Supporters of the meters contend that the charges are more equitable than current taxes like automobile purchase and registration fees, because they derive from actual use rather than mere ownership. If imposed, they could supplant gas and vehicle taxes as well as tolls. Governments could program  computers to require consistent gas guzzlers to pay higher rates, for example. 

Equally important, studies have found that the meters provide instantaneous negative feedback, the kind that psychologists say changes behavior.

In the United States, states including Oregon, Texas and Minnesota have explored mileage charging systems, but the first tentative proposals have faced obstacles there as well. A longstanding proposal in Oregon to introduce such charging for electric cars stalled in committee this spring and never made it to a vote. It suggested a transitional rate of 0.85 cents per mile in 2015 and 1.85 cents per mile by 2018. 

Although the program was primarily an attempt to recoup lost revenue from gasoline taxes, it was also intended to test the waters for distance charging that would eventually apply to all cars.

“The trials work well, but it’s first a psychological issue and second a political choice,” he said. “To do it you need support of the government, and it needs to happen when there is not an election because there’s always a bit of resistance.”

The European Union continues to prod member states to try distance charging despite the setbacks. High car and gas taxes have failed to stem the growth of car use in Western Europe, leaving densely populated countries paralyzed at rush hour.

According to data collected in the Eindhoven trial, watching the small charges add up changed driving habits.

“Seeing the meter helps,” Mr. Huitema said. “The old taxes don’t do that — you fill the tank, pay and try not to worry anymore.”

nytimes, 10.08.11. 

irishboyinlondon:

Interesting opinion piece on bicycles in the New York Times written by an American living in Amsterdam!

Dutch drivers are taught that when you are about to get out of the car, you reach for the door handle with your right hand — bringing your arm across your body to the door. This forces a driver to swivel shoulders and head, so that before opening the door you can see if there is a bike coming from behind. Likewise, every Dutch child has to pass a bicycle safety exam at school. The coexistence of different modes of travel is hard-wired into the culture.

This in turn relates to lots of other things — such as bread. How? Cyclists can’t carry six bags of groceries; bulk buying is almost nonexistent. Instead of shopping for a week, people stop at the market daily. So the need for processed loaves that will last for days is gone. A result: good bread. […]

For American cities to think outside the car would seem to require a mental sea change. Then again, Americans, too, are practical, no-nonsense people. And Zef Hemel, the chief planner for the city of Amsterdam, reminded me that sea changes do happen. “Back in the 1960s, we were doing the same thing as America, making cities car-friendly,” he said. Funnily enough, it was an American, Jane Jacobs, who changed the minds of European urban designers. Her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” got European planners to shift their focus from car-friendliness to overall livability.

nytimes, 30.07.11.

humanscalecities:

I recently discovered a fascinating story covered in the blog The Urban Country.

As shown in the photograph —the cover of the San Francisco Call—, thousands of protesters in 1896 (100,000 people, according to the newspaper, this is critical mass —  gathered to protest against the invasion of an appliance at that time was beginning to gain prominence in the street, the private car. Market Street, the main artery of the Californian city and currently under review, was suffering from the growing excesses to make room for the car and demonstrators demanded to turn the street to its previous design.

This might be undoubtedly one of the very first protests in favor of the bike and one of the first signs of social awareness of the massive influx of private vehicles on the streets. All background information can be found in The Great Bicycle Protest of 1896. A good story, no doubt.

The protest was not directed against the car as a priority, indeed. The aim was to defend the role of the bicycle as a vehicle for progress, once in the second half of the nineteenth century American cities discovered this “new” way for  transportation and quickly became popular.This rise had to gain a foothold among other modes of transport prior to the generalization of the car, such as carriages, cable cars and trams. The Good Roads movement wanted to dignify the streets and allow the increasingly diverse ways that were occupying it. The march tried to lobby against new rules seeking to corner the bike, as its wide presence was beginning to generate problems of coexistence due to its high level of use. 

theurbancountry, 19.07.11.

The six bicyclists racing a JetBlue flight from Burbank to Long Beach Saturday proved the power of the pedals, beating the flight by a long shot. The cyclists, members of the urban bicyclist organization Wolfpack Hustle, made the trip in 1 hour and 34 minutes, using the path along the Los Angeles River for most of the trek.

The cyclists and a blogger aboard the JetBlue flight left at 10:50 a.m. from the same intersection in North Hollywood — with the blogger having to drive to the airport, arriving an hour before the 12:20 p.m. flight, then catching a ride to the aquarium in Long Beach, the finish line. The plane had just taken off when the cyclists arrived.

The cyclists had boldly predicted victory earlier Saturday morning. Joe Anthony, 33, who took the JetBlue flight, said the race was meant to show “how feasible cycling is in L.A.,” And, he said, “maybe how ridiculous it is to fly 40 miles.”

LAtimes, 16.07.11.
pre-race article: 16.07.11. via treehugger, 17.07.11. 

Reading the headline, I expected the race to start when the plane took off. Was disappointed that they gave the blogger guy / the cyclists an hour before takeoff. It does make sense, though, because that’s required “travel time” as well. But flight time: 45mins. Cycling time: 1h34. Which is not bad.. 

Except also: “The cyclists are members of Wolfpack Hustle, a bicycling club whose members ride 50 to 70 miles every Monday, leaving from Tang’s Donut in Silver Lake.” 

38.4 miles is almost as long as the route I cycled with San Diego Critical Mass in late May. It took double the amount of time these cyclists took in LA (even excluding the “circle” stops and Gaslamp traffic, probably). 

Obviously not a ride for casual cyclists. xP

But hurray for positive media coverage of cycling in LA?

Please calculate the number of miles you commute by automobile in an average week, if any, and then look at San Diego’s MTS website to determine whether you could use public transportation instead.  Perform a brief cost-benefit analysis (in time and money) of your personal transportation habits.

just finished this short optional assignment for my Urban Politics class. Thought it’d be good to post it on here, too; maybe some of you will find it insightful to calculate your own (but more exact, and perhaps carbon footprint, too).

My hometown is in the SF Bay Area, where there exist decent public transportation and my mother, who can/is willing to drive me anywhere within 30 minutes’ distance, except to San Francisco. So, I never bothered to buy my own car, though I can drive, and also despite having moved to San Diego where it is significantly more challenging to get around without one. (and no moneiezz anyway!)

• UCSD Hillcrest Medical Center — UCSD La Jolla campus: 13 miles, 30 mins.
• Hillcrest — Downtown San Diego: 2.6 miles, 13 mins.
• San Diego — SF Bay Area: 450 miles, 1.5h

Read More

Ed Campaniello bikes down 6th Street in San Francisco on July 7, 2011. Campaniello bikes from the Mission to his job as a consultant at the Hub despite a Canadian study that found that cyclists experience heart irregularities after riding in heavy traffic.

“There are some spots on Market where I end up holding my breath,” he said.

The new study of Canadian cyclists does not mean that people should lock up their bikes and hop into the driver’s seat. Other studies have shown that drivers have higher respiratory problems than cyclists because of their higher exposure to volatile organic chemicals in vehicle exhaust.

“In general, you’re better off cycling than not,” said Michael Brauer, a cyclist and atmospheric scientist at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the study. “The physical activity benefits outweigh negative impacts. But you’d like there to be no impacts.”

sfgate, 11.07.11.