Worldcrunch
Despite being cheap, eco-friendly and empowering, the bicycle is losing ground among Germany’s youngest. Cities are not built for children, and cars are given priority. Together with parents’ fears and declining physical activity, this is making biking for children harder than in previous generations.
The election of a new Pope, a mysterious UFO sighting, and the birth of a controversial figure.
Having your own car means unlimited freedom. Right? A study shows that yes, it can increase life satisfaction. But freedom is a myth, and dependency on your vehicle will reduce overall happiness.
Over the past five years, tuk-tuk prices have soared because of a government ban on importing the vehicle, and the inflation waves that rocked the Arab world’s most populous country. But tuk-tuks are not only a preferred system of transport, they are also a source of income for a large part of the Egyptian population — and the price hikes are crushing many young people’s dreams.
In Cairo and other Egyptian cities, transport for women traveling alone too often includes sexual harassment and assault — and the recent death of a woman who jumped out of a moving Uber because the driver tried to kidnap her has raised new alarms.
The construction of parking spaces is an obligation in new urban building projects. But increasing the supply of parking in the city center doesn’t necessarily improve mobility. It may be just the opposite.
Low pay, sexual harassment and job instability haven’t stopped women from pursuing opportunities in the male-dominated public transport sector.
The Italian Ministry of Transport promoted a commercial to raise awareness about the dangers of texting and driving, and all is good except for the part where it forgot rule number one of road safety.
For the author, the biggest surprise in living in Paris has been the city’s efficient metro system. Her hometown of Los Angeles has an addiction to cars that is more than just unpleasant.
In the ambulances transporting the wounded to the field hospitals, in the vans traveling to the front or in the trains returning them home for a few days’ rest, the soldiers stationed on the Bakhmut front do not talk about military victories or war strategies. They talk about death, and life.
The building of the Panama Canal started on this day in 1904. This man-made waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was built by the United States. Why was the Panama Canal built? The Panama Canal was built to provide a more direct route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, saving time and money […]
India is one of the most gender unequal countries in the world. But the humble bicycle is helping women reclaim space in cities, opening up job prospects, and even encouraging their education opportunities.
Mongolia built an extensive road network on a permafrost foundation. Now, the permafrost is melting.
After slowly shifting in some cities to a more bicycle-centric model, the pandemic has accelerated the shift from cars to bikes in cities around the world. Here are some prime examples
After years of letting overnight rail travel fade into oblivion, France and other European countries are rushing to reverse course. Doing so will be easier said than done, however.
Across the globe, the coronavirus crisis has forced people to change not only the ways they work and interact with each other, but also how they travel. And in several countries, one of the unexpected consequences of all this has been a renewed interest in transportation of the pedal-powered, two-wheeled variety. In some places — […]
With people returning to work, there’s the question of how to get there. Many cities around the world are encouraging biking, walking and other private transportation methods to avoid clogging public transit systems that could be cesspools for the coronavirus as lockdowns ease. But for those without other options, taking trains, subways and buses will […]
A new Vienna-Brussels line has just opened, while in France only two night lines still exist, compared to a dozen ten years ago.
It may seem like a pipe dream. And it would certainly cost a lot, especially in a large capital city like Bogotá. But providing fare-free public transport could also be transformative.
The airline industry certainly has room for improvement, but dreaming of a rail-only future ignores some practical and even environmental realities.
MUMBAI — On December 14, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) abruptly terminated its contract with the Indo-Malaysian consortium L&T-Scomi Engineering Bhd to manage the city’s monorail. The authority said that there had been issues such as poor maintenance of the monorail fleet, as many rakes were found unfit for use. This ended another chapter in the sorry saga of a transportation experiment that was doomed from its very inception. India’s first monorail was flagged off on February 1, 2014, with the hope that it would resolve Mumbai’s transport woes — or some of them, at least. The MMRDA […]
Fair trade doesn’t always mean fair transport, as international shipping leaves a whole category of workers unprotected.
Rio de Janeiro may have pulled off its Olympic feat, but Brazil’s everyday problems remain unaddressed.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Authorities in Rio de Janeiro have inaugurated the first part of a light city railway designed to ferry about hundreds of thousands of visitors and sports players arriving in the Brazilian city for the Olympic games due to start in August. The new VLT network, a multinational project involving firms like […]
Uber may have global ambitions, but the Mexican city of Guadalajara offers an example of how local resourcefulness can still hard to beat. By welding on extra features, including passenger seats, some Guadalajara entrepreneurs are turning electric rickshaws and scooters brought in from India and Italy into bike taxis that are giving Uber a run […]
Air pollution has reached record levels in the Indian capital. In some areas, it’s at least 10 times higher than the World Health Organization acceptable norms. But it appears some action is finally taking place … Read the full article Les Echos/Worldcrunch article: New Delhi Pollution, A Roadmap To Disaster.
CAIRO — A third of Cairo’s residents walk, cycle or use carts as their primary means of transportation, while in Egypt’s provincial cities, such as Shibin al-Kom in Monufiya, more than half the population is motor-free. The state, however, insists on fighting users of non-mechanized vehicles, especially donkey carts. Most governors have tried to ban […]
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Here is a preview of our exclusive newsletter to keep up-to-date and stay inspired by Smart City innovations from around the world.
Here is a preview of our exclusive newsletter to keep up-to-date and stay inspired by Smart City innovations from around the world.
The English have long occupied Malta, hence the driving on the left with steering wheel on the right-hand side. But they haven’t managed to import the Anglican religion: Catholicism is still deeply rooted in the island, as evidenced by the religious icons and Latin formula Verbum Dei caro factum est (“The Word of God was […]
The Mexican capital is revamping its international airport, with a new terminal designed by star architect Norman Foster that will double capacity, save energy and dazzle the eyes.
BEIJING — The Mexican government announced Nov. 4 that it had awarded its first high-speed rail contract to a Chinese-led consortium. But as the exciting news was still buzzing in the Chinese press, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto suddenly canceled the deal five days later. As the media later reported, the consortium led by China […]
The swarms of motorcycles and rickshaws, known as samlo in Thailand, can be pretty scary for the uninitiated. But there are so many rental places that business is sometimes slow for the drivers.
Egypt is cracking down on the ubiquitous motorized rickshaws that navigate the capital’s narrow streets.
Results from the world’s large largest airline rating portal Skytrax give high marks in Asia: Exactly seven airlines in the world have been give five-star ratings: ANA (All Nippon Airways), Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hainan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines. But at the other end of the scale is another Asian […]
Do Sao Paulo’s public transport woes bode badly for this year’s World Cup?
Liu Zhijun, China’s former Railway Minister, has received a “suspended” death penalty. He may get a reprieve. But one writer says it’s time for a vengeful China to abolish executions altogether.
ALGIERS – Since the first subway line opened in the end of 2011, it is much appreciated. “It is a lot easier to get to court,” explains Lydia, a young lawyer. She adds that the ticket fare (around 50 cents) is reasonable for the middle class, and the service beats collective taxis or having to […]
MOSCOW – The traffic jams in Russia’s capital have become world-famous in the last several years, so bad that in 2010 the Federal Government decided to address the problem directly. At the time, then-President Dimitri Medvedev commissioned a plan for the development of Moscow’s transportation system through the year 2020 that aims to get Muscovites […]