Livable Streets
Basics
The Car Habit Is Tough to Break
"People are addicted to their cars," said John Street, the Mayor of
Philadelphia, at a panel on transport yesterday during the C40 Large
Cities Climate Summit. He was identifying what he saw as the major
challenge for cities striving to make their transport systems more
environmentally sustainable.
May 17, 2007
The Clock is Ticking for PlaNYC
A delegation of approximately 30 members of the Campaign for New York's Future are traveling to Albany today to meet with more than two dozen state legislators and other public officials. Today's trip follows a series of meetings on Monday in which key coalition leaders joined Mayor Bloomberg to call for urgent State action on the Mayor's key PlaNYC initiatives. Today's press release (care of Howard Rubenstein) lays out some of Bloomberg's key legislative goals up in Albany:
May 16, 2007
PlanNYC’s Public Political Push Starts Today
From a press release that just came across the Streetsblog transom:
May 14, 2007
High-Emission Vehicles to Pay £200 ($400!) to Enter London
London mayor Ken Livingstone, whose congestion-pricing plan has served as a model for Mayor Bloomberg's, is expected to unveil today an even more radical measure aimed at reducing pollution in his city. According to the Guardian, Livingstone's proposal would target high-emission commercial vehicles:
May 10, 2007
Londoners Take to the Streets — on Cycles
Via the blog of Stuart Hughes, a BBC journalist who lost part of his leg in Iraq while on assignment in 2003 and who is an avid cyclist, come a few interesting links regarding cycling in London. First, a BBC story on the skyrocketing popularity of biking both for recreation and commuting in London, a rise that has coincided with a decreasing injury and fatality rate for cyclists:
May 3, 2007
Will City Council Override Mayor’s Pedicab-Bill Veto?
Anticipating a vote in the City Council this afternoon to override the mayor's veto of Intro 331-A, a bill to regulate pedicabs, a group of pedicab operators was demonstrating outside the American Museum of Natural History after Bloomberg's big Earth Day speech.
April 23, 2007
How Green Is Our Mayor
Bookending his much-vaunted Earth Day speech with congratulatory video clips from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mayor Mike Bloomberg called for New Yorkers to take the initiative in the international fight against global warming, positioning himself as a leader on the issue.
April 23, 2007
StreetFilm: Talking Transportation with Bob Kiley
The debate over congestion pricing has been heating up in advance of Mayor Bloomberg's big Earth Day speech tomorrow. What better time to get some talking points on the matter from Bob Kiley, who served as the Commissioner of Transport for London from 2001 to 2006? (Kiley was also chairman and CEO of New York's MTA from 1983 to 1990.)
April 21, 2007