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Amsterdamizing The World 8

Amsterdamizing The World
Photo by Marc van Woudenberg / Amsterdamize You have probably visited his website, and you’ve likely seen many of his photos. You may even subscribe to his RSS feed. He photographs ordinary people on ordinary bicycles, riding along anything but ordinary infrastructure in a country with an extraordinary bicycle culture. In his neck of the ...

Media’s Over-Glamorization of Automobiles 4

Media’s Over-Glamorization of Automobiles
Photo courtesy of  Doug on Flickr The mainstream media in North America has a tendency to over-glamorize automobiles. It’s no wonder, since a significant portion of their advertising revenue comes from automobile companies. As we pointed out last November, the mainstream media also has a tendency to under-glamorize bicycling, leading you to believe that you ...

Anatomy of a Dutch Bicycle 42

Anatomy of a Dutch Bicycle
Photo by Marc van Woudenberg / Amsterdamize North Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the bicycle culture that comes out of the best bicycling country in the world – the Netherlands – thanks largely to the photography and advocacy from our friends Amsterdamize and A View From the Cycle Path in the Netherlands, and Copenhagenize ...

Ghettoize Me, Please 11

Ghettoize Me, Please
All Photos by Marc van Woudenberg / Amsterdamize In an article in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen entitled “We’re not all hard-core cyclists”, writer Kate Jaimet explains that a proposal to invest in physically separated bicycle infrastructure in Ottawa is at risk of being quashed by a group of vehicular “hard-core” cyclists. Vehicular cyclists are against bicycle ...

Shopping Cart Bicycle Trailers 12

Shopping Cart Bicycle Trailers
Photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country I frequently pass by these homemade shopping cart bicycle trailers here in Toronto. What a great way to recycle old shopping carts, while increasing the load capacity on your bicycle at a very low cost. These particular bike trailers were spotted at Bathurst and Richmond – ...

Bicycle Infrastructure Ignorance 62

Bicycle Infrastructure Ignorance
Photo of Vancouver’s Hornby St Bike Lanes courtesy of Paul Krueger An article in the Toronto Star newspaper yesterday brought to light a plan to bring a modest segregated bicycle network in Toronto’s downtown core. This news would have been significant even with Toronto’s previous mayor, the “bike-friendly” David Miller. What makes this news drastically ...

25% Of Motorists Hate Their Commute 6

25% Of Motorists Hate Their Commute
Malaysian traffic jam. Photo by Malaysia Airlines A Statistics Canada study found that 25% of drivers hate their daily commute to work. With increasing populations in many cities in North America, it’s no wonder motorists are frustrated. But motorists are seemingly better off than transit users. According to the study, 34% of transit users hate ...

You’re Welcome Mr. Motorist 42

You’re Welcome Mr. Motorist
Photo “Going Strong” by Marc van Woudenberg / Amsterdamize  You’re welcome Mr. Motorist. I’m happy that my mode of transportation has allowed more space on the road for you to get to your destination more efficiently. One less car on the road to get in your way and increase congestion, right? It’s my pleasure. It ...

2011: Year of the Rabbit 3

2011: Year of the Rabbit
Photo “Who (Bicycle) Framed Roger Rabbit?” courtesy of John Henderson  Welcome to 2011 – the year of the rabbit (officially beginning on Chinese New Year – February 3rd). Rabbits are born in the years 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 and 2011, and possess the following personality: People born in the year of the ...