Toronto Yearns for Bicycle Superhighway 8
Photo and video by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country On October 30 2009, the first section of the West Toronto Rail Path officially opened. A 2.1KM stretch from Cariboo Ave. in the north to Dundas St. West in the south, the rail path provides cyclists an automobile and traffic light-free route. Although a ...
A Cycling Revolution With Mikael Colville-Andersen 2
Mikael Colville-Andersen is no stranger to the spotlight. Colville-Andersen is the founder of Copenhagen Cycle Chic – a hugely popular blog that profiles stylish female cyclists who take to the streets in Copenhagen. Colville-Andersen has become somewhat of a worldwide ambassador of a cycling movement that is captivating much of the western world. This man ...
Skymeter to End All-You-Can-Eat Buffet? 6
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 ...
Ignoring the Real Problem On Our Streets 6
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 ...
BIXI is ready for Toronto, is Toronto ready for BIXI? 16
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 ...
Australia Got it Wrong – Time to Roll Back the Clock? 21
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 ...
Barriers to Cycling: Debunking the Myths 68
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 ...
Cowboys Stadium: Everything is Bigger in Texas 5
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 ...
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 ...
Grocery Shopping Like a Champ
Today, Saturday October 24th is the first annual “International Day of Climate Action”, organized by 350.org, an activist organization with the goal of cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions to below 350 ppm (the current level is 389 ppm of CO2). There are more than 3000 events happening around the world in 160 countries. In recognition ...