Articulo: Folding Electric Bike Rental at Bus Stops to Make Ultimate Commute

Folding Electric Bike Rental at Bus Stops to Make Ultimate Commute
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09.17.09
CARS & TRANSPORTATION
(http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/bus-stop-e-bike-share.php?dcitc=daily_nl)

BUZZ UP!




















Folding Electric Bikes + Bus Stops = Perfect Commute?
Every once in a while, you see a proposed design and think, "there's absolutely no reason this shouldn't already exist." This is one such design--folding bike rental hubs combined directly with bus stops for a comprehensive public transit system. The system would allow users to rent folding e-bikes from a modular hub attached to each bus stop. Pics and details on how the system would work after the jump.

According to Tuvie, the system would work as follows:

This concept comprises a foldable e-bike that can be rode from the home and deposited to modular mobile hub, and board a bus. Upon arrival at destination, another hub will be there to rent another bike through using the unique Oystercard which can be availed by leasing the service on a per trip or monthly basis.





















Folding Electric Bike Design
The E-bike has been designed with airless tires, robust tubular construction and shaft drive, ensuring durability, while the luminated front bar and dazzling graphics increase the visibility and safety for the rider. E-bikes have designed to be folded quickly and intuitively by the user and deposit it into the storage modules after arriving to a transit hub. RFID technology has been utilized to charge the users on their Oystercard according to the amount of E-bike rental time. When docked, E-bikes act as hub seating and get charged for the next renter.
Not so sure if the 'dazzling graphics' are necessary--and the folding bikes probably don't have to be e-bikes, either. But the proposed system may have a better chance of being feasible if they are, unfortunately.











The transit hubs are designed to be iconic and recognizable, like subway stops. The hubs would also provide a "real time transit schedule" that users can access to help plan their commutes. And the e-bikes are evidently charged on board the bus as it drives: "During the time passengers board on a bus, its ultracapacitors get charged until next stop via a small arm extended from the hub. The buses collect and disperse E-bikes according to demand." This makes it possible for both bike share and bus to be operated by a public authority.









From Tuvie:

The electrical modular buses aim to optimize the needs of next generation commuters by providing ultimate convenience for public transit.










It's a great concept--if there were a system to provide bikes (electric or not) to commuters at every bus stop, it'd make urban traveling much easier. And hopefully, more attractive an option.

Minuta: Reunión Presentación JF

Por hacer

…Propuesta de incluir a JF como vocera del proyecto, para que ayude a aglomerar todas las disciplinas necesarias para hacer mas efectivo el proyecto. [Sin embargo, considerando su figura y cargo político, podríamos también buscar una persona políticamente neutral para acompañarla]


…Creación de dos organizaciones, una por parte del Gobierno, y otra liderada por nosotros que incluya medios de integración entre diversas disciplinas. Mesas de trabajo, foros, campañas, eventos promocionales, ruedas de prensa, propuestas para planes pilotos, interacción a través de una pagina web.

…Creación de CARACAS21.COM

…Introducir la posibilidad de abrirse ante expertos extranjeros, como lo es necesario en el caso del Transporte. ( Ejemplo, EMBARQ)

…Introducir la conciencia sobre la necesidad de la revisión y modificación de las leyes y ordenanzas para regular no solo el futuro del desarrollo de la ciudad sino también para impedir el actual crecimiento descontrolado del campo inmobiliario en las afueras de la ciudad.

…Nombre y Motto del Proyecto

…Buscar un pasante



Presentación

>Falta Incluir Laminas sobre Reseña Histórica (Como era la Ciudad, que ocurrió que la llevo al Cambio)

>Introducir Textos que aparecen sobre lo que los ciudadanos desean (ejemplo: Imagina caminar hasta tu trabajo! Regresar a tu casa para el almuerzo y poder hacer siesta de nuevo! Tus hijos estudian a cuadras de la casa!)

>Terminar secuencia de Laminas, seguido de los scripts.

>Enviar scripts a penas estén listos.

>Considerar la posibilidad de cortar en dos partes el video de GUADALAJARA

>INSTALAR ADOBEEEE!!!!

Integrando

Ok, mi primer post.

Propongo que nos metamos en el camino de vender el concepto y como implementarlo.

Situación Actual y sus raices históricas -> Situación Deseada (Objetivos) -> Estrategia -> Acciones -> Opciones para planes piloto.

Creo que en www.miami21.org leí parte de la historia de la planificación "euclidiana" (Zoning) versus la planificación de Forma. Un resumen de esto sería interesante para explicar de donde sale el desastre actual.

Los puntos señalados en inglés en tu post anterior me parecen fantásticos para la presentación de las ideas. Lástima que el video de Built to Last esté en inglés, lo que nos impide usarlo en la presentación en Venezuela.

Para la situación deseada, el video de Guadalajara es espectacular, con el beneficio adicional de estar en español. Aquí podemos empezar a mostrar imágenes de áreas de Caracas que pueden ser aprovechadas.

