This is a recent Danish video from the city of Aarhus, which may offer a glimpse into the future of bicycling through North American cities. Here are the translated points:

• Reason 674: Big smiles
• Reason 762: Fitness and fresh air
• Reason 2,548: Speed through traffic
• Reason 6,237: Quality time with the kids
• Reason 94: CO2-neutral transport

See more about the the future of transportation here.

Green Illusions

A new report and corresponding infographic (above) by AmericaBikes.org show broad support for bicycle infrastructure funding in the United States. For me, it was fascinating to learn that this support crossed party lines and geographic boundaries. Here are some findings from the study:

1. 83% of those interviewed support preserving or growing federal funding for sidewalks, bike infrastructure.
2. 80% of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats think Congress should preserve or increase funding for biking and walking.
3. 85% of Northeasterners, 79 percent of Midwesterners, 84 percent of Southerners, and 84 percent of Westerners support preservation or increased funding for sidewalk and bicycle infrastructure.
4. 91% of those interviewed between the ages of 18 and 29 support preservation or increased funding for sidewalk and bicycle infrastructure.

For more details on the study, see: AmericaBikes.org

See more about the book John Perkins is endorsing here.

Green Illusions

Rick Docksai, an editor at The Futurist magazine, recently invited me for an interview to discuss the future of global energy supply. We discussed the prospects for Germany’s solar initiative, the whole truth behind so-called zero-energy buildings, and the fate of air-conditioning. You may read the interview here.

See more about the book John Perkins is endorsing.

Green Illusions

According to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the carbon impacts of fueling your electric car depend on where you plug it in. The study, entitled “State of Charge: Electric Vehicles’ Global Warming Emissions and Fuel Cost Savings Across the United States,” points out that charging an electric vehicle with coal-based electricity yields the same carbon impact as at conventional car that gets 30 miles per gallon (mpg). If the charging power comes from hydroelectric and natural gas, prevalent in the pacific northwest, the carbon impacts of fueling an electric car equate to over 50mpg, according to the study.

These figures do not account for electric car fabrication footprints, which can have a much larger impact than the fueling cycle according to research from the National Academies of Science. In my recent piece in Christian Science Monitor, I argue:

Electric vehicles don’t eliminate the negative side effects of vehicular travel. They simply move the problems elsewhere – often to contexts where they become more opaque and difficult to address. When we start to exchange one set of side effects for another, the exchange rates become confusing. This opens a space for public relations firms, news pundits, environmentalists, and others to step in and define the terms of exchange to their liking.. The Union of Concerned Scientists report also doesn’t account for the methane released during natural gas fracking, the side effects of hydroelectric dams, and other externalities from energy production.

When the full environmental costs of electric car batteries and hardware are figured in, their green charm begins to appear suspect. Perhaps environmentalists should take a step back and reconsider whether they’d like to become spokespeople for the next round of ecological disaster machines.

See more about the book John Perkins is endorsing here.

Green Illusions

I enjoyed this 4-minute video from the Mexican office of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy that exposes some of the basic injustices behind transportation funding. The video explains why building more roads won’t reduce congestion and uncovers the real impact of free parking. Thanks to StreetsBlog and Copenhaganize for bringing this video to my attention.

Discover more about Green Illusions here.

Green Illusions

1. It’s the infrastructure, stupid!
2. Bike share!
3. It’s safer than a sofa
4. Say “thank you” to bikers
5. Turn streets into backyards
6. Let prices tell the truth
7. You don’t need “bike clothes”
8. Electrify it
9. Admit it: It’s emotional
10. It’s a virtuous cycle

I would add bicycle insurance to the list. Many forms of insurance, including transportation liability insurance, are not available to bicyclers in the United States unless they own a car.

See more about the book John Perkins is endorsing here.

Green Illusions

If stores and organizations wish to minimize their environmental footprint, then they can give priority access to bicyclers and pedestrians. Congress can do the same.

