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Groningen: The World’s Cycling City 7

Groningen: The World’s Cycling City
Groningen: The World’s Cycling City – Screenshot from Streetfilms film on vimeo Clarence Eckerson Jr. from Streetfilms recently took a trip to Groningen, Netherlands and documented its widespread bicycle culture in a wonderful 15 minute film. Groningen, a city of about 192,000 people has the highest mode share of bicycle users of anywhere in the ...

Guerrilla Bike Infrastructure In Seattle Leads To Permanent Installation 3

Guerrilla Bike Infrastructure In Seattle Leads To Permanent Installation
Photo courtesy of SDOT / Seattle Bike Blog Back in April, a group of anonymous “guerrilla activists” in Seattle installed plastic bollards on a bike lane that traverses underneath an interstate highway. The group who dubs themselves the “Reasonably Polite Seattleites” wanted to show Seattle’s Department of Transportation how easy it is to improve safety ...

Direct Routes For Bicycles 4

Direct Routes For Bicycles
Bike Map Holder – Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC Cities in Canada and the United States have long catered to automobiles, providing drivers with a comprehensive network of roads with direct routes to their destinations. Bicycles, as a mode of transportation, have largely been ignored over the last several decades here, and people ...

Photos: China’s History of Bicycles 4

Photos: China's History of Bicycles
Beijing’s Changan Street in 1986 – Photo courtesy of Beijing Shots  During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the bicycle was the most popular product in China. Bicycles were often given as wedding gifts, and in 1986, US President George HW Bush received two bicycles as a gift from Beijing. The country was known as “bicycle kingdom” ...

Edmonton Bicycle Numbers On Rise 4

Edmonton Bicycle Numbers On Rise
Bicycling comfortably in the winter in Amsterdam – photo courtesy of Marc / Amsterdamize In Edmonton, the number of bicyclists is on the rise after the city approved in 2009 the addition of almost 500 kilometres of bicycle infrastructure to the city’s bicycle route network. The Edmonton Journal reports: A long-term plan to add almost ...

Roundabouts Gone Wrong 2

Roundabouts Gone Wrong
Australia Roundabout Sign – Photo Courtesy of John Jack Rice We recently posted an article discussing the benefits of roundabouts. Roundabouts are an inexpensive and effective way to increase traffic flow, calm traffic, and improve safety while reducing the environmental impact of motor vehicles. We wrote: “When there is enough space to construct them, roundabouts ...

Roundabout Junctions: Efficient, Inexpensive 19

Roundabout Junctions: Efficient, Inexpensive
Collingwood, Ontario roundabout design – Photo courtesy of the Town of Collingwood We have all dealt with “stop and go” traffic. Drivers accelerate quickly, then slam on their brakes when they hit a red light. Then accelerate quickly again, and repeat. This harmful style of driving wastes gas, creates unnecessary pollution, and creates unsafe conditions ...

The Cost of Toronto’s First Cycle Track 15

The Cost of Toronto’s First Cycle Track
Toronto’s Sherbourne Street Cycle Track – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country As we rode down Toronto’s first cycle track on Sherbourne Street, Copenhagen’s Bicycle Ambassador and the man behind the “Cycle Chic” trend – Mikael Colville-Andersen asks me, “Why is everyone talking about the removal of the Jarvis street bike lanes and ...

Bicycle Infrastructure Continuity 12

Bicycle Infrastructure Continuity
Artist’s rendition of the proposed revitalization of Queens Quay in Toronto – from Waterfront Toronto This past Sunday my family congregated at my place to join me for our annual bike trip & picnic. There were a total of 8 people pedaling, plus my daughter and my dog. We pedaled a total distance of 40 ...

Streetcar Tracks & Bicycles 33

Streetcar Tracks & Bicycles
Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012) On Monday 47-year-old Toronto resident Joseph “Maverick” Mavec died after his bicycle tire jammed in a streetcar track and he fell on his head. This tragic and unfortunate incident has prompted a discussion about navigating a city full of streetcar tracks ...