WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
____________________________________
Edition no. 34 - August 2006 - English version
...........................................................
Contents:
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH
IN THE NEWS
- BARCELONA, AUSTRALIA, CHICAGO...
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
- BOGOTA INVITES YOU TO TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VI
- WORLD CARFREE DAY - CALLING ALL ORGANISERS
- STREET CONVERSION DESIGN COMPETITION
- LOCOMOTIVES BRAZIL 2006, JULY 17 TO AUGUST 3
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- SAVE THE ROSPUDA VALLEY
- CYCLING AGAINST WASTE, AUGUST 20 TO SEPTEMBER 4
- PEAK TRAFFIC
- SHARING CARFREE VIDEOS ONLINE
- STOP CLIMATE CHAOS
- PHOTO CONTEST
__________________
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
__________________________
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the
computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles
per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
- Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld
__________________
IN THE NEWS >>
__________________________
- The Ecotopia Biketour will deliver a petition for better conditions
for cyclists to the mayor of Kosice, Slovakia, along with the city's
Critical Mass riders <
www.wiki.thebiketour.net>.
- The number of cyclists on the streets of New York continues to
increase in spite of the city's poor cycling infrastructure, the lack
of enforcement of existing laws to protect bikers, and the ongoing
legal battles between the city and cyclists. See <
www.times-up.org>
for more information.
- The roads alongside the Rambla de Catalunya, a large boulevard in
Barcelona, are now closed to automobile traffic on Sundays and on
holidays between the hours of 11 am and 9 pm [
www.iclei.org].
- The Australian Transport Minister called for federal funding to
help deliver "clean, safe and attractive public transport" in Sydney.
"I believe that's what's needed to address the growth of major cities
like Sydney and to truly encourage an exodus from cars onto public
transport," he said [
www.news.com.au].
- City Holden, a car dealership in Adelaide, offers its customers
bicycles to use while their cars are being fixed.
- In order to make cycling an important part of people's everyday
trips, the city of Chicago wants to put an 800 km-long bicycle
network in place by 2015. The city envisions that five percent of all
trips shorter than 8 km would be made by bike. [
www.iclei.org]
- A London High Court ruled that Critical Mass cyclists should not be
subject to prosecution. Friends of the Earth's Solicitor Phil
Michaels said, "The Court accepted our argument that the monthly
rides are 'commonly or customarily held' and so it is not necessary
to provide advance notice to the police"
<
www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1058>.
- In Czech Republic, automobile output grew by 75% year-on-year in
the first half of the year. During this period, 451,025 cars were
produced. Bus output rose by 42 percent to 1,337 units
[
www.praguemonitor.com].
- Mothers and their babies are shying away from using public transit
in Britain, a recent survey reported, because of "unhelpful staff,
inconsiderate passengers and poor facilities"
[icwales.icnetwork.co.uk]/
- In Scotland, Ministers revealed a radical plan for no-car zones
around some schools. Tavish Scott, the transport minister, said that
"there should be a pilot project where cycleways would provide the
only access to a school" [news.scotsman.com].
- Petrol prices in the UK reached an all-time high of GBP.99
(EUR1.44) per litre [
www.dailymail.co.uk].
- In order to protect UK city centre streets against out-of-town
shopping centres, the Commission for Integrated Transport is calling
for paid parking near super-sized shopping centres. Research shows
that free parking is a big enticement to shoppers.
[
www.dailymail.co.uk]
_______________________
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
__________________________________________
BOGOTA INVITES YOU TO TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VI
As many of you know, the network's sixth conference is coming up in
September (20-24). As this bulletin goes to press, we conference
organisers are both here in Bogota making the final arrangements.
We've found a beautiful and excellent conference venue and the final
detailed programme will be up on the website within a few days. Lots
of dynamic speakers and interactive workshops are planned, along with
on-site visits to Bogota's famous Carfree Sundays, TransMilenio BRT
system, the Ciclorutas (bike paths) and more. The registration form
and accommodation possibilities are online. The conference is set to
be our most interesting and exciting ever, and we invite everyone to
join us, especially those in The Americas. Website:
<
www.worldcarfree.net/conference>.
