The future of valet parking
Automated parking garages have been in the market for a while and are promoted as an efficient way to maximise space and service for customers. Technology advances have now allowed the industry to go further and develop a valet parking robot. The robot, codenamed Stan, is going to be tested at Gatwick Airport in London […]
Oslo car ban is not an easy task
In the post Oslo cuts on-street parking, we presented one of the city’s initiatives to meet its plan of having a car-free centre by 2019. To discourage car usage in the short term, the city opted to promote high-impact and low-cost improvements for cyclists and pedestrians by reducing on-street parking. Although the measure seemed to […]
Strategies to reduce air pollution
Marylebone Road, in Westminster City, was recently named one of the 20 sites in London with very high pollution. As part of the plan to address the issue, the council wants to discourage the use of diesel vehicles by introducing a parking surcharge, as reported by The Telegraph. Therefore, from April, diesel drivers will pay […]
Parking Design, a Dutch Case
Parking garages are not normally recognised for their aesthetical aspects. At the same time, the design of these facilities design usually doesn’t receive enough attention, especially in terms of creating a pleasant experience to its users. Therefore, parking structures are not the first type of development that come to mind when thinking about architectural awards. […]
Cyclists’ Dream Building
Following the development of the Oslo Solar , a commercial building in Norway that has no car park and 500 parking spaces for bikes, known as the “bike apartments”, the Cykelhuset, or “bicycle house”, will open in Malmö, Sweden this December being the country’s first residential development with no car park spaces as reported by […]
No place for cars in Oslo development
A new high-rise in Oslo’s centre will give preference to cyclists instead of drivers, according to CO.EXIST. Oslo Solar building will have 500 parking spaces for bikes, as well as end-of-trip facilities such as showers, change rooms and bike repair stations. There will be 10 recharge stations for electric vehicles, however, the high-rise won’t provide […]
Paris to become more pedestrian friendly
Popular squares in Paris are being redesigned to hand the city back to pedestrians and cyclists. According to CO.EXIST, seven Parisian plazas located in high traffic zones will be remodelled; the new designs will reserve at least 50% of the space for pedestrians and cyclists. The motivation for this shift is that “Parisians are […]
Bikes vs cars – a new film looks at the race for bike mobility in our modern world
Bikes are more than a tool for recreation and fitness. They are fast becoming the main source of transportation for many communities around the world. But more needs to happen for people to make the initial decision of putting the bike first. A new film by Fredrik Gertten, Bikes vs Cars, looks at the battle […]
Uber forces closure of London taxi college
Whilst Uber is yet to be legalised here in NSW (see abc.net.au), London cabbies claim Uber is responsible for the downfall of their training school, Knowledge Point (UK), as mentioned in the AFR. 70-year-old business owner, Malcolm Linskey, attributes Uber for the closure of the business he started 30 years ago in Islington, North London. […]
Belgium takes a leap of faith into green street parking
For the Belgian town of Ghent, population of 600,000, the idea was simple: create a car-free street during the summer months and let the community decide what to do with the space. For a period of two months, 25 streets have been transformed into a perfect playground for kids. The crux of the idea is: […]
Infrastructure the key to Dutch cycling success
In the majority of western countries, car culture has grown at the expense of cycling, according to Streetsblog. But not in Holland. The Dutch chose to develop infrastructure that supported and enhanced the safety and convenience of riding a bike. According to A view from the cycle path, contributor David Hembrow, “Dutch people are empowered to […]
Amsterdam runs out of bicycle parking
It’s a problem that most cities can only imagine…to have exhausted the supply of bike parking! It could only be Amsterdam, a city of 800,000, whose inhabitants own an estimated 880,000 bikes — four times the number of cars in their garages. The ridership statistics are impressive – reportedly 58% of the population use a […]