America's Most Walkable, Cyclist-Friendly Cities

More people walk to work in Cambridge, Mass., than any

other large city in the country. Wikimedia Commons

The Most Walkable Cities and How Some Are Making Strides

Nationally, only a small fraction of people walk to work. But some cities' policy and planning efforts are making walking an everyday means of commuting. View data and maps for dozens of U.S. cities.

by Mike Maciag | 

 

Densely populated neighborhoods, commercial district city squares and multiple public transit lines all span the city of Cambridge, Mass., creating an environment ideal for walking.
The most recent Census counts estimate nearly a quarter of the city’s residents walk to work, far more than any other larger U.S. city.

Many localities across the country are continuing to push policies and planning initiatives aimed at making communities more walkable. Recent census figures depict a wide variation in commuting habits among the nation’s urban centers, showing some have done much more than others.

Read the Rest at Governing

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Santa Would LOVE This Kind of ELF!

Dig On This!
The Velomobile ELF electric assist recumbent three wheeled bicycle...

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New way to go Electric-assist trike sports solar panels, cover and a trunk

The ELF, which comes with two cloth shopping bags to hang in a carrying compartment in the rear, weighs less than 150 pounds, carries a load of up to 350 pounds, travels up to 20 mph on battery power, recharges in less than an hour by charger or seven hours by sunlight, and has a battery range of 20 miles. Organic Transit’s logo on the back of the oversized tricycle even makes it look like you’re taking the T when you’re riding in it.

“You motor to work, you don’t get there all shvitzy, and on the way home have your workout,” said Rosenberg. “That’s the thought behind it. How brilliant.”

To get started, you climb in over the aluminum frame, which supports a recycled-plastic shell, and climb into a slung seat which puts the driver about level with automobile drivers. Since there’s no reverse gear, backing up means using your feet on the ground a la Fred Flintstone, then start pedaling and click on the battery to boost as needed.

Goldman, who also ordered her green ELF on Kickstarter, found Rosenberg and Talmage realizing that shipping the velomobiles in protective crates was seriously driving up their costs. She tracked down others that could be delivered to Pennsylvania and New England on a truck with the vehicles tied on back, and as soon as hers was delivered Wednesday, she loaded it down with bread for the Amherst market.

“It’s fun,” said Goldman, who on Thursday used it to get to the South Hadley farmers market, then to a concert in Northampton, and finally back to Amherst, learning the need to maneuver around potholes and bumps, for which her mountain bike is more forgiving.

[Peter] Talmage, an engineer who’s had electric bikes to ride to his teaching job at Greenfield Community College, said, “The ELF offered the opportunity I could use in all sorts of weather. I’m amazed at what they put together, and at the completeness of what they offer.”

The trike comes with a 10 amp-hour, 48-volt battery, that’s one-third the weight of a car battery with a little less storage capacity, but should lasts 10 times longer, Talmage said. And the vehicle’s 60-watt solar panel is lightweight and replaces a roof panel “as a simple way to regenerate a lot of electricity while you’re just parked in a parking lot somewhere.”

Read More at The Greenfield Recorder

Transbay site work reaches milestone

by Jessica Kwong

Sixty-five feet below ground level between Mission, Howard, Second and Beale streets, crews working on the Transbay Transit Center project reached a quiet milestone.


A 10- to 12-hour concrete pour completed Saturday was the last one necessary until excavation wraps up early next year. That makes 10 mat slab pours to date, each between 4,000 to 6,000 cubic yards of concrete. Rail tracks will eventually sit on the slabs.

“This is achieving a big milestone for our project,” said project superintendent Jordan Smith of Webcor/Obayashi, the general contractor, at the site Wednesday. “Essentially half of the project has mat slab. What that allows us to do is continue on schedule on the walls and columns and rebar on one side.”
Construction has made good time, with the foundation for the western half of the 600,000-cubic-yard hole in the ground already set with mat slab.

The multilayer process started in early September and involved drilling 65-foot-long micropiles on the dirt base to anchor the coming structure, four inches of concrete slab, a waterproofing layer, another 4 inches of concrete slab, rebar reinforcement and finally 5 feet of mat slab that Caltrain and high-speed rail will arrive on.

Dirt is still visible in the easternmost portion of San Francisco’s biggest hole in the ground, with excavation slated to end in mid-January. The final mat slab pours will occur in mid-February.

Read more at SFExaminer.com

BART Strike Commute Alternatives: Bike-to-Bus, to Work!

BART Strike Commute Alternatives: Buses, Ferries, Telecommuting

With a BART strike looking increasingly likely, here are some alternatives for getting around.

 

By Sasha Lekach, Bay City News Service

With the likelihood of a BART strike effective [shortly], many Bay Area commuters will have to find alternate ways to get to and from work and other destinations with the strike possibly extending into the weekend.

BART will provide a limited number of free roundtrip charter buses at nine East Bay BART stations starting Friday morning. Buses will pick up ticketed passengers at El Cerrito del Norte, West Oakland, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Dublin/Pleasanton, San Leandro, Hayward and Fremont stations starting at 5 a.m.

BART officials said there will be five to 15 buses at each station. The buses will drop off passengers at San Francisco's Temporary Transbay Terminal. On the return trip, riders will board buses between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the terminal. Those buses will go to West Oakland, where transfers can be made to other buses heading to various East Bay destinations.

[See Patch's list of transportation alternatives in the East Bay.]

Excerpt reblogged via Patch.com.

Please Read the full story here.