Adam Savage rides his electric unicycle thingee

Via Bikes and the City. This is a video of a motorized unicycle called an SBU, by Focus Designs, with Adam Savage behind, or on, the wheel. These are cool! I had never heard of them.
I can never personally justify electric bikes and light EV's. I can ride faster, all day, with my own power. So it stays at "neato" for me, not a must have.

Edward Burtynsky photographs the landscape of oil

What will #biking in #toronto look like by 2015? [#PanAm #green]

[caption id="attachment_4580" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo via Daily misery @ Flickr, (CC)"][/caption]

There are interesting things happening in Toronto if you're a cyclist. I'm hoping in this case, "Interesting" means good, and not bad.

So let's begin! Speculation on George Smitherman's possible Toronto mayoral candidacy has been a hot topic since mayor David Miller announced he would be stepping down. Today George Smitherman made it official.

That's one interesting thing. Even if Mr. Smitherman doesn't make it all the way to mayor, the ripple and excitement his running has created hints at (hopefully) a push towards a more progressive and dynamic future for Toronto.

I don't know how strong an advocate of bicycling George Smitherman is, but as a senior Liberal party member, and the former Ontario minister of Energy and Infrastructure he has had exposure to what the energy landscape is going to look like in the coming decades. If you do some research on this topic it can range from slightly depressing to panic inducing. With his working background on the provincial level, I'm going to assume he's a progressive when it comes to transportation matters.

The next interesting thing? Look at this article on the 2010 City Budget [Toronto Star].

The city's total capital spending for 2010 will be $2.4 billion - expected to rise to $2.5 billion in each of the next two years.

...

Among the items on the city's shopping list:

- Next year Toronto will spend $217.6 million on new subway cars that will hold more passengers - the beginning of a 10-year program to buy a total of 360 new subway cars;

- The city will spend $72 million on new buses, part of a 10-year program to buy 390 new buses.

- Construction of the Sheppard East light rail line will gather speed, with spending of $163 million.

- Plans call for $22.6 million of spending next year on new bike lanes and paths.

- A new radio communications system for police, fire and ambulance services will get $28 million, the first stage of a three-year, $69-million upgrade.

My personal obsession of course is with improved bicycle infrastructure, and as highlighted by Joe at BikingToronto, the budget for bike lanes and paths is more than double that of 2009, and eclipses previous years! Right on. I'm very eager to see how that pans out.

One last interesting thing; The upcoming Pan American (Pan Am) Games in 2015 will be hosted in Toronto. It's a decent sized multi-sport event - and yet another turbo boost to Toronto tourism and international exposure. As a city, we have five years to further shape our metropolis into a progressive showcase for sustainable living.

Bicycle infrastructure projects from places like New York City, Portland, Chicago, and Copenhagen (where the UN climate change conference is going to be held in December) might give us some pointers as to where we should be headed.

To give you some ideas of what is possible; recently, Roger Geller, Bicycle Coordinator in Portland's Office of Transportation came to town to overview what Portland Oregon did to become a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community. The PDF of this presentation is here, and it is well worth the read. (via, again, Joe at BikingToronto)

I expect European cities to be progressive and open towards bicycle transit but places like New York City and Chicago, putting Toronto's (arguably weak) bicycle infrastructure to shame? Amazing. Considering we Canadians are supposed to be the big progressive socialists in North America, I'm very surprised at how stuffy and resistant Toronto has been towards expanding bicycle infrastructure in the last decade.

It doesn't help that some of our local councillors have been shamefully characterizing extending our bicycling infrastructure as a "war on the car". These flames have been fanned by goofy, sensational editorial pieces in our local newspapers as well.

Hopefully, with what I'm seeing on the horizon, we'll witness an even more bike-friendly turn around in 2010, and we'll make some amazing changes in the next decade. I love this city, and watching it evolve into a progressive and future-proof human transit leader would make Toronto complete for me.

Points of Interest

• George Smitherman at Wikipedia


• Tory and Smitherman set the stage for battle to come and Tory V. Smitherman (video)


• 'Furious George' Smitherman has to form a campaign identity


• The Toronto PanAm Games 2015 site and the Ministry of Health Promotion site


• Complete Streets Update Public Meeting - Mon, Nov 23


• New York City lessons and Toronto’s fairy tale War on the Car

William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind

Bicycle Licensing in #Toronto: Why revisit this idea, Councillor Michael Walker?

