James D. Schwartz ← The Urban Country ← Page 20

Interview With Bicycling Newcomer Tom Schwartz 1

Oct

2010

Bicycling Newcomers is a section on The Urban Country where we profile people who make the switch from other modes of transportation to the efficient, healthy and fun method of bicycling to go about their daily business. Our latest instalment of Bicycling Newcomers profiles one Tom Schwartz. Tom is a Corrections Officer and commutes on ...

Motorists Against Bicycle Infrastructure 11

Oct

2010

Photo courtesy of Alastair Smith After posting an article about the City of Vancouver passing a vote to build a two-way protected bicycle track across downtown I decided to search Twitter to see what people thought of these new bike lanes. One particular tweet caught my eye (and no, it wasn’t because it was tweeted ...

Vancouver Approves Hornby Street Dedicated Bike Lanes 6

Oct

2010

Dunsmuir street bike lanes – Photo by Christopher Porter Despite some opposition from motorists, the City of Vancouver approved new dedicated bike lanes along Hornby street late Tuesday evening – with installation to be completed by the end this year. The Hornby lane would cross the entire downtown area to create a barrier-protected connection to ...

Only the poor ride bicycles in Shanghai 12

Sep

2010

All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country When it comes to using bicycles as transportation, there are few cities I have visited that intrigue me more than Shanghai. Shanghai citizens have a knack for utilizing their bicycles to their full capacity. From carrying fridges, to bathtubs, to beds – to the far ...

Futile Bicycle Signals 4

Sep

2010

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country Toronto loves to take great ideas from cycling cities, and then implement them completely wrong. One good example – bike traffic signals. Cities that are more bicycle-friendly implement bicycle traffic signals to reduce the probability of conflicts between motor vehicles and bicycles. In New York, you ...

Oakville’s Grand Opportunity 1

Sep

2010

Photo “Groningen: Colourful City” courtesy of Akbar Simonse The following is an excerpt from an article I contributed to Oakville.com that discusses using bicycles as transportation in Oakville, Ontario: So how exactly can Oakville improve its current state? The first thing Oakville needs is a master cycling plan. It needs a vision that encompasses active ...

Learning From September 11th

Sep

2010

Photo by slagheap / Flickr Most people remember where they were on September 11th, 2001 – 9 years ago – when they heard the news about airliners crashing into the World Trade Center and subsequently collapsing. I was working in a skyscraper in downtown Toronto when I heard the news before we were evacuated (after ...