Transport

Rio de Janeiro: the gondola opens up the favela

Laurent Barelier — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:55:00 +0000

In terms of public transportation, Rio de Janeiro is facing the same problems as many other Latin-American metropolises. The city is served by a comprehensive public transit system, including a modern metro, suburban trains and a large bus fleet. But transportation services are sometimes unable to keep pace with rampant urbanization, especially when it comes to the favelas. These informal settlements are constructed on steep areas where conventional modes of public transportation cannot be considered.

Frederikshavn: Green mobility test site

Signe Cecilie Jochumsen — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:27:03 +0000

Crisis and turning point
Frederikshavn's future did not look at all bright in 1999 when the effect of globalisation struck the local community. A feeling of powerlessness was the only feeling they were left with as the vicious circle got up to speed - more companies moving away, more company closures, bankruptcies and forced closures, empty shops and houses - all unmistakable indicators of the deep crisis that had taken hold of Frederikshavn, explains project manager and coordinator of Energy Town Frederikshavn, Bahram Dehghan (November 2010).

San Francisco: Yellow taxis turn green

Maria Nørlyng Leal — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:13:27 +0000

The Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, praises the city's green taxi programme, which has been a great success so far. A new milestone has been reached: 57% of the city's taxis are now hybrid vehicles or run on CNG (compressed natural gas). The city passed legislation in 2008, giving the taxi companies four years to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 20% in relation to 1990 levels. They have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12%.

Budapest: Cyclist numbers double

Anna Esbjørn Hess — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:54:54 +0000

In Budapest, cycling has become a means of transport as well as a leisure pursuit. Cycling accounts for 4% of the city's transport requirements and the number of cyclists is doubling almost year on year. Budapest has long enjoyed a reputation in the region for its strong cycling culture and cycle-friendly city administration, which is doing what it can to encourage cycling. Copenhagenize.com has nominated the Hungarian capital as Eastern Europe's most cycle-friendly city.

Toronto: Road diet for safer traffic

Maria Nørlyng Leal — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:55:47 +0000

Putting one of Toronto's main thoroughfares, St George Street on a ‘road diet’ has been a tremendous success. This involves narrowing three and four-lane roads to two or three lanes, using the extra space for bicycle lanes and wider pavements/sidewalks. The object is to improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, to reduce the number of cars, increase safety and to create a more aesthetically pleasing, agreeable urban space.

Copenhagen: The world's best city for cyclists

Astrid Svane — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:36:22 +0000

Every day, 55% of all Copenhageners cycle to and from work, jointly pedalling more than 1.17 million kilometres a day. Bike lanes, cycle parking and special traffic lights for cyclists are part and parcel of the Copenhagen cityscape. The infrastructure has been meticulously planned to show consideration for more than 150,000 citizens for whom the bicycle is their chosen form of everyday transport.

Portland: Considerate growth

Astrid Svane — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:06:27 +0000

Portland is a pioneer when it comes to anticipating climate change. With the regional authority Metro at the helm, politicians and planners have for the last 30 years been working to control the city's growth and to increase the density of building within the city limits. Known as Smart Growth, this strategy involves urban and transport planning which strives to achieve concentrated urban growth.

Odense: Masterplan for sustainable mobility

Anna Esbjørn Hess — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:29:58 +0000

Under the motto "playing is living" Odense municipality has presented its vision for the coming 10 years. An important link in the long-term strategy is the development of Odense as a sustainable and healthy city, which means that sustainability becomes an integral part of all political decision making. The ambition is to be CO2 neutral in 2025 and the three primary areas that will ensure the fulfilment of that ambition are traffic, energy and construction.

Hong Kong: Re-discovering escalators as public transport

Christopher Mackey — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:23:52 +0000

In the early 1900’s, many people believed that the cities of the future would be a maze of moving sidewalks, escalators, elevator shafts, and pedestrian bridges spanning over streets. As evidenced by creations such as the moving sidewalk in the 1900 Paris world’s fair, many people thought that such pedestrian-aiding transportation forms would become common ways to get around cities. Today, we ask: what has happened to this vision and why are many of our cities not really like this after an entire century?

Madrid: Changing behaviour towards sustainable transportation

Kit Sand Ottsen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:29:00 +0000

The increasing population of Madrid’s (Spain) metropolitan area has caused a large percentage of people to commute to the inner city. Although Madrid has an efficient metro system, it still manages to be flooded with people at peak hours as citizens taking public transport choose the metro over other options such as busses or carpools on congested highways. However, these congested highways could be much more efficient and can still carry thousands more people – simply by increasing the number of passengers in each vehicle.

Vienna: "Bike-City" housing project stimulates soft mobility

June-Catherina Starling — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:19:11 +0000

In 2008, a housing project with 99 flats affectionately known as "Bike-City" was opened to residents. The design of the development, which focuses on the needs of bicycle users, includes a number of bike-friendly features such as a garage for repairs, plenty of safe cycle storage space, large elevators, etc. However, the key ingredient to the masterpiece is that, instead of building the standard one automobile parking space for each household, only 50% of typically required parking facilities were constructed.

Vauban - an environmentally friendly and (almost) car-free city

June-Catherina Starling — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:59:49 +0000

When the military area known as Vauban, in the South German city of Freiburg, shut down in 1992, the city council bought the recently vacated 38 Ha of land. Their vision was to create a completely new type of city district, where planning was based on environmental, economic and social sustainability and initial preparations to fulfill this vision began in 1993.