Congestion Pricing. Photo by .KM.

A very interesting study released earlier this month counters conventional wisdom, suggesting that a clear majority of people support tolling and road pricing. As the authors of the study, which analyzed numerous national and international public opinion surveys, clearly write in the conclusion of their report, “…in the aggregate, the public supports tolling and road pricing.”

The study’s findings will come as a surprise to many policy makers and elected officials who offer the standard response that tolling and road pricing are unpopular, and should therefore not be implemented lest they defy their constituents.

Traditionally, attempts to solve congestion have focused on building new roads or widening existing ones. But it’s clear that the strategy has not worked. That’s in large part because there’s a cyclical logic to road construction: as more roads are built more people want to drive cars, which in turn, drives the demand for ever more road construction. For decades now, there have been proposals for reducing the demand for road space by charging drivers who use it. But these proposals more often than not went nowhere in large part because of politics. Read the rest of this entry »

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This post is cross-posted on NextBillion.net.

File this under the eye-catching-Bottom-of-the-Pyramid-design category and add it to the list of fascinating cycle innovations intended to meet multiple needs for the poor - in this case, the challenges of water filtration and transportation.

The product is called the Aquaduct, a tricycle designed by a team of five at IDEO that stores water in a twenty gallon tank in the back of the bike’s wide, blue frame. As the user travels back home, the energy they expend pedaling is used to filter the water into a removable two gallon tank that rests in front of the handlebars.

As with any shiny new Bottom-of-the-Pyramid innovation, it’s important to remember that just because the product is inarguably cool doesn’t mean it will actually be applicable in the specific context of local consumers. Has research been done to confirm that the Aquaduct would be cost effective and functional for the BoP in different regions as compared to other available means of water filtration and transport? And I didn’t understand the idea of storing 20 gallons of water but having only two gallons filtered - is this really enough for a family? Does the user have to pedal around every time they want an additional two gallons of filtered water?

These are questions that IDEO will have to answer as the bike moves beyond its prototype status (and I’m sure they will - if they haven’t already). In the meantime, IDEO’s creation has shown promise as grand prize winner of the Innovate or Die contest for sustainable cycle design. Maybe soon, we’ll see it in use on the ground.

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For historical reasons, wireless systems for use in the transportation sector have taken a separate path for technology development. This divergence no longer makes sense. Every other sector in the economy is finding secure, reliable, and economical systems that use internet-protocol and are highly compatible. Continued insistence on separate radio frequencies, closed networks, and obscure proprietary standards mean that technology investments in transportation don’t take advantage of low-cost high-volume components developed for the consumer market or advances in communications hardware and routing software. Congestion charging cameras in London. Photo by jeroen020 on flickr.

Rest-of-the-World Trends: Open networks, Device Convergence, Open Standards, Extensible/Interoperable, Consumer products/parts (high volume, low cost), Redundant networks base, Robustness/Redundancy

Versus

Intelligent Transportation Systems: Closed network, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications), Single-purpose devices, Proprietary, inflexible, Proprietary lock-in, high cost, path dependency, Can’t leverage others’ investment, Centralized command & control (single points of failure)

Below are my recommendations in priority order. Read the rest of this entry »

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One of Granada’s clean and nice-looking bus stops. Photo by celikins from Flickr.

In October, I spent a few days in Granada, Spain, with my daughter, Lorna. A quick stop by the city’s Tourist Information office gave us the info we needed about the city’s bus system, the regional bus system, and the long-distance bus service. We would soon be heading to the Alpujarras region of the Sierra Nevada mountains for a couple of days hiking and then on to Madrid, so the different bus services would be key for getting around Spain.

One thing we noticed the first day we went to the Via Gran Colon in Granada’s city center was that the series of bus-stops arrayed along the street were clean, safe, and good-looking, each equipped with an electronic display indicating the arrival time of the next bus. What a brilliant move! With one look at the display, you could tell whether the bus was arriving soon or whether you had time to run a quick errand and make it back in time.

