Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 149 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Pedal power: How bicycles can change lives

    Onyx Connect sprang from the imagination of one entrepreneur who saw how poor roads and poverty made bicycles the only practical alternative to walking great distances in southern Zambia. Onyx sells sturdy bikes with a monthly payment plan that makes them affordable but also gives bike owners a personal stake in maintaining their own investment, instead of just having it donated to them. Bikes have given girls greater access to education and farmers more income because they can deliver fresh milk or other goods more often, more quickly, at greater distances than before.

    Read More

  • The Power of Bike Education to Transform Lives and Communities

    Bicycle education programs around the world are helping those who want to become cyclists overcome that fear while also addressing problems in their communities—from pollution to racial injustice. #BIKEYGEES in Berlin helps women learn how to ride, or learn how to teach someone how to ride bicycles without need for registration. In the U.S. In Los Angeles, Sustainable Streets is helping adult learners while also turning the tide on the prevalent car-minded culture in the city.

    Read More

  • How New York and Paris Got Women Into the Bike Saddle

    Citi Bike started the NYC Critical Workers program, which offered free bike-share memberships to essential workers in New York City because of the coronavirus pandemic. The free membership started for one month but was extended to a year. Nearly 30,000 people signed up. Since a large proportion of healthcare workers are women, almost 60% of the new members were women, which increased the company’s female annual members from 32.8 percent to 38.9 percent. Several other cities also saw progress in the gender-balance of bike riders during the pandemic.

    Read More

  • Oonee Wants to Fix New York Bike Parking with Free, Secure Storage Pods

    An early-stage startup with big plans to change bicycling culture and commuting habits has notched one victory already, with its first secure-parking pods in New York City: Out of 60,000 times they've been used, the pods have only suffered one theft, at a time of rampant bike theft. Startup Oonee provides an alternative to locking up bikes and scooters on the street during work hours. Parking in an enclosed shelter is advertising-supported, so it's free to users. Ultimately, Oonee hopes to surround parking with a suite of services useful to two-wheeled commuters.

    Read More

  • In South Bend, Pete Buttigieg challenged a decades-old assumption that streets are for cars above all else

    Reconfiguring streets to slow automobile traffic through its downtown business district and encourage pedestrians and bicycling enlivened South Bend's street life and proved a boon to its restaurants and other businesses. Then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg pushed for the $25 million plan to make the streets safer and encourage people to spend more time and money in the area. Drivers complained about increased travel time, as they have about other cities’ “complete streets” programs. But Buttigieg and his supporters hope to push the concept when he runs the federal Transportation Department.

    Read More

  • Why some bike shares work and others don't

    A boom in Chinese bike-share companies sought a technology-driven transport solution for people traveling short distances. While investors were drawn to green transportation solutions, a lack of any regulatory framework to introduce the bikes and integrate them with existing public transportation led to millions of bikes inundating urban areas. The more than 40 dockless bike share companies operating around the country led to an oversupply, bikes were vandalized, and many were found in rivers and other natural settings. Massive bike graveyards popped up as the bike parts were not easily recycled.

    Read More

  • Slow Streets Were a Success. Should Cities Keep Them?

    A pilot project in several American cities has provided a large amount of data on how residents use streets where vehicular traffic is restricted. The initiative tested out ways to calm traffic, provide space for families to convene and exercise, and provide safer bike lanes. A transportation analysis firm was able to provide detailed analysis for how each city responded to the changes, opening up ways for governments to "implement the best project for that specific need and measure against those goals."

    Read More

  • How Oakland Got Real About Equitable Urban Planning

    Oakland is making an effort to make city planning more equitable to include the needs of communities of color. "Esential Places" is the second iteration of a program that started off as "Slow Streets" and was criticized by local residents for catering to "white and moneyed interests." The initial attempt was informed by survey respondents who were overwhelmingly white and rich. Meetings with community members in distressed neighborhoods resulted in different traffic challenges and pedestrian needs. The shift in policy planning has led to safer intersections with no collisions at previously dangerous sites.

    Read More

  • Do We Need Police To Curb L.A.'s Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

    Five years after Los Angeles launched its Vision Zero program to reduce traffic fatalities, the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists killed on city streets have soared. By relying too heavily on the racially fraught and often ineffective practice of police stops of vehicles, and by not spending enough on street redesigns and automated enforcement technologies, L.A. has failed to make the kind of progress that cities like New York and Seattle have made with engineering innovations, stricter speed limits, and camera enforcement.

    Read More

  • Bogotá Is Building its Future Around Bikes

    To help essential workers navigate the notorious traffic of Bogota, the city built over 50 miles of an emergency bike network. The plan was in place before the arrival of coronavirus but the execution was sped up to meet the demands of increased bike usage. Other measures were also put into place to make the roads more bike and pedestrian-friendly: Reduced speed limits for cars, a 20 percent increase in private parking for bikes, and a bike registration system to deincentivize bike theft. Efforts to expand bike lanes not only eased traffic, they also helped relieve pressure on the overcrowded bus system.

    Read More