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Drive Fast 4

Drive Fast
Bolinas Ridge Rd. car commercial photo courtesy of Jim Collier It’s not very often I post other people’s content without adding my own perspective, but I really enjoyed this post entitled “Drive Fast” on Kent’s bike blog: “It’s not very often that I dispense automotive advice. Today, I am. It is Sunday and I’m going ...

NYC Snowstorm Aftermath, Deliveryman Hit-and-Run 4

NYC Snowstorm Aftermath, Deliveryman Hit-and-Run
All Photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country This past weekend I took a trip down to New York City with a few friends. More than a foot of snow was dumped down on the city the day before our arrival. Given that we are now in the middle of a similar snowstorm ...

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 ...

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 ...

Enough Excuses: Cars Cause Death 25

Photo “WATCH OUT ” courtesy of Kevin Schraer Car-centric societies tend to make excuses to defend a way of life – a life dependent on automobiles. These excuses are disproportionately emphasized in the media and accepted by society. When a tragedy occurs between a motorist and a bicyclist,  the media looks for reasons to explain ...

History of Transportation in North America 4

Bike storage in Toronto – circa 1898 – photo courtesy of City of Toronto Archives After watching a 1905 video on “Complete Streets” posted by our friend Herb from iBikeTO.ca, I was intrigued by how transportation in North America has transformed in the past couple centuries. We have gone through several phases in our transportation ...

Swapping Car Ownership For Car-Sharing 11

Photo of 1998 Acura 1.6EL by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country  Most readers on here probably aren’t aware that I own an automobile. I don’t spend a lot of time talking about it, but I’m certainly not ashamed of it. I believe cars serve a useful purpose, but I also think North Americans ...

Motorists Against Bicycle Infrastructure 11

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 ...

China’s Mega 100KM Traffic Jam 17

Beijing traffic jam photo courtesy of Proggie (this is not the 100KM traffic jam) For several decades, the Chinese managed to transport millions and millions of people efficiently around their cities – primarily by bicycle. There are reportedly 450 million bicycles in China, and the bicycle has served as a great tool historically. Now, enter ...