Here's a Pothole Stunt for the Ages in New Orleans

After decades of planning and development, Sacramento’s R Street corridor went from an area full of abandoned warehouses to a flourishing, walkable neighborhood. The city planners’ prioritization of building high-density housing, bringing in new businesses, ensuring access to a light rail transit line, and safe, pedestrian-friendly streets helped this project succeed.

A fun app called “Bella Mossa” has incentivized people to ditch their cars in Bologna. The anti-pollution effort gives users credits for biking, walking, and using public transport. Users can then swap their credits for rewards from local shopkeepers, such as free beer and ice cream.

Toronto wants to improve its transit system, perhaps there are solutions that can be applied from other cities. Changing the way parking is priced, improving bus shelters, implementing more highway tolls, and having automated subways are all possible options.

Shared electric cargo bike programs like CargoB and Re:Ciclos offer affordable, sustainable transportation alternatives that can significantly reduce urban car dependency; however, their long-term success hinges on overcoming infrastructure, cultural, and economic barriers.

Rapid bus system TransMilenio offers locals an extensive bus network of 12 bus lines covering 71 miles. While rapid buses aren’t as fast as a metro, and TransMilenio’s design has its share of issues, this system managed to get up and running in a fraction of the time a metro system takes, and at a significantly lower cost. TransMilenio is crucial in connecting those in underserved districts to the heart of the city and serves about two million riders each day.

The Open Streets program encourages students to walk and bike to school in an effort to get people out of their cars. Opting for a form of “active transport,” like walking and biking, helps get people moving, offers more social connection and is better for the environment.

Athens’ poverty rate is 28.8%, making it difficult for some locals to afford cars and other means of transportation. BikeAthens donates bikes to those in need, hosts “Fix Your Own Bike Nights” and teaches classes on bike safety and how to ride to provide residents with an accessible means of transportation. The nonprofit donates about 100-120 bikes each year.

The Final Mile project built 335 miles of bike lanes across five U.S. cities in 24 months to provide more transportation options outside of driving cars and make bike riding more accessible, thus addressing the urgent climate crisis, equitable access to goods and services and public health.

A community-led nonprofit restarted New Orleans’ bike-sharing program Blue Bikes with a focus on affordability and equity after a for-profit company ended it during the pandemic. The founders used the bike stands and tools left behind from the original program, the city provided spaces for the bike racks, and the funders provided money for a fleet of bicycles.

A public library in Madison, Wisconsin, works with an e-bike-sharing company to allow residents with library cards to check out bikes for free for up to a week at a time.