New York City is launching a six-month pilot to encourage the use of e-cargo bikes by package delivery companies like UPS, DHL, and Amazon, allowing 100 vehicles access to free commercial loading spaces.
This is a big deal since e-cargo bikes have been in use in Europe for a while now, but not so much in the US.
Their benefits are several-fold:
Leaps and bounds: In just a few short years, bold bike infrastructure construction has catapulted Paris to 8th place on Wired’s list of most bike-friendly cities, and drove a 54% jump in bike ridership in just one year.
Bike and Rider: Even Car and Driver cannot ignore the coming groundswell of micromobility, highlighting Deloitte’s estimate of a 50% surge of ebike sales and a global fleet of 300 million total units over the next 3 years.
“Bicycles could save the world:” Bicycle mayors have spread to 91 cities worldwide, bringing much needed focus and leadership to this powerful yet underinvested mobility mode which not only provides personal transport, but boosts health, decreases pollution, creates independent kids, and strengthens social connections.
Scooter synergy: Real estate developers and scooter providers see a budding new business model in providing tenants a fun, easy, and inexpensive mode of mobility—while simultaneously growing a micromobility customer base and potentially helping reduce large and expensive car parking.
There’s a quote that’s stuck with me for some time from Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom: “You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so f***ing smart, how come they lose so goddamn always?”
American urbanists and bike advocates are smart, or at least well informed. We know how important cycling is. We are educated about cycling cities in other parts of the world and how they are so much better for health, well-being, economics, traffic, pollution, climate, equity, personal freedom, and on and on.
Micromobility’s gender gap: Concerns over safety as well as comfort due to the lack of adequate micromobility infrastructure continues to be leading cause of a huge gender gap for cycling and scooter use alike, according to a new study.
Euro trip: Ford’s e-scooter unit Spin begins hiring in preparation for a major push into Europe, as Shanghai-based Doinnext aims for the European full-sized scooter market with hopes of standing out of the crowd with their stylish mopeds.
But do they replace car trips? A new report from Santa Monica’s scooter pilot reveals that almost half of all scooter rides do in fact replace trips otherwise taken by car. That’s a good look for sustainability!
Coming-out party: Chinese e-bike component manufacturer Bafang Electric IPOs on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, raising 168 million Euros with plans for investments in motor and controller manufacturing, lithium ion batteries, international marketing, and R&D.
There are lots of great urbanist reading lists out there.
But if you’re looking for something a little outside the usual urbanist wheelhouse, you might enjoy this diverse list!
While these selections aren’t strictly cannon, they share a perspective shifting quality about streets and our daily reality that we think you or someone you love who lives in and/or interested in cities will greatly enjoy.
Why are some cities so heavily frequented by tourists and others not?
Of course familiarity has something to do with it. But tourism numbers usually reflect the aesthetic and social beauty of cities that make them attractive places to visit as well as to live.
That, in a nutshell, is the overview of this wonderfully perceptive video which uncovers some important principles of great city design.
But do they replace car trips? A new report from Santa Monica’s scooter pilot reveals that almost half of all scooter rides do in fact replace trips otherwise taken by car. That’s a good look for sustainability!
Coming-out party: Chinese e-bike component manufacturer Bafang Electric IPOs on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, raising 168 million Euros with plans for investments in motor and controller manufacturing, lithium ion batteries, international marketing, and R&D.
What can reduce air pollution, noise pollution, increase public spaces, increase local business and economic vibrancy, and make a city more social and pleasant?
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Superblock?
It’s not quite clear what led him to visit a juvenile prison and to come up with a seemingly crazy idea of taking convicted criminals out of prison and on long trail rides.
