Regular Re*Move watchers will know we are big fans of Dan Sturges and his team at Intrago Mobility, which is based in Boulder, Colorado but has an extraordinary network of advocates in many parts of the world.
Dan picked up this great piece of TV coverage in the Denver area a few weeks ago and is being tipped in the US as one of a new generation of cleantech transport entrepreneurs.
Joe and I will spend time with Dan next Wednesday and Thursday when he visits London to talk to city policy influencers about the need for a joined-up strategy between bike sharing, tube stations and bus stops. We've written before about Paris's Velib system but, as JC Decaux continues to try to scale the project beyond France, there is much scope to strike new and better deals that apply bike sharing differently. More robust, secure rental systems can mean, for example, that electric bikes can be added. As the guys who take vans around Paris collecting Velibs to put back at the top of the hills in Montmartre know, bikeshare in hilly towns or cities would be a lot better if eBikes were part of the equation. And they're actually much easier to ride without getting hot and bothered in more sprawling cities like London. Electric bikes could help expand cycling beyond its current penetration groups.
Just to stretch people's minds we'll be riding Segways, which are currently banned on UK roads and UK pavements. Which seems to contradict the government's goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 versus 1990 levels (let alone 20 per cent by 2010 or 26 per cent by 2020). Drop me a line if you want to come and talk to us. We'll be posting images via our Cool Walls too.
Thanks in advance to Nicola Dallatana, Segway's European regulatory affairs chief, who will be valiantly arguing for more enlightened light vehicle policies in the House of Commons at the end of this month. Business as usual regarding vehicle types and pathway allocations in cities is not going to deliver the CO2, energy, movement and 'liveability' objectives that right now are stacked up in city leader intrays all around the world. We need to test different mixes and encourage (not ban) new light vehicle categories.
Thanks also to Dominic Campbell, our progressive man in city policymaking, for ideas on great people to speak to.
Posted by Mark Charmer. Mark is director of The Movement Design Bureau.
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