My daughter Lorna works at the Medical Center at the University of California, Los Angeles and commutes to work from her apartment in West Los Angeles by bus each day. She told me that an information system like this one would be a great addition for her local bus-stop. As a frequent bus rider too, I couldn’t agree more. After asking a local how Granada’s system worked, I learned that each bus was outfitted with a GPS system, indicating the exact location of the bus from which it was possible to predict its arrival time. Read the rest of this entry »

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Millenium Bridge in London by Neil101 on Flickr

WalkIt.com is a new website out of the United Kingdom that wants “to get people walking more”. In step with the likes of Google Transit and Walkscore, WalkIt.com provides a free, easy to use web service that maps the easiest way to walk from point A to point B in the cities of London, Edinburgh, and Birmingham. You just provide your starting location, your final destination and any in-between stops, and the website plots the best route to follow while letting you know the distance, the time it will take, the calories you will burn and the CO2 that you will save by walking instead of driving, taking a cab, or taking a bus. Read the rest of this entry »

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Photo of traffic congestion in Hong Kong by A.H. 1987 from Flickr

Solving the problem of congestion is usually a top priority for city authorities, who note that congestion not only causes air pollution, but also decreases quality of life and imposes significant economic costs, especially in rapidly growing cities. Although different cities have developed different solutions for dealing with the problem of congestion, few have successfully solved it. Mostly cities come up with ad hoc measures for dealing with congestion, like constructing more roads, bridges and highways, which paradoxically spur more car ownership and, hence, more congestion.

To date, the most effective measure to reduce congestion is something called congestion pricing, a type of road pricing put in place during specific times and locations, namely the most congested areas during peak times like rush hour. The pricing scheme is used to encourage travelers to shift to other travel times, routes and modes of transit. Congestion charging rates are flexible and can differ according to the type of motor vehicle, and can either be a flat rate or updated regularly to reflect the prevailing traffic conditions.
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A screenshot of Google’s new street view.

Whoever said there’s no such thing as free lunch? Today, after overhearing a discussion at work, and doing a little research to verify what I heard, I learned that Google gives lunch - free of charge! - to its employees. What’s more, Google’s taking it a step further, providing free dinners, organic meals, hormone-free meats and unlimited snacks. According to the Washington Post, Google is spending about $100,000 a day to feed its staff. Apparently, this has helped Google attract young, creative types who are developing amazing tools that City Fix loves. Read the rest of this entry »

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A man making his own biodiesel. Photo by Mike Murrow from Flickr.

In Kilmarnock, Scotland, bus passengers will soon be able to pay their fare with used cooking oil instead of cash. Eight buses carrying over 15,000 passengers a week will run on 100% biodiesel generated from used cooking oil and tallow, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an anticipated 82% and virtually eliminating air-polluting sulfur emissions. As an added incentive to boost the program during its six month trial period, free containers will be provided to those who want to take their used cooking oil to a nearby recycling plant in exchange for discounted bus fare. Read the rest of this entry »

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In the United States, corn is widely sought as an alternative to oil. Photo by tlindenbaum from Flickr.

The agrarian arms race to turn larger swaths of farmland over for the production of biofuels recently reached rhetorical heights as Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, argued that it would be a crime against humanity to use productive soil to produce fuel and not food when hundreds of millions of people go hungry each year. “It’s a crime against humanity to convert agriculturally productive soil into soil which is producing food stuff which will be burned into biofuel,” he said at a press conference last Friday.

Calling for a five year moratorium on bio-fuels, Mr. Ziegler’s comment came at a time when more and more politicians are looking to energy made by corn, sugarcane, and palm as an alternative to oil.

We’ve covered the environmental impacts of biofuels here, here, and here, but this is the first time that we’ve heard someone make the case against biofuels on the grounds of fighting hunger.

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Are car companies thinking about more than one type of green? Photo by makeshiftlove from Flickr.

The New York Times latest automobile issue takes a dramatic departure from the past and includes several articles on how environmental concerns are shaping the industry. Below, I’ve included some links to the more interesting articles:

Challenging Gasoline: Diesel, Ethanol, Hydrogen – An interesting article about alternative fuels and potential risks. This article quotes our own Lee Schipper, “a former oil industry executive.” We’re not really sure where they came up with that!

Getting to Green – Car manufacturers have switched gears and are focusing on gas mileage and other green touches for their automobiles.

In Europe, a Shift in Tactics – Frankfurt’s International Motor Show, known for emphasizing speed and power, is now trying to play up things like low CO2 emissions and hybrids vehicles.

Marketing Muscle and Guzzle – A look at some of the marketing tricks Hummer is using to sell the most polarizing vehicle on the planet.

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