Update 07/16/2009: Via Ross, Copenhagenize has a posting on this subject also and they've included a PDF of his motion.  You can also follow this discussion at the BikingToronto Forums.

Also I noted that I'm wrong below when I say that 5,907 tickets were issued to cyclists during the Toronto Police 'Safe Cycling' campaign, it was actually 1,373 tickets directly to cyclists.  5,907 is the total over all!

Update 07/07/2009: City Caucus also has a posting about this issue.

Copenhagenize battles the Bike-Helmet Industrial Complex

Copenhagenize has an interesting, albeit shrill, counterpoint to bike-helmet advocacy.

It starts out as a defense of Matthew Modine and his lack of helmet wearing while advocating cycling, and it does touch on good points in defense of Mr. Modine's choice to not wear a helmet.

[caption id="attachment_4455" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Magnificent! "][/caption]

For the record, I strongly suggest everyone wear a helmet while riding, I also believe it is a choice. I think Matthew Modine is doing an awesome job advocating bike riding. If he wants to ride around helmetless with nothing but his beautiful mane of hair protecting him, that's fine. It's a damn good head of hair, that's for sure.

I took exception to many of the points in this article though, many I hear often enough when someone is trying to rationalize not wearing a helmet. Some of the points have merit, and some of them are off the deep-end crazy (sorry Mikael, it had to be said).

I'll give you a sample;

The general attitude towards helmets in North America is the result of decades of exaggeration, misinformation, emotional blackmail all backed by the economic interests of the helmet industry. If I was 'over there' I'd feel duped and brainwashed.

So go ahead and read the rest of the article and come on back.

Mikael seems to connect helmet manufacturers with other fierce lobbying groups like the tobacco industry in shaping the general consensus for North America's viewpoint on cycling and safety gear. Example;

Would I want cigarette manufacturers at the table when deciding about health laws and campaigns? Nope.

Bad connection. The Tobacco industry is a negative, pointless industry with a chemically addicting substance. Very different from an industry advocating safety. Even if you think helmets are stupid, that connection doesn't work.

It goes on..

In the current debate, nobody seems to give a shit about the 40,000 motorists killed in America each year, not to mention those who are maimed.

That's way wrong too. We've accepted that cars are horribly dangerous, and also very convenient, but that doesn't mean nobody cares. Ralph Nader has been advocating vehicle safety and seatbelt laws for longer than I have been alive. The statistics for motor vehicle accidents are grim, indeed, but who knows what that meat grinder would look like if safety standards had not been increased to the levels they are now through his advocacy? Do seatbelt laws do nothing? People who don't like seatbelts could probably come up with a statistic showing how they are ineffective when your car is hit by a truck.

The risk of drowning is much higher than dying while cycling, so where are the lifevest advocates?

In Canada there are a swath of boating safety advocacy groups. Hell, they're everywhere. I haven't been on a boat in 20 years without seeing orange vests on almost everybody.

What about the 87,000 people hospitalised each year in America because of THIS shockingly dangerous activity? Why aren't they sold safety gear? Where's the logic?

The logic is in doing what you can within reason to help prevent injuries. A life vest isnt a guarantee that you won't drown, a bike helmet isn't a guarantee that you won't get hurt, and not owning a cat isn't a guarantee that you won't trip and fall in your own home anyway. Obviously from the statistics car seatbelts don't always save your life, but not wearing one is inviting disaster even in a low speed crash.

So bike helmets are no guarantee either. Should we take no precaution? Because that's what you're doing when you don't wear a bike helmet. It's an easy ounce of prevention that has a big payoff when you need it just that one time.

It takes a lot of cognitive dissonance to look out on any busy urban environment in North America and then tell everyone that it's "perfectly safe" to ride your bike around in it. Let's be honest, it's safe, but not that safe. Can grandma do it? Sure! I see it all the time. But it's reckless to strongly argue that people should not wear bike helmets.

One key component of advocacy is being honest, quite frankly.

There are a million zillion ways to fall off of a bike, and a lot of them involve landing on your head. And if you haven't landed on the very top of your head, you haven't fallen nearly hard enough!

I suspect the hidden meat of the argument sadly is summed up in this paragraph here. Sorry Mikael, I don't mean to be insulting, but...

The difference between North America and other Emerging Bicycle Cultures is remarkable. I covered the rebirth of the bicycle in Paris last year and I was recently speaking in Riga and Moscow. Helmets don't even feature on the radar. Before the start of our Cycle Chic ride in Moscow, one of the organisers apologised that there was an older chap in a helmet and he hurried over to ask him to take it off. In Spain, France,Italy it's the same. When a Polish fashion blogger asked other Polish fashion bloggers to take a photo of themselves with a bicycle in the style of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, there weren't any helmets in the photo montage.

