Electric bikes, or e-bikes, are close substitutes for cars and two-wheelers because they cover longer distances with less effort. Thus, e-bikes will play a key role in shifting passenger and freight trips away from high-polluting private vehicles and generating fewer emissions if used at scale. While vehicle electrification has focused …
Oil, environment, lifestyle fuel Asia's 2-wheeler boom Agence France-Presse . Singapore Record high oil prices, environmental concerns, affluent lifestyles as well as the need to dodge city traffic are driving a boom in Asia's motorcycle and bicycle market, industry figures say. The rediscovery of cycling as a way to keep …
In the first week 700, last week 885 and this week 911. The Pune Municipal Corporation is claiming that the number of civic officials and other working staff following the "no vehicle day' activity is growing every week. In a statement by the PMC, Municipal Commisisoner Praveensinh Pardeshi welcomed the …
In India, thirty-five million people have diabetes—a number expected to more than double by 2025, disproportionately affecting working-age people. The economic impact of this increase could be devastating to India’s emerging economy. In this paper we discuss drivers of the epidemic, analyze current policies and practices in India, and conclude …
Extending a green thumb to the city, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to buy 200 new buses by June-end that will run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and start observing a
The name Gore Vidal takes up more than two-thirds of the space on the cover of my old paperback collection of some of his essays. For good reason, as the same cover has New Statesman, a considerable thunderer in those days, describing Vidal as "America's finest essayist'. In it is …
London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly cities in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400 per cent increase in the …
Non-motorised transport (NMT) is central to the issue of sustainable transportation. Among the more arguably important aspects of NMT that are sometimes overlooked are bicycle transportation development and accompanying policy reform.Given the fact that the majority of the world
This paper provides a comparative overview of urban transport in the world’s two most populous countries: China and India. Cities in both countries are suffering from severe and worsening transport problems: air pollution, noise, traffic injuries and fatalities, congestion, parking shortages, energy use, and a lack of mobility for the …
An alternative to car culture? www.worldcarfree.net Almost all of us have, at some point, rued our slavish dependence on cars. But the exasperation has always been fleeting. Most of us bear with traffic congestion and car breakdowns and brave unsafe roads, comforting ourselves with the thought that there are no …
In William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, Antipholus asks Syracuse, "Will you walk with me about the town, and then go to my inn and dine with me?' The experience is very likely to be a harrowing one if you happen to be in an Indian city
Many people believe that nonmotorized modes (walking, cycling, and their variations) have an inferior right to use public roads compared with motor vehicles. This reflects the belief that motor vehicles are more important to society than nonmotorized modes, and that roads are funded by motorists. Pedestrians and cyclists are sometimes …
The cyclist, who has ruled Chinese streets for decades, is fast becoming an endangered species in the country, thanks to sweeping globalisation. Shenzhen China Bicycle Company, one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers and the biggest bicycle exporter of China, is facing bankruptcy. Due to increased competition for export sales and …
The Chinese fettish for bicycles is ending. While the country's new middle class already prefers cars, a recent government move also indicated the same preference. It cancelled the bicycle registration requirement, a step viewed as de-recognising the two-wheeler as a transportation tool. Car numbers have risen rapidly in Beijing and …
Even as electric bicycles are riding high on a popularity wave in Beijing, traffic officials have decided to phase them out by 2005. The user-friendly features of these vehicles
If vehicular emissions are to come down, governments will have to provide incentives to develop and promote the use of cleaner alternatives. In 1999, global passenger car production reached a record 39 million. The global car fleet now stands at 520 million. More vehicles will result in higher emissions. This …
Bullish predictions have already been made about its future. Experts say it will tempt a lot of people. It's the Powabyke. Costing $818, the electric mountain bike weighs some 40 kilogrammes with a speed limit of 24 km per hour without additional pedal power. The removable battery pack, mounted on …
As the global energy crisis escalates, eco-friendly modes of transport are being increasingly ignored. This is reflected in the rapid growth in air travel, which has increased nearly 100-fold since 1950. It touched an all-time high in 1998 with 2,600 million passenger-km (a measure of passenger traffic that takes into …
With the increasing human population, the number of cars hitting the roads have gone up. More cars generate more air pollution, increase traffic congestion and affect public health. In the US, for example, more than 80 per cent of the people commute by cars. Transportation by trains and others mass-transit …
Students at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, USA, have devised a more efficient trike, a human-powered vehicle somewhat like a bicycle but with three or four wheels, for disabled people who cannot use their legs to get around. it has a novel up-and-down pump drive mechanism that people work …
