Google Pedometer

The Google Map Pedometer from WebWalking.com is an nice free tool that turns the car-centric Google Maps into a foot (or bike) friendly resource! The simple interface allows you to make your own path, which it then calculates in miles or kilometers. You can even save your route for future use or to share with others. Try it out HERE.

Thanks Charlie!

Spotted in NYC: Bike Parking

I ran into this amazing bike parking/shelter/safety campaign thing last time I was in NYC and I seriously wondered if I had walked into an alternate universe (or at least a movie set). While it could certainly use more posts to chain bikes too, it's definitely a major (visible) step in the right direction.
You can find out more about the ad campaign shown on it HERE.

Spotted In Hawaii part I: Bike Rack

I spotted these satisfying bike racks all over downtown Honolulu. I love their elegant marriage of form and function. Even when there are no bike riders around they still suggest a pleasant alternative to driving a car.

Coffee Bikes

Good magazine tells the story of how a Portland coffee roaster helps coffee growers in Rawanda with bicycles...



Thanks Vickie!

French (Bicycle) Revolution

Starting July 15th Parisians will have access to 10, 648 rentable bikes (going up to 20,600 by January). Rental stations will be situated so that none will 900 feet from anywhere in the city proper. Costs will be minimal with the project aimed at commuters over tourists. The only catch? It's being paid for by an advertising company in exchange for 1,600 billboards.

More details here.

Backlog

Sorry for the silence from me (and thanks to Brad for keeping the site rolling), mid-week holidays clearly throw me off. Anyway, I have a backlog of stuff to write about, so here are a few quick links to start:

Despite everything More US Commuters Are Driving Alone.

Corporate Car Fleets and Car Rentals go Green.

San Diego fights Walmart.

Cities are building more bike paths.

Since all of these are from the Christian Science Monitor, I think this a good time to explain the appeal of this paper:

• Despite the name the content is not religious (nor biased towards a religious viewpoint). There is only one article that relates to Christian Science per issue and it is clearly marked in a box at the end of the paper.
• They have a top notch international staff of reporters (rare outside of the big players, most papers rely on Reuters and AP).
• They are extremely balanced in their reporting.
• They do not sensationalize and are one of the few papers that actually goes out of their way not to encourage copycat behavior.
• Their motto is "To injure no man, but to bless all mankind."