Tag Archives: Transportation

Car Sharing in Toronto

logosThe Torontoist has a great look at two car sharing companies that are fighting it out on the streets of Toronto. Car sharing has been around for years and is quickly becoming a staple of the urban experience. Yet, in North America car sharing is not nearly has strong as it is in Europe.

The Torontoist looks at the benefits of car sharing and how the two companies have slightly different strategies. I like how there is now competition in this market in Toronto because it has made more people aware of car sharing. Ever shared car equals to about 10 less cars on the road!

Minnesota Travels Hybrid-Style

Minnesota leads the other American states when it comes to using biofeuls, and they have taken one more step to maintain their lead. The state government is going to provide 150 hybrid busses for public transit.

“Our environment, Greater Minnesota’s economy and our transit budget all benefit when we use alternatives to regular gasoline and diesel,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Metro Transit’s ‘Go Greener’ initiative is a nation-leading effort to reduce tailpipe emissions and reliance on foreign oil, while also achieving fuel savings.”

Metro Transit also intends to double the biodiesel content of its fuel supply from 5 percent – the standard implemented by Metro Transit on July 1, 2006 – to 10 percent in mid-2007. The State of Minnesota requires a 2 percent bio-additive in diesel fuel sold in the state.

“We have already begun an operational test of 20 percent biodiesel in a portion of our fleet,” said Peter Bell, Metropolitan Council Chair. “This could be a precursor to even higher concentrations of soy esther, further boosting the use of this renewable energy supply.”

Good Shirts

biking rocksThe Spacing Wire is a blog that is all about public space. It’s a Toronto-based magazine that has some great coverage on public space in Toronto and around the world. The only comparable public space organization that I’ve found is the Project for Public Spaces in New York.

Anyway, over at the Spacing Wire there is a post on some cute and fun pro-pedestrian and cycling shirts.

Higher Hybrid Puchases in the United States

graphThe Green Car Congress is reporting that U.S. sales of hybrids top 25,000. This is good news, because it means less pollution. GCC points out that SUV sales have decreased, which is good news in itself considering the mayor of London thinks SUV drivers are idiots.

“Buoyed by strong results for the Prius and the Camry hybrid, sales of hybrids in the US hit a new high in July, with 25,626 units sold—a 32% increase from July 2006.”

It looks like more hybrid vehicles will be purchased next year too. General Motors will be debuting This entry was posted in Environment, Transportation and tagged , , , , on by .

More Parks, Less Parking

Smog kills and that isn’t good, what is good is when people try to stop smog. I’m assuming that you can figure out what this post is about. In Toronto yesterday I joined an intrepid group of people who used a car to protest the lack of green space in the city.

A dead car was given new life as a petition at Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market in Toronto. Tons of people signed it to show their support for the simple idea of more parks and less parking. On Monday the car was towed away.

We met at 8am to push the car-turned-petition to cIty hall about 2.5 km away. We were quite a fun parade since we had drummers and a great attitude! At city hall a representative from the mayor’s office accepted our petition. Check out the pictures on flickr.