Seguidamente las estrategias, pasando como lo describes con una revisión de la situación legal (ordenanzas) y los cambios que deben producirse para que estos conceptos puedan ser viables.

Hay que tener en cuenta que esto es un proyecto gigante que requerirá la participación y opinión de mucha gente y organizaciones. La idea es ser parte del liderazgo del mismo y ejecutar proyectos arquitectónicos y urbanísticos. Busquemos lograr que seamos los que desarrollemos y supervisemos los pilotos.

En la parte de transporte deberíamos ser parte del liderazgo, y contribuir en la concepción, pero esto es un tema de especialistas (los cuales no siempre son acertados).

En las acciones debemos describir los pasos a dar, incluyendo la creación de una ONG que aglutine a todos los interesados en participar en la humanización de Caracas. Esto sería de gran importancia para darle peso a la promoción del concepto, pensando en notas de prensas, entrevistas y reuniones con las autoridades gubernamentales.

Proponer áreas para planes pilotos, que vayan en paralelo con el diseño del nuevo sistema de transporte público y la modificación de las ordenanzas.

Es mi primera idea para empezar a discutir.

(que espero quede en el Cuaderno de Ideas)

Articulo: Density, Suite Density

Density, Suite Density



POSTED BY ROGER VALDEZ
09/14/2009 03:45 PM


Vancouver allows more density in multiunit buildings.
There are many reasons to love Vancouver, BC. It is a great international city with tremendous cultural diversity. Some of us truly see Vancouver as a bold leader in accommodating growth in sustainable compact communities. Personally, I like the fact that the Queen is on their money and they call the Mayor, “Your Worship.”

Now there is one more reason to admire Vancouver—especially all you density devotees out there: secondary suites in apartments. Here is how a backgrounder on recent legislation passed by the Vancouver City Council in July describes them:

Similar to secondary suites in single-family homes, the secondary suite in apartment buildings is a self-contained dwelling unit (with a kitchenette, bathroom, and living room/bedroom area) designed within a larger primary suite. The secondary suite is able to be ‘locked-off’ from the primary suite and a separate door is provided for the secondary suite to either a corridor or to the outside. Together the secondary suite and the primary unit would be approximately equal in size to a two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartment.
You read that right. This means subdivided condos or apartments. Compared to the Laneway Housing (Vancouver’s term for backyard cottages) discussion of this measure was rather non-controversial, maybe because it’s somewhat more difficult to do. But it is a great idea and allows the kind of flexibility I wrote about in single family neighborhoods for multiunit housing.

Not everyone could or would want to subdivide their apartment or condo. But allowing people the flexibility for their condos is important for many of the same reasons backyard cottages are, including creating additional density, revenue and options for aging parents. And more units also, arguably, create more housing supply, reducing housing costs overall. At least that is one of the major reasons that Vancouver is trying secondary suites.










And it has already been done—successfully—at Simon Fraser’s UniverCity Community Housing in nearby Burnaby. In fact, Vancouver’s measure was inspired by the Burnaby City Council’s legislation.

Vancouver passed secondary suite legislation as part of its EcoDensity initiative, an effort to maximize density, livability and affordability in the city. I will be writing more this week on the progress of backyard or laneway cottages on single family lots in Seattle, Vancouver and Portland.

Articulo: A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City

Osaka's robot-run parking lots mixed with the Minneapolis lakefront; a musician's fantasy metropolis

There’s an old joke that you know you're in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it's the other way around you're in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, I imagine a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. The permutations are endless. Maybe I'd take the nightlife of New York in a setting like Sydney's with bars like those in Barcelona and cuisine from Singapore served in outdoor restaurants like those in Mexico City. Or I could layer the sense of humor in Spain over the civic accommodation and elegance of Kyoto. Of course, it's not really possible to cherry pick like this—mainly because a city's qualities cannot thrive out of context. A place's cuisine and architecture and language are all somehow interwoven. But one can dream.

As someone who has used a bicycle to get around New York for about 30 years I've watched the city—mainly Manhattan, where I live—change for better and for worse. During this time I started to take a full-size folding bike with me when I traveled so I got to experience other cities as a cyclist as well. Seeing cities from on top of a bike is both pleasurable and instructive. On a bike one sees a lot more than from a freeway, and often it's just as fast as car traffic in many towns.

A "livable city" means vastly different things for many people. In Hong Kong it might mean that your family is in a comfortable apartment while you play in the exciting mercantile world in a glass tower overlooking the harbor. In Dallas livability might mean that you live near an expressway that isn't jammed up, at least not all the time, and your car runs most days. For some it might mean super fast Wi-Fi, the possibility of lucky and lucrative business opportunities and plenty of strip clubs. If that's what rocks your boat then try Houston, though to me that city, oil money made physically manifest, is my worst nightmare.

Here are some things that make a city livable for me:

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574403293064136098.html#video%3DCC7135BE-7B21-4EAE-8761-A7E1B0571FA1%26articleTabs%3Darticle)