While there is exciting progress and promise as air sensors become cheaper and more available, a diverse coalition of industry, activists, policymakers and researchers is critical to ensuring that the data is reliable, accessible and most of all, actionable.
For Helle Søholt, Founding Partner and CEO of Gehl, there is a global urgency for a people-first approach to planning and to improve people’s everyday lives in cities.
Janette Sadik-Khan is a top rock star in the world of city planning. She led NYC’s recent transportation transformations under Mayor Bloomberg. In the interview, Zachary Shahan, CleanTechnica’s director and chief editor, returns to his roots as he interviews Janette Sadik-Khan and talks urban transport leadership. Zach’s master’s degree was in city and regional planning (from UNC-Chapel Hill). UNC–Chapel Hill was ranked the #1 grad school in the nation for his specialization the year he graduated. The pair, on the same page, were brought together by Autonomy 2017.
Urban planners and traffic safety regulators are struggling to come to grips with electric bicycles. They offer tremendous advantages for urban mobility, they reduce congestion, they offload overloaded transit, every electric bicycle is arguably one less car on crowded city streets, and they don’t pollute.
The Global EVRT Middle East 2018 participants visited the Eco Haus in Oman and share insights into sustainability solutions.
Elon Musk has some unkind things to say about the state of public transportation today. His remarks did not sit well with transportation engineers and urban planners.
Bicycles present a unique challenge for city planners and designers of autonomous cars. The question is, what do cities of the future want to be — still focused on cars or centers of refuge for pedestrians and bicyclists?
NYC’s Q train recently got a big new subway extension, after nearly a century-long wait for the mythic segment. New Year’s Day 2017 saw the first phase of the “Second Avenue subway” opened — that’s after a 1972 “groundbreaking.” The segment was envisioned in the 1920s.
Donald Shoup pointed out many years ago that if companies pay the costs of parking for their employees, a common fringe benefit (and an expensive one, at that), those employers are essentially giving “an invitation to drive to work alone.”
Rush hour Chicago provides an untapped income for the city of Chicago. Traffic enforcement could pick up funds from well-deserved traffic tickets. It seems no one is getting a ticket and the chaos continues. The larger question is — after $32 million of taxpayer money to build it, is the Loop Link being used as intended? No, not much, it seems. It was designed for fluid, fast, reliable movement — time-saving, much-needed flow for the city’s buses. Lost? The Loop Link is specially marked bus lanes meant to offer mass transit an unfettered flight during rush hour times. And yet…