Long story short, all of the cool kids ride lidless. Be like the cool kids, disregard safety for fashion? I can't decide if Mikael is bucking groupthink, or rolling right along with groupthink. I can't argue that wearing a helmet is useless, because one directly saved my noggin, and I know more than a few people within my social circle that have been saved from more severe head injuries by wearing a lid.

There's only one "logical" reason I can conclude to not wear a helmet while biking in North America, and that's because you find it embarrassing. That's ok, I guess, but don't gussy it up by saying that wearing a helmet is futile, or even more absurd, dangerous for you (I reference the comments to the Copenhagenize article, Mikael didn't go there).

There are a lot of rationalizations you can use to make it look like a wise choice on your part but they all lack integrity. Own what you're doing, it's dangerous! You're not wearing a helmet, danger boy! You're so alive! That seems to be Matthew Modine's stance.

But no, really, don't make other people out to be fools for taking safety into consideration. There are lots of things wrong with the North American lifestyle, but helmet advocacy is not one of them.

As far as why Matthew Modine chooses to not wear a helmet, stripped of rationalizations, I have a guess;

He might look like a dork, and dorky doesn't sell when you're a famous well known actor. Oddly, contrary to everything I've said above, it might be the right choice, for his agenda. Being a famous, respected actor is his job. If he looks like a dork, it takes away from his hard-fought message.

On the opposite end I do wear a helmet because using my brain is my job. I'm not afraid of death (per-se, in the existential sense, I'm comfy with it) but I am afraid of forfeiting my abilities because I chose not to wear a light, non intrusive helmet while biking through traffic just one time. Also I don't fear looking like a dork. The older I get, the more I seem to own it.

I still won't ride a recumbent though, and no helmet mirrors! [Max, Finn, you can make fun of me in 20 years when I do both of these things -- love, Dad]

In the end I do hope though that anyone who gets on a bike because of Matthew Modine's advocacy will eventually pick up a lid, but it's a choice. I'd rather see people on bikes than not, and when on bikes I'd rather see them taking that ounce of caution.

Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: Get Yer Torches! It's a Bike Helmet Witchhunt!

Will 2008 be to Peak Oil what 2007 has been to climate change? #green

Link: Will 2008 be to Peak Oil what 2007 has been to climate change?

From the article:

Possibly, but a lot depends on events, both sub-surface and above surface. Above surface, the price of oil has risen dramaticall...
[MORE]--Will 2008 be to Peak Oil what 2007 has been to climate change?

DrumBeat: June 11, 2009 #green

Link: DrumBeat: June 11, 2009

From the article:

Oil climbs near $73 on higher demand
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil jumped near $73 a barrel on Thursday after the International...
[MORE]--DrumBeat: June 11, 2009

Nuclear go-ahead faces legal battle #green

Link: Nuclear go-ahead faces legal battle

From the article:

A legal challenge to the imminent government decision in favour of a new generation of nuclear power stations is inevitable, acc...
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Welcome #green

Link: Welcome

From the article:

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) is an independent, UK-registered educational charity working to raise international pu...
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New Vintage: Yves Saint Laurent Recycles Old Looks into New #green

Link: New Vintage: Yves Saint Laurent Recycles Old Looks into New

From the article:

Photo credit: Barneys New York

Hot on the heels of its limited-edition organic cotton collection for Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Ho...
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Peak Moment: Resourceful Guy Builds Solar House, Solar Power, Solar Car #green

Link: Peak Moment: Resourceful Guy Builds Solar House, Solar Power, Solar Car

From the article:

Peak Moment: Resourceful Guy Builds Solar House, Solar Power, Solar Car

IT versus global climate change #green

Link: IT versus global climate change

From the article:

With a carbon cap-and-trade system on the horizon and the effects of climate change being felt, IT has a chance to shine READ ...
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Hasta La Vista, Baby: Arnold May Close 220 California State Parks #green

Link: Hasta La Vista, Baby: Arnold May Close 220 California State Parks

From the article:

Photo via Fog City Journal

Anyone even idly following California politics knows what mess the state is in at the moment--Arnol...
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@torontostar seems to be stoking the flames of some Bike vs. Car action. #toronto

It's summer! So it is of course time for another "Bike Vs. Car" debate circuit. These debates rage on in any major urban center, but it's starting to look like The Toronto Star is kicking it up a notch with their current "MEAN STREETS" 4-part article series

[ Part 1 ]
[ Part 2 ]

So far I like the exposure the series is giving to the issues at hand, but I do have trouble with it. Tess seems to be positioning commuters against each other, and it is presenting the urban engineering questions Toronto faces as a "war".

