Event - Climate Ride California

Climate Ride California will take place on May 19 - 23, 2013. Rider will go from Fortuna, CA to San Francisco, CA. Climate Ride California begins near Eureka in the midst of Northern California's majestic redwoods. From there they travel along the coast, soaking in expansive ocean views and coastal bluffs. On the fourth day, they will pedal inland along the Russian River to cruise through California's famed Wine Country, considered some of the best cycling in the US. The final day is an epic ride goes through Marin and across the Golden Gate Bridge to reach the final destination, San Francisco. Climate Ride is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that organizes life-changing charitable events to raise awareness and support sustainability, bike advocacy, and environmental causes.

The BIXI Bike Rental System

BIXI is a public bicycle sharing system launched in May 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The name BIXI is a combination of the words bicycle and taxi. In addition to Montreal, the BIXI system is present in the Canadian cities of Ottawa/Gatineau and Toronto as well as Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., London England and Melbourne, Australia

In Montreal, the system provides more than 5,000 bicycles and 400 stations located around Montreal's central core. BIXI marked its one-millionth ride on October 26, 2009. In Montreal, it took a loan guarantee from the City to put the BIXI bike-rental system back on solid ground after the company that operates the service ran into financial problems. But Roger Plamondon, the head of Public Bike System Co., insists the company is not threatened despite liquidity problems.

"All we are asking is give us a chance, we have a business plan, we beat our first year business plan last year, we are on track to doing the same thing this year," he said.

The City of Montreal approved a $108-million bailout package for the Bixi bike-sharing program. The package includes $37-million to cover Bixi's deficit, and another $71-million in loan guarantees to export and develop the system abroad.

Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said the loan guarantee was necessary to allow BIXI to grow on the international scene.

"If we continue to sell for example to New York, Vancouver, San Francisco and other cities, then we'll generate revenues and we'll offset the shortfall that we have at the local level," Trembay said.

Tremblay said he's not worried that the reputation of BIXI will be harmed, noting that Time magazine recognized it as one of the best inventions of 2008."We're going from a small business to a medium business and we're putting in place all the guarantees and the mechanisms to make sure we'll have access to all information." Toronto and London, England, guaranteed similar loans to set up the BIXI system in their respective cities.

Public Bike System Company president Alain Ayotte said "We are in line with the financial plan, and we are very confident that we will continue to be highly profitable," said Ayotte.

The bike rentals cost $5 for 24 hours, $12 for 72 hours, $28 for 30 days or $78 for a year, plus additional fees for trips longer than 30 minutes from one bike station to another.

Employers are encouraged to join the program and add more stations. Public Works and Government Services Canada has announced it will add a station in Gatineau and the NCC is talking to Environment Canada about adding a 12th station in Canada's capitol region. The cost to a business of putting a bike rental station in a parking lot is about $20,000 over a three-year contract.

The system is accessible to everyone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To subscribe, or to obtain more information about BIXI please visit bixi.com.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day - A Growing Movement

Sometimes, the greatest way to make an environmental impact is through individual action. Bike to Work Day is an annual, national day of local action where individual bikers make the decision to ride their bike to work. As they meet up with other bikers, their numbers grow to visually demonstrate a growing popular movement. In Washington, DC, the government is responding with programs to accommodate and encourage more bicyclists.

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Bike to Work Day

The League of American Bicyclists is the national sponsor of an annual Bike Month event and this year Bike to Work Week is May 16th through the 20th. Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 20th. Bike to Work Day was originated by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956 and is celebrated across the US and Canada to promote the bicycle as an option for commuting to work.

Fossil fuel powered vehicles are responsible for pollution, including air and noise pollution. Transportation is the leading causes of global warming and it also uses over 70 percent of the oil consumed in the US. Bicycling cuts down on pollution and cycling is an efficient mode of transport. In the US, 40 percent of trips are 2 miles or less, perfect distances for bicycling. The League of American Bicyclists indicate that more than half of the US population lives within five miles of their workplace.

Using bicycles can significantly can reduce our carbon footprint on the earth. They say cars are the single largest source of US air pollution and short trips are up to three times more polluting per mile than long trips. They say if we rode our bikes on those short trips 3.6 pounds of pollutants per mile would not be emitted into the atmosphere.

The League of American Bicyclists predicts Bike to Work Day will have one million participants.

"We've been celebrating Bike to Work Day for more than 50 years," said Andy Clarke, the league's president, "and there's never been a better time for people to try this commuting option. More and more cities are putting in bike lanes, trails and parking for bikes, and as gas prices go up and congestion gets worse, biking looks like an increasingly attractive choice."

The US Census Bureau found that in 2008, about 800,000 people nationwide used a bicycle as the primary means of transportation to work.That was an increase of 61 percent, or almost 300,000 people, since 2000. But overall, bicycling still represents just 0.5 percent of commuting transportation; automobiles are 89 percent, and public transportation is nearly all of the rest. With gas prices near $4 a gallon have made a growing number of people are seeing the wisdom of cycling.

The League of American Bicyclists say over 66% of the adult US population is overweight and 32% of people in the US are obese. They indicate that there is a disturbing lack of exercise amongst children with one child out of every 4 being overweight. Research shows that a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity three days a week can reduce incidents of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Although it is widely known that cycling is good for the environment and part of a healthy lifestyle for riders, it also saves money. The average American spends about $8,758 or 15 percent of their income a year on transportation, largely on automobiles. If you add in the increased cost of healthcare from air and water pollution and climate change, and other externalities, the cost is much higher.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Best Eco-Inventions of 2009: Transportation

The Nissan Leaf: Launched in August, the Leaf is the first fully electric mass production vehicle built for the global market. Nissan has developed a worldwide network of partners focused on building a recharging infrastructure. The car's top speed is more than 90 m.p.h. (145 km/h), and its range is 100 miles (160 km) on a full charge. Nissan will produce 50,000 Leafs each starting in the fall of 2010.

Air Car: A San Jose, California based company called Magnetic Car Care says that a car that runs on air and magnets will be available in 2010, India's largest automaker already has an air powered Car. The Tata Motors car runs on compressed air and reportedly costs less than $18,000.

YikeBike Electric Bicycle: It weighs about 20 pounds, runs on a lithium phosphate battery, folds into a small carrying bag, and moves at up to 12 MPH.

World First F3: A Formula 3 race car developed at the University of Warwick runs on a mix of chocolate and vegetable oil, has a coating on its radiator that converts ozone emissions into oxygen, and components made with carrot fibers, potato starch and cashew shells.
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Next: The Best Eco-Inventions of 2009: Consumer Goods / The Best Eco-Inventions of 2009: Education / The Best Eco-Inventions of 2009: Food and Water

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