transportation

The missing piece of Obama’s energy security plan: cities

Dude, you forgot the cities — like Denver.I had plenty of complaints about Obama’s big energy security speech last week — see here and here. Most of them centered on his crassly political decision to put supply-side solutions first, despite the fact that supply is a red herring; all the serious solutions are demand-based. There’s […]

David Roberts Buildings

Breaking: George Will takes the train, may have been collectivized

Its power is spreading.Photo: travisA few weeks back, as we wrote here, Newsweek columnist George Will wrote a screed against rail travel in which he made a startling suggestion about the true motivation behind the Obama administration’s support for rail transportation: [T]he real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ […]

Sarah Goodyear Cities

World’s cities are the ‘battleground’ in fight against climate change

Or, the other option.The world’s cities are going to have to move aggressively to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions, or the whole planet is going to pay for it. That’s the word in a new report from the United Nations Human Settlement Program, or UN-HABITAT. The report is called “Hot Cities: Battle-Ground for Climate Change,” (you […]

Sarah Goodyear Buildings

The E.U. wants gas-powered cars gone from its cities by 2050

Can he look forward to a future with no gas-powered cars?Photo: Alison OddyThe European Union has just announced an ambitious transportation goal: the elimination of gas-powered cars in its cities by 2050. It’s part of a plan that aims to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources: A new European transport plan [PDF] aims […]

Sarah Goodyear Technology

Pedaling away from the health care crisis

This is the third column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. In the United States, we have the most expensive health care system in the world. We collectively invest more than 15 percent of our GDP — that’s around $2 trillion, or $5,700 per person — into health care every year. The […]

Elly Blue Transportation

The latest battle in the nonexistent ‘War on Cars’

Photo: IdiolectorSomewhere along the road, the phrase “War on X” became part of standard lazy American political rhetoric (see also: “Whatever-gate”). There are two primary ways the phrase gets used. First, the “this is a serious problem and we’re doing everything we can to stop it” usage, usually government-sponsored. It made a strong debut with […]

Sarah Goodyear Culture

In post-quake Tokyo, bicycle transport is newly popular

A new bike commuter? Maybe.Photo: Byron KiddIn the aftermath of Friday’s earthquake, which disrupted public transit, residents of Tokyo are turning to bicycles to make the trip to and from work. That’s the word from Byron Kidd, who blogs at Tokyo by Bike. I had seen him tweeting after the quake about an increase in […]

Sarah Goodyear Transportation

‘Mad Men’ star Vincent Kartheiser wants to sell the country on high-speed rail [VIDEO]

Mad Men‘s Vincent Kartheiser is really, really excited about high-speed rail. “I’m just amped up about it, you can tell,” he told me yesterday. “I’m going a million miles an hour. I’m going as fast as high-speed rail.” Kartheiser was on the phone with me to talk about the new video he and fellow Mad […]