That's a little heavy handed! I've never felt at war with people who are going in the same direction that I am going during my commute. I have as many troubles with other people on bikes (road salmon!) and pedestrians as I do with people in cars and trucks.

Of course when a motor vehicle makes a mistake, or if I make a mistake that puts me up against a motor vehicle, the "law of tonnage" cited in Part-1 comes into play.

Also part-1 includes a cycling safety video that has some good tips, but the cyclist demonstrating, Yvonne Bambrick, isn't wearing a helmet (dun dun DUN!) As we know, helmets are the bizomb. Wear one if you value thinking with your brain.

Part of my view that bicycle advocacy shouldn't be a "war" stems from experience. Cyclists can be highly unpredictable when viewed from a car which adds to tensions. Nobody in their right mind actually wants to hit a cyclist, outside the realm of fantasy, so the cars that pass a cyclist are often just as nervous about creaming me as I am about getting pizza'd.

I can stem a lot of these tensions and interactions myself, and you can too. Here's what I usually do to make vehicles, pedestrians, and other cyclists more comfortable with my presence on the road.

1. I signal my intentions
   Not with those goofy "official" hand signals you're taught during most bike safety courses. In my opinion the practicality of those signals is of little use, and can cause more confusion than help. If you're wondering why, just look at them and imagine their use in busy traffic. Instead I just point, directly, and a little down, and aggressively, where I'm going. It always works.


2. I wave, at everybody
   Not like some smiling idiot, mind you. But if a taxi waits for me to pass before entering traffic, he gets a hand up and a head-nod. If a pedestrian sees me and doesn't bolt across the street in front of me, they get a hand up and a head-nod. Basically everyone who doesn't kill me gets a nod. It's about acknowledgement. I've found that this will defuse almost any driver. All they want to know is that you know that they made room for you. It increases fellowship and good will. It's so easy. I haven't had a confrontation with a driver since adopting this policy and it feels great to do.


3. Let it slide
   Yeah, so... someone wasn't looking, and they revved out into traffic in front of you, or they got too close. Are you still alive? Still on your bike? Ok, move on. Having it out with someone who wasn't paying attention (or worse, was paying attention) accomplishes nothing positive. At best it makes them feel foolish and messes up their day over something minor, at worst it verifies every dumb stereotype about cyclists they may harbor and we get more Toronto Star trend-pieces to chew on in the summer ;) So just move on. Same goes for Honky McHonk that can't wait for you to get out of "the way". Hell, I even wave and nod at those people as they pass, without smirking.


4. I don't assume shoulds
   Yeah, the car at the 4-way stop should give you right of way. The truck passing you should give you lots of room when suddenly turning right. Lots of shoulds. A "should" often doesn't work out in practice even if it's the law. So unless you are certain a vehicle or pedestrian sees you and intends to let you by, don't assume your legal right will protect you from what they'll actually do.


5. Finally, you're not at war
   Everybody is going in the same direction.

Yves Behar's supercharged motorcycle design

Very cool. I'm not the biggest fan of consumer electric cars, but personal transportation devices like electric bikes get a pass (for efficiency!)

But this? This is awesome.

Compressed Air Energy Storage - How viable is it? #green

Link: Compressed Air Energy Storage - How viable is it?

From the article:

Energy Storage - Compressed Air


One of the most critical aspects of the implementation of renewable
electricity is the abil...
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Modular, Sporty, Flexible Steintrikes from Bike Revolution #green

Link: Modular, Sporty, Flexible Steintrikes from Bike Revolution

From the article:

Image: author

Steintrike Mungo Takes the Stairs
Apologies for the unfocused photo, but when a Mungo flashes past you down the ...
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Weekend Energy Listening: Wind Power with Paul Gipe #green

Link: Weekend Energy Listening: Wind Power with Paul Gipe

From the article:

The World Wind Energy Conference is just around the corner and happens to be in my home town. I was flipping through the confere...
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Nuclear go-ahead faces legal battle #green

Link: Nuclear go-ahead faces legal battle

From the article:

A legal challenge to the imminent government decision in favour of a new generation of nuclear power stations is inevitable, acc...
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