Bob Lutz is a former vice chairman and head of product development at General Motors. Recently, he had this to say about the future of the auto industry. Here are a couple of powerful snippets: It saddens me to say it, but we are approaching… Read More
All posts tagged “transport”
The 10 most promising Hyperloop routes (and thoughts on the naysayers)
On September 14, 2017, Hyperloop One announced the 10 winners of its Global Challenge. These are the world’s “most promising” Hyperloop routes; selected through a process that began in May 2016 and involved more than 2,600 registered teams. The winners: Canada | Toronto-Montreal India |… Read More
Transit advertising according to the numbers
This morning I saw this tweet about Toronto streetcar advertising. The author has a “big problem” with public transit being fully wrapped in ads and so she decided to tweet her local Councillor to see if these could be somehow limited in size. My first thought… Read More
Blaze Laserlights
This is a great idea: It is a bicycle light – by a London-based company called Blaze – that forward projects a bicycle symbol 6m in front of you as you ride. It also has a really bright white light. They will be (or have… Read More
Local rail-driven agglomeration economies
This morning I came across the below graph in a Medium article by Eric Jaffe of Sidewalk Labs. It is taken from a research paper by Elisabeth Ruth Perlman called, Dense Enough To Be Brilliant: Patents, Urbanization, and Transportation in Nineteenth Century America. What this… Read More
Revisiting road pricing
Following the Toronto Transit Commission’s approval of a 10-cent fare hike, Cherise Burda of the Ryerson City Building Institute penned an article titled: It’s time for Toronto to consider road tolls. I am a big supporter of road pricing and I have written a lot… Read More
The master plan
I’m going through and dissecting Elon Musk’s second “Master Plan” this morning. I love how he drops earth-shattering news in such a casual and honest way. Two days ago he tweeted that he was planning to pull an all-nighter to complete the “master product plan.” And then… Read More
Crowdsourcing unsafe cycling conditions with a small yellow handlebar button
Hövding – a Swedish company best known for its radical airbag cycling helmets (definitely check these out) – is currently crowdsourcing unsafe conditions and cyclist frustration in London. Working with the London Cyclist Campaign, they distributed 500 yellow handlebar buttons. Cyclists were then instructed to… Read More
Toronto exploring road pricing on downtown highways
Road pricing is on the table in Toronto. (Somebody has to fund the expensive Gardiner Expressway East rebuild.) On March 11, 2016, the City issued a Request for Proposal for: “Options for Establishment of Toll Facilities on F.G. Gardiner Expressway/Don Valley Parkway.” As a vocal supporter… Read More
Boondoggle or architectural icon?
Today, the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, opened up – at least partially – in New York City. Given that it was originally supposed to open in 2009 and cost about half as much (original budget was $2.2 billion),… Read More