The video above does a great job of showing the many benefits of cycling-friendly cities. Produced by the Interface for Cycling Expertise, with a script by sustainable transport guru Enrique Penalosa, the video visits Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Bogota and shows how a commitment to designing cities that are people-oriented, not car-oriented, can make urban residents happier, healthier, and more environmentally responsible.

Watching shot after shot of carefree cyclists cruising the streets of these burgs, sans helmets, reminds me of just how unsafe bicycling is in many other urban areas around the globe!

A few quick facts:

• Over the past 30-40 years, Copenhagen and Amsterdam have gradually transformed their public spaces by closing downtown streets to car traffic and building a comprehensive cycling infrastructure
• According to the video, 1/3 of Copenhagen residents use a bicycle to go to everyday activities (like school, work, or shopping)
• the Netherlands has the worldest highest concentration of bicycles, and also boasts 17,000km of bicycle paths

Deaths from Urban Air Pollution
Estimates by WHO sub-region for 2000 (WHO World Health Report, 2002).
View a larger a version of the map.

Originally posted on TheCityFix’s sister site, Earthtrends, the article below gives a good overview of outdoor pollution, and also touches on transportation’s links to both the causes of, and solutions to, the problem.

The hazy skies over the 2008 Summer Olympics have placed Beijing’s air quality at the top of news headlines for more than a month. However, outdoor air pollution, whether in the form of visible haze or invisible ozone and carbon monoxide, is a problem in nearly every country in the world.

Outdoor air pollution alone causes an estimated 800,000 deaths each year (an additional 1.6 million premature deaths are attributable to indoor air pollution, the subject of a previous EarthTrends Monthly Update). In many urban areas, especially in the developing world, air pollution is the single greatest environmental threat to human health (WDI, 2007).

However, cities in both the developed and developing worlds that were once heavily polluted have been able to improve air quality to within safe levels, often dramatically. These cities’ success has often come from a combination of stricter standards, sensible regulations, and integrated transit solutions.

>> Read More

For all of our Spanish-speaking readers, here is a short clip from a recent Mexico City television broadcast that gives a quick overview of some of the ways in which transport policy impacts public health. It describes a Mexico City NGO (and EMBARQ Network partner) that is working with the Mexican capital to improve both traffic conditions and the health of the citizenry.

Importantly, better transport systems can have community-wide effects that go beyond reducing air pollution and the incidence of traffic accidents; they can also help promote physical activity, providing another tool in the fight against chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

In fact, as cities become increasingly congested, the myriad connections between traffic and public health have become more visible and more serious. Forward-thinking cities are beginning to realize that failing to address these links and thereby improve the quality of life in their cities will mean losing their competitive advantage in our increasingly globalized world.

Copenhagen was recently rated the world’s most livable city - due in no small part to its biking and public transit infrastructure. Photo by EDO lounge

According to Monocle Magazine’s recently released global livability survey (subscription required), Copenhagen is the world’s most livable city. While surveys of this type are clearly subjective (and often of questionable utility), Monocle’s approach is interesting for the importance it pays to sustainable transport initiatives and good urban planning and design. While old standby metrics like education, health care, and crime figured prominently in their ranking methodology, Monocle’s team also looked at variables such as: connectivity, cost/quality of public transport and taxi, access to nature, amount of green space, and key environmental initiatives.

In a recent Op-Ed released along with the new survey, Monocle’s Editor said that city dwellers the world over want the same basic living experience, with the following attributes:

“a mix of shops and services within walking distance, a good transport interchange within close proximity, green space as part of their residence, a good park with a body of water for a refreshing plunge nearby, independent businesses as a key feature of the community, a sense of security, (…) excellent coffee (…) and finally a little bit of grit and surprise.”

…sounds just about right to me. Below is a list of the other cities in the top 25, straight from the Monocle’s most recent issue.

Monocle’s Top 25 Most Livable Cities:
1. Copenhagen: out in front by virtue of its scale, a good airport, all those bike paths and handsome locals.
2. Munich: almost a winner, but it should have committed to building the Transrapid airport rail link.
3. Tokyo: the world’s best big city by far. Unfortunately, last week’s stabbing spree hasn’t done much for its public safety record.
4. Zurich: more relaxed neighbours would put it in first place.
5. Helsinki: a European capital with a foot firmly in Asia.
6. Vienna: one of Europe’s greenest cities.
7. Stockholm: the city wants to go vertical — a tricky mission.
8. Vancouver: the best of North America in a beautiful frame.
9. Melbourne: the best neighbourhoods in the southern hemisphere.
10. Paris: its visionary mayor has made the old dame internationally relevant again.
11. Sydney
12. Honolulu
13. Madrid
14. Berlin
15. Barcelona
16. Montreal
17. Fukuoka
18. Amsterdam
19. Minneapolis
20. Kyoto
21. Hamburg
22. Singapore
23. Geneva
24. Lisbon
25. Portland.
Finally, these may not tick all the normal boxes but there’s something truly refreshing and more than a little fun about urban living in:
1. Genoa — the next Barcelona?
2. Buenos Aires — it’s all there and then it’s not.
3. Istanbul — all of the ingredients to move into the top 25 next year.
4. Beirut — if chequebook diplomacy Qatar-style put a temporary lid on things, then Beirut deserves more of it for a proper bounce-back.
5. Phnom Penh — regime issues aside, love moves at a perfect pace.

