Traffic jam in China lasts nine days!

I started my planning program at UBC, two weeks ago.

The orientation week included a talk from a new faculty member from China. He explained the desperate need of educated, competent planners in China with its rapid urbanization:

China is expecting a population of 350M people to move to the cities in the next 20 years. That is the population of North America moving to currently not-built city.

On a related topic, Beijing just experienced a 9-day, 100km long traffic jam.

Sounds like some kind of hell: Never knowing when the cars will start moving... for 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days....

My hunch is that this all bodes well for the world.

Anyways, this may be my return to blogging... we'll see how the semester goes.

Pedal Power documentary on CBC, tonight!

Thank you to my good friend Tosh for passing this one along to me:

CBC is showing a documentary entitled Pedal Power, tonight (9pm on CBC-TV) and Friday night (10pm on CBC News).

In Canada, bicycles "don't get no respect." From the story of Igor, and the anatomy of the underground world of bike peddlers in Toronto, this film spins out to how other cities are making riding safe. Using innovative "bike-cam" techniques to convey, up-close, the sensation of bike riding, a series of character-driven mini-narratives propel the film through a study of what makes a city "bikeable". Whether it's the public bike program in Paris, bike mega-garages in Amsterdam, bike paths in Vancouver and Montreal, or the surprising leadership of New York City, we follow the story of this remarkable little conveyance as it wheels though the first decade of the 21st century.

Sounds like it could be good.

CBC article/info here.

More Cyclists = Safer Cycling (Montreal Gazette)

From the Montreal Gazette:

cyclechic.be

“The studies are showing that the more cyclists there are on the street, the safer they are,” said Dr. Patrick Morency, a public health and safety specialist with Montreal’s public health department.

A 2003 study published in the Injury Prevention Journal by Peter Lyndon Jacobsen concluded: “A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking or bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. Policies that increase the numbers of people walking and bicycling appear to be an effective route to improving the safety of people walking and bicycling.”

Another study, called Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany, showed that pedestrians and cyclists in the United States were much more likely to be killed or injured than were Dutch and German pedestrians and cyclists, both on a per-trip and on a per-kilometre basis, even though the European countries had far more cyclists on their streets.

That study showed that Germany and the Netherlands have implemented a wide range of policies over two decades that simultaneously encouraged walking and cycling while dramatically lowering pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and injuries.

Read the full article here, as it relates to Montreal and Toronto.

Pedestrian Streets in Copenhagen - video

Copenhagen's Car-free streets & Slow-speed zones from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

San Francisco's new automated demand-based parking pricing

One day, posts will return with some frequency.

I have been wanting to write about parking for a long time but... have not. However, San Francisco is unveiling a new parking management system that works on the premise of market-rate parking, whereby prices increase (or decrease) depending on demand -- usually so that ~90% of spaces are always occupied. In SF's case, they aim for one free spot per block.

This sort of parking strategy can provide a myriad of benefits (as demonstrated in the video) as well as increase revenues for -- as utilized in other cities -- local area improvements (public space aesthetics, etc.).

Anyways, check out this video...


SFpark Overview from SFpark on Vimeo.

Copenhagen (cycling) through the eyes of North Americans

A new Streetfilms video presents Copenhagen's cycling culture and infrastructure through the eyes of North American cycling advocates, transportation and city officials, and planners visiting CPH during the Velo-City 2010 Conference.

Well worth the watch:

Street food vendors - Trial in Vancouver

 Stone ground pizza coming to the streets of Vancouver (Globe)

I am an advocate for street food vendors. They offer a pedestrian-oriented service, life in public spaces, 'eyes on the street' (for safety),  potentially good food, and more.

Food vendors have a place in Victoria, not only as a sidewalk hotspot but also as a temporary fill-in on neglected or vacant lots, such as currently in Cook St. Village (are they gone yet?). As previously mentioned, food vendors could be part of a solution to reclaim (sections of) parking lots and create vibrant public spaces.

Anyway, Vancouver is going to experiment with 17 new vending locations (Globe and Mail) and promote a variety of foods beyond the current supply of hot dogs, popcorn, and chestnuts.

The expansion has been in the works for some time. Mayor Gregor Robertson has said Vancouver could learn much on the issue from Portland, Ore., noted across North America for a varied food-cart scene that includes more than 450 carts.

City officials picked 17 operators by lottery from about 800 who applied for spots on city sidewalks and curbside locations. Alternates were also chosen in case winners are not ready. The winners have to have waste-management plans. Their food-handling practices will be subject to Vancouver Coastal Health inspection.

The mayor seems to have a level-head approach to the issue:

"There’s a good chance we can add dozens more carts in the city,” he said. “I think this phased approach maximizes our chances of success - taking it a few steps at a time, and responding to the demand. It will be fascinating to see the uptake and whether there’s a shift in eating habits on the street and people choose the new, diverse varieties over what was available.”

I would be very interested in study of whether or not food vendors could create more life in 'derelict' public spaces, such as Centennial Square in Victoria.

What's your experience with the food vending situation in Victoria or elsewhere?