Now!Move

The New Mobility Agenda: A Factory of Ideas for Sustainable Transportation

2009-04-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

"Virtually all of the necessary preconditions are now in place for far-reaching, rapid, low cost improvements in the ways that people get around in our cites. The needs are there, they are
increasingly understood -- and we now know what to do and how to get the job done. The challenge is to find the vision, political will, and leadership to get the job done, step by deliberate step"

Check i t out...

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Via Qin...

cycle2city

2009-04-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Brisbane City Council and Queensland Transport combined to fund the construction of cycle2city (C2C), bringing to reality a visionary idea on how to encourage commuter cycling into the CBD. It is a unique facility located within the heart of Brisbane City, forming part of the King George Square Station complex. An Australian first, C2C was designed to support people who wanted to ride to work but suffered inadequate workplace facilities. Membership provides daily access to secure bike parking, a fresh towel, air conditioned locker rooms, and plenty of showers and toilets. An optional and convenient laundry service is also available and our full service workshop is an integral part of the centre, while also open to the public.

What does C2C provide?

* 420 bike parking spaces
* Secure, electronic entry for members
* 270 secure lockers and 18 showers for men
* 150 secure lockers and 15 showers for women
* 12 lockers in the people with disability (PWD) area
* A fresh towel provided daily
* Ironing boards (and irons)
* hair dryers are included in the womens locker room
* Access to a valet laundry and cleaning service*
* Locker rooms are air-conditioned
* a full service on site bicycle workshop with experienced technician on duty.
* free training available to all new members, covering tyre changing and bike maintenance.
* small retail area providing basic items from toothpaste to bicycle accessories.

More info...

Concept Folding Bikes

2009-03-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

"Although folding bicycles have seen somewhat of a renaissance, there has not been as much innovation compared to mountain bikes, because the market is smaller.

This is a shame since although there are some great products such as Bromptons or the Birdy, there is, in our opinion, no ideal foldup.

An ideal foldup would be one that folds so small and is so light, that you could take it in a backpack, just in case, like carrying an umbrella in case it rains."

Take a look at some fantastic concept bikes...

Via Davison...

The "Bike Cradle" Puts Bikes In The Air

2009-03-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

A great anti theft idea: "The bike cradle". Can this be a solution to a city like Amsterdam, where so many bikes get stolen people don't dare to by a beautiful and expensive bike. And as a consequence don't care about there bike.

"The bike cradle can be fitted to any wall and is attached to an electronic hoist which lowers to the ground when triggered by the owner’s remote control. The mechanism can also be programmed to read an oyster card if located at a tube station, or indeed any public location. Once the bike is placed into the cradle and locked in position, the user then activates the hoist to pull the bike up onto the wall. The bike is then safely out of the reach of thieves and their bolt cutters. Dominic believes the idea would work on domestic dwellings such as houses or blocks of flats as well as public spaces like railway or tube stations."

Read the article...

Spicycles - Sustainable Policies For Cities On Cycling

2009-02-18T12:47:00.001-08:00

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

Save The Velib bikes in Paris!!

2009-02-18T02:55:00.001-08:00

"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?

BIXI Urban Bike-Sharing

2009-02-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

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

It Will All Fade In Time

2009-02-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

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 :)

Supermarket Wonderland Sweden

2009-02-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

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?

look at the reasons why people travel

2009-02-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

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).

Travelling in Amsterdam

2009-01-31T23:31:00.000-08:00

Contribution by Qin:

Just some thoughts of my impression of travelling in Amsterdam two months ago... that was the first time I went to Amsterdam and I was pretty impressed by the clarify of public transportantion signages.

But I did found the car parking along the street (right next to the river)is very dangerous to new drivers or foreign drivers... and I got totally lost in the evening as the lighting is just terrible (the place was so pretty during the day but turn into a blackhole in the eve...) not quite sure how you guys are planning to carry out the research, but getting travellers involved might give you a change to see things that locals are too used to spot :)

And children - another group that get lost easily and can see the world differently. And they influence their parents' behaviour/means in travelling as well - I was very impressed by the cycle they used in Amsterdam to 'ship' kids around, it's amazing... but the ethical issue to get children as participants might the a pain in the back - not sure how good/bad it is in Holland...

Now!Move

2009-01-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

This blog is part of an ongoing project on Sustainable Mobility, mobility that doesn't take more than it gives .

The first subject we are tackling within this project is the Congested City. The suffocating grip traffic has on our daily life. Specially in older cities, never build for large number of cars, we could do with a new approach.

A congested city (or country) usually means an economic congestion as well, but it definitely spells problems concerning safety and health for the people living in the city.

So what can we do? Well, one of the biggest problems is using your car for short trips. One possible solution: everyone should use a bicycle for trips shorter that 5 Km.

To a City like Amsterdam this would mean an almost car free city. It means an economic boast because of the more Accessible City, and last but not least it would have a big positive effect on health because of the improved air-quality, safety on the roads and people simply getting more exercise. There is a lot to profit.

Now, this is never going to happen quick. Mentalities, politics, laziness and old habits are in the way. They always are. But in due time there is no doubt that things will start moving.

Now!Move is going to give a little push.

This blog is put up to keep you posted. But more important we set up a experimental "project group twitter" to have a real conversation.

So join the NowMove Twitter group conversation on Twitter
and place @NowMove before your Tweets so we can track the conversation.