cartky.org

or
"One way - or Another - We're Gonna Getcha."

People talk a lot about how Portland is a model bicycle community. Through aggressuve engineering and forsightful land use they've managed to create a city that is easy for the everyman or everywoman to bike in. Last year they were recognised as the first major American city to earn the "Platinum" level bicycle friendly community designation from the League of American Bicyclists. Jeff Mapes devotes an entire chapter of his book "Pedalling Revolution" to Portland. Recession notwithstanding, Portland has managed to prosper and has the "creative class" emigrating there in droves. That's the sunny, happy model of bicycle adoption.

But there's another, darker, model. Detroit has shrunk so much, that there's more than enough infrastructure left for bicycles and drivers to "share the road". As a result, some residents are hailing it as a bicycling utopia-in-waiting.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country hangs in a balance between the two visions. As oil prices continue to rachet back up, will we respond by quickly adopting the Portland model, and prospering? Or will we collapse like Detroit, and all have to ride bicycles because that's what we can afford. The rest of the country is poised on the top of the oil bubble, not sure yet if they'll fall left or right. The only way they don't go either left or right is if the automotive energy crisis is solved - Good luck with that!

Okay, so the headline was a little overdone. But I needed to get your attention somehow. And with Obama doing all sorts of fancy rail stuff, no one is paying attention to all the cool stuff happening on the utility bike scene. 

Joe Bike in Portland Oregon recently released their utility bike.  At $2699, it's a bit pricey, but is still a lot less than a car, and you can carry people and/or lots of stuff on it.  There is also a lot of buzz these days about Madsen's utility bike, which debuted at Interbike last year. Modeled after the Dutch bakfiets, but having a basket in the back, it is a bit cheaper at $1299.  The company, based in Salt Lake City, popped on the scene quite recently. Don't know what they were doing before, but I like what they're doing now.

Nice to see some U.S.-based companies getting people interested in showing people just what bikes can do!

On April 16, 11:30-12:30, the local chapter of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics is sponsoring a presentation by a representative of the Energy Information Administration of their "Energy Outlook 2009" report at the Convention Center. This is the report referenced in the article below that stated non-OPEC oil production peaked five years ago. In the attached announcement, the presentation is described as follows:

Key aspects of results from the Energy Information Administration’s "Annual Energy Outlook 2009" (released December 2008) will be presented. Particular focus will be on issues that indicate how America’s energy future is changing, with an emphasis on electricity generation. 

Note the RSVP request in the announcement (pdf).

The availability and price of gasoline are not really on my radar.  I bike as my primary means of transportation and use TARC as a backup plan.  However, I know that gasoline prices have been going up steadily. I have heard rumors that gasoline is harder to get after this weekend's windstorm, due to interruptions in the supply and gas stations being closed due to lack of electrcity.  I have seen long lines at the gas pumps.  However, I have been amazed by the fact that I still see hordes of people out cruising around in their motor vehicles. I am amazed by my neighbors' willingness to burn gasoline to run their generator so they can watch TV. So when I saw this entry on the blog Sustainable77095, I could relate:

The burn rate on road construction has exceeded the collection rate for gas taxes for some time now. This month the savings built up in the past are running out, and the Feds are cutting smaller, pro-rated checks, with a promise to pay back the difference "in the future". This will mean many states without savings of their own - which I suspect includes Kentucky, but not Indiana - will have to curtail road construction.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/us/06highway.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Via the Courier-Journal: Gas costs take bigger slice of incomes in Ky., Ind.

Tuesday, July 22nd at 7pm at The Village 8 Theater.

View the trailer.

From www.gasholemovie.com:

"GasHole" is a new documentary film about the history of Oil prices and the future of alternative fuels.

So how do you get goods to market with zero oil? Right now, you don't. In the future though, it could be done even in the US, if we use this plan for electrifying our national railroad system.

The system is elegant in its construction plan. In the great plains there isn't a lot of electricity to support electrified rail, but there are huge rights of way already ceded to the railroad companies, and they can ship out giant cranes along the rail, and use it to erect massive windmills to power the freight. With the savings in truck traffic on our highway, and thus road wear, we may find that this project pays for itself.

The Oil Drum: Multiple Birds – One Silver BB: A synergistic set of solutions to multiple issues focused on Electrified Railroads

How did we get to $145/barrel oil wrecking our economy? Read "American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot". It includes a history of gasoline taxes and CAFE fleet milage standards at the national level.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1819594,00.html

TIME Magazine lists "10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas." Some are obvious (less pollution? really?), but there are a few surprises, such as "more cops on the beat." My favorite line: "cops are being told to cut down on idling their cruisers — which is sort of like telling a teenager to stop using his cell phone."