Skymeter to End All-You-Can-Eat Buffet?

 

Photo courtesy of Atwater Village Newbie

Skymeter has developed technology that can change the world as we know it. Does this small Toronto-based start-up have what it takes to penetrate a potentially mass market for congestion tolling?

Here in North America our transportation system is broken. People who seldom use our roads are subsidizing the costs for those who heavily use our roads – with little thanks to show for it.

In Canada there is little encouragement to drive less - because we don’t directly see the costs of our actions. This “all-you-can-eat-buffet” is not a sustainable approach if we care to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and address gridlock.

Skymeter hopes to change all of this using enhanced satellite-based GPS technology.

Last month, Skymeter founder and Chief Scientist Bern Grush became aware of my passion and grievances of cycling in Toronto and invited me to check out his product.

I dropped by Skymeter’s MaRS Centre office to see Grush’s invention and discuss how this device could benefit cyclists in Toronto.

When I suggested that Skymeter could be the next RIM (Research In Motion), VP of Business Development JD Hassan responded “we like to compare ourselves to RIM”.

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Ignoring the Real Problem On Our Streets

Photo courtesy of dpurdy

Sitting in a car at a busy intersection in downtown Toronto, another car approaches the intersection, barely slowing down before making a right turn on a red light - tires screeching as he proceeds through the turn.

Ten seconds earlier and he may have been the latest driver to run down a pedestrian at a Toronto intersection - and if the pedestrian was really unlucky, she would have been the 27th pedestrian to die this year on Toronto streets.

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Last week a Toronto Sun video rubbed me the wrong way. For once, it wasn’t solely the result of poor reporting - it had more to do with irresponsibility of the Toronto Police Service for ignoring the real problem on our streets.

The video consists of a report by Toronto Sun reporter Chris Doucette on the death of a 65-year-old pedestrian who was killed last Tuesday in North York while crossing Greenwood Village Road near Bathurst and Steeles.

Here are some points pulled from the video:

• Police are urging pedestrians to be more careful when crossing the street
• The city has seen 40 fatalities on our streets - 26 were pedestrians - 16 of those were seniors
• Police released a top 10 list of dangerous intersections in our city
• Pedestrians need to realize their life is at risk every time they cross the street
• There are some things pedestrians can do to increase their odds of reaching the other side safely
• Make yourself visible, wear bright clothes and make eye contact with drivers when crossing

Although I think it’s good to remind pedestrians to be cautious when crossing the road, there is nonetheless a gaping hole in the logic used by the Toronto Police Service. 

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BIXI is ready for Toronto, is Toronto ready for BIXI?

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

The BIXI system is coming to Toronto – and I can hardly contain my excitement.

If you haven’t already heard, BIXI is Montreal’s bicycle-sharing program which was inaugurated on May 11th, 2009. It cost $15 million dollars to start and began with 300 stations around downtown Montreal with 3000 bicycles for rent. The system was expanded by the end of the summer to 5000 bicycles at 400 stations.

To rent a bicycle, you simply insert your credit card into the solar-powered station to purchase a membership – at a cost of $5/day, $28/month or $78/year. You are then entitled to use the bicycle for free as long as you return the bicycle to another station within 30 minutes. This enables the system to support a high capacity of users on short trips around the city.

After a successful launch in Montreal last May, BIXI has served more than 1 million users – an amazing accomplishment for its first  year.

The system is however shutting down now as Montreal prepares for the ensuing winter. On November 1st, BIXI started taking down the less frequently used stations and BIXI rentals will no longer be available after November 30th – making its triumphant return in May 2010.

But fear not Torontonians - I have been told the BIXI system in Toronto will have no such restrictions! The city plans to keep Toronto’s BIXI system open all-year-round! A detail that has previously not been released and I had to pry out of City Hall.

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Australia Got it Wrong – Time to Roll Back the Clock?

Photo courtesy of Matthew Knott 

Australia enacted its mandatory bicycle helmet law for all riders in 1991. Cycling participation dropped 30-40% after the law was enacted while other nations have enjoyed an increase in cycling during the same period.

Head injuries and concussions by cyclists were declining prior to to the helmet law and continued to decline after the helmet law - with no obvious improvement after the law was enacted.

Here in Canada – the provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have mandatory bicycle helmet laws for all cyclists. Alberta and Ontario have mandatory helmets for cyclists under 18.

Although there is no conclusive evidence that helmet laws have reduced head injuries, we do know conclusively that it results in lower participation. We also know that a reduction in participation increases the risk for cyclists, so helmet laws may have the opposite effect that they had intended when they were introduced.

Over the weekend I became acquainted with internationally acclaimed Australian documentary filmmaker Michael Rubbo. Rubbo acquired a love for the bicycle late in life and has been creating some wonderful videos and posting to his blog that highlight the state of cycling in Australia as of late.

Rubbo recently attended a conference that discussed the possibility of bringing Montreal’s BIXI bicycle-sharing system to Melbourne, Australia. The filmmaker rightfully pointed out that success of a bicycling program in a country with mandatory helmet laws will be extraordinarily difficult.

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Barriers to Cycling: Debunking the Myths

Photo courtesy of sindändùne

Cycling is a great way to get around. It’s healthy, efficient, fun and sustainable. As such I’m always perplexed when people in North America find every excuse to avoid utilitarian cycling.

It’s not necessarily that people here are inherently lazy; in fact in many cases it’s on the contrary – many of these people who avoid cycling spend hours in the gym several times a week.

I am baffled as to why people would be willing to pay a monthly fee to sit on an exercise bicycle in the gym when they could instead be cycling outdoors for their daily commute or for running errands.

As someone who is fascinated by our addiction to the automobile, I wanted to find out what the rationale is for avoiding cycling in North America. My observations on this topic has resulted in the following list of 7 barriers to cycling in North America.

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Cowboys Stadium: Everything is Bigger in Texas

Yesterday I attended a Dallas Cowboys football game at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

I am by no means a football fan, nor would I have attended this game under any other circumstance than the fact that my father is turning 60 years old and he has never seen the Cowboys play in Dallas (he has been a Cowboys fan since he was a kid).

Walking into a venue like Cowboys stadium brings me mixed feelings. On one hand it is amazing architecture, it’s very high-tech, and has some amazing features that really brings the outdoors in (large windows, open sections, retractable roof, high ceilings, etc.)

On the other hand the $1.2 billion dollar stadium requires a massive amount of the earth’s resources to construct and an exorbitant amount of energy to to operate.

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Traveling Water Bottles

Packing for travel is an art: you don’t want to forget anything, but at the same time you don’t want to take hours to do it.

Over the past 3.5 years of working for a consulting firm, I have periodically traveled to client sites, attending conferences and for training. As a result, I have become very proficient in packing as I found out Thursday evening while packing last-minute for a vacation I’m taking in Texas this weekend.

My brother, sister and I flew down to Dallas to meet my father (who lives in Wisconsin) to celebrate his 60th birthday and attend a Dallas Cowboys football game (my Dad is a long-time Cowboys fan but has never seen them play in Dallas).

One of the first items I pack while traveling is a stainless steel water bottle (coincidentally, I had one stolen from me earlier this week while attending a work meeting).

While traveling, most people resort to drinking bottled water, but this is completely unnecessary in most situations. Only in extreme circumstances will I purchase a bottle of water and I would estimate that I consume no more than 5 plastic bottles of water each year.

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