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Big bike race
Kelly Doody, Calgary Sun
They were billing it as a warm-up for the annual Calgary Corporate Challenge – the massive sporting event set to take over the city from September 5 to 20 – but we’re guessing it was just a great excuse to get out of the office early.
Dozens of enthusiastic employees from oil and gas service provider Skystone International took on NovAtel Inc. yesterday in a race on the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Big Bike out in the industrial boondocks of northeast Calgary.
Twenty-nine flushed faces from each company were happy to shorten their work day, strap on their cycling shoes and report to the parking lot in hopes of setting the record straight as to which company can expect to have a more promising season of Calgary Corporate Challenge results. And despite being little more than a friendly pre-season match-up, the spirit of competition was as fierce and frenzied as ever.
(9 August 2008)
Another photo at original. Mentioned on TOD
No need for speed
Kent A. Sepkowitz, New York Tims
SPEEDING is the cause of 30 percent of all traffic deaths in the United States — about 13,000 people a year. By comparison, alcohol is blamed 39 percent of the time, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But unlike drinking, which requires the police, breathalyzers and coercion to improve drivers’ behavior, there’s a simple way to prevent speeding: quit building cars that can exceed the speed limit.
Most cars can travel over 100 miles an hour — an illegal speed in every state. Our continued, deliberate production of potentially law-breaking devices has no real precedent.
… Because the ticket-them-till-they-stop approach simply would not work, we might consider my initial recommendation: build cars that can’t exceed the speed limit. The technology to limit car speed has existed for more than 50 years — it’s called cruise control. In its common application, cruise control maintains a steady speed, but a minor adjustment would assure that vehicles, no matter the horsepower, never go past 75 miles per hour. This safety measure should be required of every new automobile, the same as seat belts, turning signals, brake lights and air bags.
Sure, it would take us longer to get from here to there. But thousands of deaths a year are too great a cost for so adolescent a thrill as speeding.
Kent A. Sepkowitz is vice-chairman of medicine at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
(7 September 2008)
U.S. highway fund crushed by cutback in driving
Tami Luhby, CNNMoney
An unprecedented decline in driving will deplete the federal Highway Trust Fund by the end of September and prompted the Bush administration on Friday to ask Congress for an $8 billion emergency infusion.
Gasoline sales are crucial to maintaining the nation’s highway infrastructure. About 90% of the fund’s total revenues comes from taxes on motor fuels, according to a July report from the Congressional Budget Office.
… The crunch comes as Americans have drastically cut back on their driving amidst record high gas prices. The number of miles driven has dropped by 53.2 billion miles since last November, the first time it has topped 50 billion, officials said.
(5 September 2008)
PBS Public Bike System Plug ‘n’ Play Swipe ‘n’ Ride
Doug, GreeenUpgrader
A human on a bike is extremely efficient and green as can be. The new PBS riding program is a scalable operation that will make this simple form of transportation available to that hard to reach portion of our society (the lazy!). Some simple hindrances to bike commuting for the average Joe are availability, money (for a bike), storage, maintenance, and the volition to get the gear and go. PBS (Public Bike System) developed by world-renowned industrial designer Michel Dallaire is already in operation in Montreal and allows you to swipe your credit card and roll out! The entire system is designed to appeal to the public, take a beating, run on solar power, and make bike sharing a reality…
(1 September 2008)
