Video: "They really enjoy their cars. They think the street belongs to them, and they just don't want to share the road."

"A new video from Streetfilms assembles the most head-scratching attacks employed by bike-lane foes, such as: Don’t let the terrorists win!"

Watch Bike Advocates Vent About the Silliest Anti-Bike Lane Arguments, by Laura Bliss (CityLab)

Green (lights) with envy.

Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms returns to Copenhagen while Copenhagen continues its return to human scale thinking and development.

 

Journey Around Copenhagen's Latest Bicycle Innovations! from STREETFILMS on Vimeo. 

Copenhagen just keeps finding fun ways to make it easier to bike - and more convienent. I was able to take a nice tour with Mikael Collville-Andersen and see some new innovations that have happened since I was in Copenhagen 4 years ago. 

First off, if you've seen my Streetfilm from the Velo City Conference 2010 (yes, feel free to watch again here) the busiest bicycle street in the world has changed! Now the Knippelsbro Bridge boasts 40,700 riders per day! And speaking of bridges, Copenhagen is building SIX new bike/ped only bridges to help its citizens get around easier.

Last month another cool bridge debuted - the Cykelslangen "Cycle Snake" or "The Snake". You'll see lots of footage as we travelled back and forth over it. It is truly a work of beauty and the riding is incredibly smooth. Even going uphill seems pretty easy! 

You'll see lots of other things that will make you happy (or angry your city isn't doing it!) Including waste baskets angled for cyclists, LED lights that indicate whether riders have to speed up to catch the green wave, and a cool treatment for cobblestone streets that helps make biking easier.

Indy's real major move: Bicycle and pedestrian facilities get their due.

Admittedly, my personal assessments of Indiana's "first class" city have not always been kind. I've heard locals suggest that they're sometimes unfairly conjoined with perceptions of state government and perhaps it's the case. "Indianapolis" is uttered as an epithet as much as a place name. Conceptually, it's often not difficult to run circles around the capital building. It makes me happy, then, when doing so physically is made more practical.

It's nice to see Indianapolis getting some national attention for leading in a positive direction for a change.


The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: The Next-Gen in U.S. Protected Bike Lanes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

In May, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a protected bike and pedestrian trail connecting some of Indy's most popular cultural institutions, had it's long-awaited public coming out with a ribbon cutting and celebration. It could be the biggest bicycling infrastructure achievement in North America and yet it's still practically a secret. Hopefully after experiencing our Streetfilm, that will change.

As you'll see it runs eight fantastic miles through the heart of the downtown and features beautiful stone work, green landscaping and bioswales for containing stormwater runoff. There is great signage and design with an eye for maximum safety. In many places along the trail, parking and/or a car travel lane was converted to fit the lanes in. But most importantly, the trail features ample room for both cyclists and pedestrians (most of the time in separate environments) to move about in a major city whether they are commuting, exercising, running errands or just going for a afternoon jaunt.

It's fun and very safe and people of all ages using it. It's the kind of thing Gil Penalosa's 8-80 Cities organization preaches to the world.

Across the U.S. we have cities such as NYC, Chicago and San Francisco doing tremendous work installing many innovative miles of protected lanes with inexpensive materials. Although the Cultural Trail cost quite a bit, it's nice to imagine that in the near future we'll want to make these lanes more permanent and rideable. And for that we need not look to Europe, we can go check out Indianapolis.

Beyond the Bridges Project, Part 2.

If Kentuckiana ever decides to pursue transportation solutions, Streetfilms has done us a favor with its 10-part video series, "Moving Beyond the Automobile", which provides a primer on strategies implemented around the country and worldwide. We'll share a couple at a time, though any of them could act as antidote to the "our way is the only way" poison to which we've become so accustomed.





Beyond the Bridges Project, Part 1.

Beyond the Bridges Project, Part 1.

If Kentuckiana ever decides to pursue transportation solutions, Streetfilms has done us a favor with its 10-part video series, "Moving Beyond the Automobile", which provides a primer on strategies implemented around the country and worldwide. We'll share a couple at a time, though any of them could act as antidote to the "our way is the only way" poison to which we've become so accustomed.

Measuring the effects of traffic on neighborhood streets by "Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s Livable Streets."

Thanks to JP for this link.

Another fine film from Copenhagen.

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes, by Clarence Eckerson, Jr., Streetfilms

While Streetfilms was in Copenhagen for the Velo-City 2010 conference, of course we wanted to showcase its biking greatness. But we were also looking to take a different perspective then all the myriad other videos out there. Since there were an abundance of advocates, planners, and city transportation officials attending from the U.S. and Canada, we thought it'd be awesome to get their reactions to the city's built environment and compare to bicycling conditions in their own cities.

If you've never seen footage of the Copenhagen people riding bikes during rush hour - get ready - it's quite a site, as nearly 38% of all transportation trips in Copenhagen are done by bike. With plenty of safe, bicycle infrastructure (including hundreds of miles of physically separated cycletracks) its no wonder that you see all kinds of people on bikes everywhere. 55% of all riders are female, and you see kids as young as 3 or 4 riding with packs of adults.

(Re)cycling idea(l)s.

Streetfilms again. Copenhagen again.

Sunday Movie: Celebrating America's Most Livable City.

The transportation discussion engendered by a recent 8664 posting raised several interesting reader responses including mass transit advocacy, questions as to how other cities are melding their transportation needs with urban design and environmental principles, and, perhaps above all else, frustration with our region's continuing inability to imagine and explore better possibilities.

This particular video answer, with its spotlight on Portland, Oregon, is provided by the folks at Streetfilms which, like its siblings Streetsblog and StreetsWiki, are projects supported by the Livable Streets Network, "an online community for people working to create sustainable cities through sensible urban planning, design, and transportation policy." Combined, they represent a sort of urban geek heaven.

The video is roughly 30 minutes long but is so stuffed with good ideas that it's easily worth it, even if a few different viewings are required.