Norway Has World’s First Bike Escalator. The Netherlands Gets the World's First Solar-Powered Bike Lane. It's tough to make cycling any greener, but the Dutch have done just that with a bike lane that powers street lights and even houses.
What's being billed as the world's first solar-powered bike path will officially open on November 12 in Krommenie, a town northwest of Amsterdam. Riders will be able to hop on at one end and then, after a few seconds of pedaling, dismount at the other. Being a pilot project, the lane is only 230 feet long (though it'll stretch to 328 feet when finished). The so-called SolaRoad is the result of a collaboration among the private sector, government, and academia. Here's a brief description of how it works: The pilot road of just a hundred metres consists of concrete modules each of 2.5 by 3.5 metres. Visually, the SolaRoad kind of looks like the glassy cooking element on an electric stove. The green pathway has its drawbacks. Dr. H/t ETA. The best bicycle infrastructure cartoon I've ever seen. In many US cities, bicycling is already the most enjoyable form of transportation, in my humble opinion.
However, bicycle infrastructure is horridly absent across the country, thanks to funding for bicycle infrastructure being absurdly low compared to funding for automobile infrastructure. The sad thing is that many policymakers in cities and counties around the country think it's completely acceptable to have a few bike lanes here and there and just let them get cut off, forcing bikers into automobile traffic (often rather suddenly). La Rueda Copenhague. Purify The Air As You Ride, With This Photosynthesis Bike. Bicycles are often cited as the most efficient modes of transportation in the world.
They’re five times more efficient than walking, and 100 calories on a bike can send a person three miles. In a car, 100 calories would only take a passenger 280 feet. What if a bike of the future could perform more than one function, earning even more efficiency brownie points? Answering that question, a group of Thai designers and engineers has developed a plan to turn the bicycle into a machine that actually cleans polluted air while cruising down the street. The air-purifier bike currently exists only in concept, developed by Bangkok’s Lightfog Creative & Design Company.
“We want to design products which can reduce the air pollution in the city. E-Fox Velomobile is Both a Bicycle and a Car for Urban Commuters. Riding a bicycle is a great way to commute to work every day – but what if you need to carry supplies, or even worse, if it starts to rain?
Enter the E-Fox, a hybrid vehicle that combines the zero-emissions benefits of an electric bicycle with a lightweight shell that keeps users dry in inclement weather. Jesse Stephenson created the E-Fox as a new way to commute to work and as the perfect alternative to a car. It features a small electric motor that can power it up to around 20 mph, but if you want to go even faster you can also pedal. With 30 miles of range between charges, the E-Fox is perfect for urban commuters in congested cities like San Francisco, where many inhabitants bike to work every day. FlyKly Smart Wheel by FlyKly. Move through busy city streets in no time and spare your energy with the help of Smart Wheel, a pedal assist that encases an ultra-thin electric motor and intelligent electronics within a robust housing, neatly fitted onto the spokes of a bicycle rim.
It fits practically any bicycle frame and helps you use your bike more efficiently and comfortably, when and where you need it. Smart Wheel is a pedal assist which means it helps you ride your bike effortlessly. The motor turns on when you start pedaling and begins accelerating to your desired speed. It stops when you stop. It saves you time by getting you to your destination faster and gets you there without losing your breath or breaking a sweat. Smart Wheel takes care of itself. Smart Wheel is designed to fit practically any bicycle frame. Smart Wheel is designed in a way that makes installation as easy as possible. How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure « BicycleDutch.
How did the Dutch get their cycling infrastructure?
This question keeps coming back because it is of course relevant to people who want what the Dutch have. Road building traditions go back a long way and they are influenced by many factors. How the Dutch got their cycle paths. How Biking Benefits Everyone by Jay Walljasper. Just because someone doesn’t bike, doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from cities and towns making biking a priority. posted Apr 02, 2012 Wide bike lanes separated from the street encourage a greater variety of people to give cycling a go.
For the past year powerful voices around Washington have singled out programs to improve biking and walking as flagrant examples of wasteful government spending. Since last summer, proposals have flown around the Capitol to strip away all designated transportation funds for biking and walking—even though, across America, biking and walking account for 12 percent of all trips but receive only 1.6 percent of federal funding. But on March 29 the U.S. Dutch Kids Pedal Their Own Bus To School.
The Dutch are bicycle fanatics.
Almost half of daily travel in the Netherlands is by bicycle, while the country’s bike fleet comfortably outnumbers its 16 million people. CAN - Home. The Invisible Bicycle Helmet.