WORLD CARFREE DAY - CALLING ALL ORGANISERS
Calling all carfree activists! World Carfree Day is less than two
months away. Join people from around the world in making September 22
a truly global phenomenon. Whether you're planning a street closure
and festival for hundreds or a mass bicycle ride to promote
alternatives to car dependence, we want to hear from you. Register
your event at <www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd> so we can show the world
just how big this movement really is.
Also, there are resources such as videos and images and sample
press releases, and new this year is an online forum where you can
exchange ideas with fellow activists.
STREET CONVERSION DESIGN COMPETITION
How can we transform existing areas to create lively people-oriented
spaces free of traffic? As part of World Carfree Day, World Carfree
Network and Carbusters magazine are sponsoring a competition to
design a carfree street space. Through this competition, Carbusters
magazine will collect the best designs from architects and others
from around the world. We'll also encourage people to implement the
designs on the ground on World Carfree Day, September 22. You can
find the priciple and also some practical informations at
<
www.carbusters.org/street-conversion.php>.
LOCOMOTIVES BRAZIL 2006, JULY 17 TO AUGUST 3
Locomotives Brazil 2006 will be held in several Brazilian cities and
includes workshops on cooperation between NGOs and government,
building bicycle networks, strategic planning and more. There is
information (in Portuguese) at <www.udesc.br/ciclo>, or write
<ciclobrasil@???>.
Participants of Locomotives Brazil will also attend a conference
in Sao Paolo on clean-air initiatives.
___________________
ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
______________________________
SAVE THE ROSPUDA VALLEY
Two petitions to the Polish President are running against a decision
to build a bypass across one of Poland's last natural gems.
Environmentalists have proposed an alternative route, but it has not
even been taken into consideration. Already more than 40,000 Poles
have signed the petition. See <
www.greenpeace.pl> and
<
www.wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/0,74178,3491896.html> for more
information.
CYCLING AGAINST WASTE, AUGUST 20 TO SEPTEMBER 4
The Center for Environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina is organising a
bike ride to raise awareness for the "Waste is Not Rubbish," a
national waste management campaign. The participants in the tour will
engage in joint activities with local NGO activists and volunteers.
Send all enquiries to Miodrag Dakic at <miodrag.dakic@???>.
PEAK TRAFFIC
Peak Traffic, an article examining transportation planning in the
United States, offers a tool that concerned citizens world-wide can
use to force governments to rethink road planning in light of peak
oil." <
www.permatopia.com/peak-traffic.html>
SHARING CARFREE VIDEOS ONLINE
A new online video library allows people to share "independent video
records of situations, actions, anomalies, and events taking place on
the street in cities around the world." Submit your own videos or
simply check out what has been posted so far at
<
http://www.youtube.com/group/carfree>.
STOP CLIMATE CHAOS
on November 4, groups from around the world will organise events
highlighting the imminent dangers of climage change in anticipation
of the UN Climate Conference in Nairobi, November 6 to 17. To find
out more about what is happening in your country and how to get
involved visit
http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/.
PHOTO CONTEST
The German Traffic Club is sponsoring a photo contest to celebrate
their 20 years in existence. If you took your vacation by train,
bike, boat or on foot, send in your best snapshots via e-mail showing
your environmentally friendly form of travel to <tourismus@???>.
See also <
www.reiselust-deutschland.de>.
...
Bulletin #34 by Vincent Aronio.
[end]
________________________________________________
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK
Kratka 26, 100 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic
tel: +(420) 274-810-849 - fax: +(420) 274-772-017
<info@???> - <
http://www.worldcarfree.net>
________________________________________________
World Carfree News is published once a month by World Carfree Network.
To unsubscribe, send an email to:
<world-carfree-news_eng-unsubscribe@???>