Bicycling is booming across the country right now but Congress has taken no notice of the trend. Congress is actually moving to lower bicycle and pedestrian transportation funding, which already represents less than 2% of the total transportation budget.  (See the just released Alliance for Biking and Walking’s 2012 Benchmarking Report)

Senate bill 1813 has left committee and will be up for a vote soon. In its current form, it will shrink bicycle and pedestrian support by eliminating dedicated funding for programs such as the broadly successful Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiative. It will lump other types of pedestrian and bicycle funding into a discretionary budget to be apportioned by state governments. States would be free to divert bicycle and pedestrian funding within their borders to automotive projects.

Congress is framing all of these cuts as a way to save money. But if Congress is serious about stabilizing the nation’s balance sheets, they’ll stand up to thirsty car-culture lobbies and back low-cost bicycle and pedestrian improvements that pay durable dividends.

– Ozzie Zehner is the author of Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism

Here’s a handy new infographic from Kory Northrop, a grad student at the University of Oregon. The main graphic breaks down bicycling commutes by state.

The infographic also displays federal infrastructure funding, bicycle-related traffic fatalities, and the top cities for bicycling in the US. You can view the massive full-size graphic here.

Glorious Parking (photo by Faris Ali)

How Congress is Bribing You to Drive in 2012

By Ozzie Zehner

These are the final few days for public transit riders to receive the same federal transportation benefits as drivers.  Starting on January 1, 2012, the IRS will reduce the allowable pre-tax contributions to transit users while increasing benefits for drivers. This tax subsidy supports car culture with twice the gusto of transit.

The Senate could have extended the transit benefit this week.  But it failed.

Senate Republicans linked the transit benefit extension to a vote that would require Obama to approve or deny the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days. In response, the editors of the Washington Post ran an  editorial on December 19th claiming Congress is taking Americans for a ride:

“Whether the federal government should give a tax break to workers to help pay for their commutes is a question that is certainly worthy of discussion. What shouldn’t be on the table is giving a bigger edge in any subsidy to those who drive, as opposed to those who use mass transit — since there is no reason to encourage more traffic, more pollution and more gas consumption…increased use of public transportation benefits everyone — even those who choose to drive because there are fewer cars on the road. No such argument can be made in subsidizing the parking costs of those who drive to work. Workers can choose to drive and park — but there is no public interest in government picking up part of the tab.”

The IRS has announced the following limits for pre-tax contributions and reimbursements on 2012 Commuter Benefits Accounts:

• Transit pre-tax contributions: Decrease from $230 to $125 per month
• Parking pre-tax contributions: Increase from $230 to $240 per month

 This outcome, intended or not, is clear: Congress will be bribing us to drive in 2012.  That is unfortunate news for both public transit agencies and their riders.

History: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) increased the monthly pre-tax reimbursement limit for Commuter Benefit Transit accounts temporarily from $120 to $230. That limit expires on December 31, 2011.

Status: Congress has not acted to extend the current deadline.  Unless they take action by January 1, 2012, the monthly pre-tax contribution and reimbursement limits for transit accounts will drop to $125, roughly half the limit for drivers. There is a small chance, according to Transportation For America, that the benefit could be reinstated within the first few months of 2012.

Shameless Plug: Read about hidden car culture subsidies in my upcoming book: GreenIllusions.org

Komsomolskaya station on the central circle line of Moscow was built in 1952 as a “palace for the people.”

This entrance to Porte Dauphine station (Paris, c. 1900) is one of the 88 remaining Art Nouveau enclosures designed by Hector Guimard.

Platform of Avtovo station in Saint Petersburg (c. 1955).

Platform of the T-Centralen station on Stockholm’s Blue Line, designed by Per Olof Ultvedt (c. 1975).

Berlin’s Wittenbergplatz station (c. 1913) with its understated elegance is one of seventy stations designed by Alfred Grenander.

Hungary’s  Millennium Underground was the first subway on the European continent (c. 1896) and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Jellyfish chandeliers hang from above in Dubai’s Khalid Bin Al Waleed station.

Gare Lille Europe station in is a stop on France’s VAL driverless metro system (c. 1983).

Discover the secret to successful mass transit in Green Illusions.

Green Illusions