighbours in Denmark. I think that at least here the problems emerge from the capital that sees opportunities to invest in supermarkets and earn a lot of revenue from that. They of course wants the planners to care for the infrastructure for this. And the planners happily helps them as taxes rise with more shops in there community. Perpetum mobile so to say...
So, are there any good examples out there of planners who have done something different?... Anyone?
Monday, February 2, 2009
look at the reasons why people travel
Andy Polaine said...
I live in a small town in Germany that has a very good bike infrastructure, which makes all the difference. I've lived in Sydney and London, which both have very cycle unfriendly attitudes. Having lived in those different countries, you see very clear differences between social value systems and their relationship to congestion. One of the main culprits is the growth of enormous supermarkets in both the UK and Australia, which means there is an awful lot of simply daily shopping car traffic.
By contrast, Offenburg (where I now live) has a bakery on every corner and a proper active market in the town centre twice a week (not a faux fancy "farmer's market" selling overpriced delicatessen goods). The distributed nature of these smaller shops means both better produce (fresh bread/rolls from the bakery every morning, for example), less transportation from both the producers and the consumers and a thriving community.
From some recent service design insights research I did up in Hamburg, it is clear that trying to tackle transport in terms of transport itself makes little sense. You have to look at the reasons why people travel, why they use a car or train or bus instead of a bike and when. It's not fixed and often subtle things make a big difference (lighting in a parking space, secure bike storage, the fact that a Smart FourTwo can't take a beer crate in the boot).
I live in a small town in Germany that has a very good bike infrastructure, which makes all the difference. I've lived in Sydney and London, which both have very cycle unfriendly attitudes. Having lived in those different countries, you see very clear differences between social value systems and their relationship to congestion. One of the main culprits is the growth of enormous supermarkets in both the UK and Australia, which means there is an awful lot of simply daily shopping car traffic.
By contrast, Offenburg (where I now live) has a bakery on every corner and a proper active market in the town centre twice a week (not a faux fancy "farmer's market" selling overpriced delicatessen goods). The distributed nature of these smaller shops means both better produce (fresh bread/rolls from the bakery every morning, for example), less transportation from both the producers and the consumers and a thriving community.
From some recent service design insights research I did up in Hamburg, it is clear that trying to tackle transport in terms of transport itself makes little sense. You have to look at the reasons why people travel, why they use a car or train or bus instead of a bike and when. It's not fixed and often subtle things make a big difference (lighting in a parking space, secure bike storage, the fact that a Smart FourTwo can't take a beer crate in the boot).
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