Above is an interactive map highlighting many of the BRT systems currently in operation or under construction in Latin America. As you can see, this efficient, cost-effective approach to transportation management is quickly becoming a standard across the region. And while Latin America cities have been BRT pioneers, the technology is catching on around the world.

Stay tuned for more detailed info on BRT systems in Central and South America, as well as the rest of the world.

Awhile back here on TheCityFix, we highlighted a video made by StreetFilms that explored Bogota’s “Ciclovia” initiative. This innovative program closes nearly 70 miles of city streets each Sunday to car traffic and opens them to throngs of runners, walkers, and bikers determined to take back their city (at least for a day).

The idea is slowly catching on all over the world. For example, the video above highlights a similar (though more limited) program in Guadalajara, Mexico…given the happy tune that the videographer chose to use for the clip’s score, it is clear that they thoroughly enjoyed their car-free day!

You can find another video of car-free street initiatives in Australia here.

In a recent post here on TheCityFix.com, Sudhir Gota documented the plight of ‘Transport Challenged People’ in Bangalore, India. In his piece, Sudhir explains how Indian transportation policy’s often myopic focus on car infrastructure can reduce the mobility (and thus the quality of life) of those unable to afford automobiles themselves.

Another example of the link between social justice and transport policy is the plight of Delhi’s ‘wastepickers’ – informal sector trash collectors that make their living collecting and sorting garbage. According to Bharati Chaturvedi, Director of Chintan, a community group that advocates for wastepicker rights, new transport policies in Delhi and other Indian cities have often favored the transportation needs of private automobile owners over those of the wastepickers. Read the rest of this entry »

In the transport world, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a hot topic. Akin to a cross between a bus and a metro, this increasingly popular form of mass transit is fast, efficient, and a fraction of the cost of its better known cousins – metro and rail. As a result, BRT systems are sprouting up all across the globe.

But if you don’t spend your free time reading about the latest and greatest in transportation infrastructure (or haven’t had the chance to use BRT yourself), you might have a hard time picturing exactly how this technology works.

The video above does a great job of illustrating BRT in action. The clip, taken by EMBARQ’s Dario Hidalgo, offers a drivers-eye view of Istanbul’s new BRT system, known as Metrobüs. The video clearly shows some of the key features of BRT: special lanes reserved exclusively for buses, high speed travel along normally gridlocked traffic corridors, and high capacity bus stations, instead of traditional bus stops.

Check back for more “Sustainable Transportation 101” on TheCityFix.com in the near future.

In Hanoi, crossing the street can be a dangerous proposition. Despite the high marks that Vietnamese motorists receive for driving etiquette in the absence of formal traffic rules, (clearly evidenced by the ability of the pedestrian in this video to weave in and out of countless motorbikes) traffic safety is a major public health concern in Vietnam.

A recent article in the Malaysian Sun presents the grim figures:

Traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death in Vietnam, with an average of 36 people killed each day on the roads as the country’s new prosperity leads to greater numbers of motorbikes and cars.

Last year, some 13,000 people died on Vietnam’s roads, railways and waterways. Safety advocates say that the number of deaths could be cut if more motorbike drivers wore helmets.

Only three per cent now wear helmets even though motorbikes account for up to 90 percent of vehicles on the roads, according to the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation.

Click here to read a post by Lee Schipper, a fellow contributor at TheCityFix, who had the opportunity to ride a two-wheeler in Hanoi. And click here to see a movie to the one above about motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City.

The EPA’s recent denial of California’s request for a waiver that would allow it to set its own GHG emissions requirements for vehicles has stirred up a fair bit of controversy over the past week. In fact, in addition to widespread criticism in the media and blogosphere, the EPA and the Bush administration have also come under fire in the legal and political arenas.

In a recent piece, the LA Times describes the political maneuvering between senior EPA officials, the White House, and auto industry executives that preceded the EPA’s December 19 ruling. Possible linkages between the auto industry’s support of last month’s energy bill and the subsequent rejection of the California waiver petition has raised eyebrows, and now Democrats are threatening congressional hearings.

Jurist has been following these developments, as well as the EPA’s decision to turn over all correspondence between the agency and the Bush Administration that pertains to the California decision.

Stay tuned - it looks like there’s a controversy brewing.