Personal Transit
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Evaluation of Shared Low-Speed Link to Public Transit Finds Demand Higher Among Day Users Than Commuters
November 29, 2008
Researchers from the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis have published an evaluation of the results of the 16-month EasyConnect field test in the San Francisco Bay area. EasyConnect was launched in August 2005 to test and evaluate the potential for a shared-use low-speed mode vehicle service at bridging the “last mile” from a public transit station to the workplace. The program used electric bicycles, non-motorized bicycles, and Segway Human Transporters (HTs). (Earlier post.)
Although in concept the program was more focused on commuters, the results of the analysis found higher demand among day users (e.g., for lunch, errands, and business meetings) than among commuters (i.e., getting from the public transit station to work and back). The electric bicycle had the highest low-speed mode share (68%) relative to the conventional bicycle or the Segway HT for commute travel; for day use, however, the Segway had the highest share (52%).
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MIT Bringing Smart Biking Project to Copenhagen; Prototype Hybrid Bicycle
October 12, 2008
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| Exploded image of rear wheel of prototype hybrid smart bicycle. Battery, motor and electronics are all packed in the rear wheel. Click to enlarge. Credit: MIT |
MIT researchers at its SENSEable City Laboratory have unveiled a project in Copenhagen aimed at transforming bicycle use, promoting urban sustainability and building new connections between the city’s cyclists. The project, called SmartBiking, will utilize a novel self-organizing smart-tag system that will allow the city’s residents to exchange basic information and share their relative positioning with each other.
As part of the project, a prototype of a smart bicycle is being developed in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab’s Smart Cities Group. This hybrid bicycle harvests the energy created when braking and releases it while cycling. All hybrid-drive elements, including the battery, are packed in the rear wheel, which becomes a self-contained component that could be retrofitted on most existing bicycles.
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Toshiba SCiB Li-Ion Battery Debuts in a Schwinn E-Bike
September 25, 2008
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| SCiB module and Schwinn Tailwind. Click to enlarge. |
Cannondale Sports Group, a global provider of branded bicycles and a division of Dorel Industries, Inc., has selected the new Toshiba fast-charging SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery) lithium-ion battery (earlier post) to provide the power battery module for a new electric bicycle for the North American and European markets.
Toshiba’s SCiB 24V/4.2Ah module will be installed in the Tailwind, a new electric bicycle Cannondale Sports Group will bring to market under the Schwinn Bicycles brand. Commercial launch of the Tailwind is scheduled for early 2009.
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UC Davis Study Concludes That the Ongoing Rapid Growth of Electric Two-Wheelers in China Could Drive Further Electrification of Transport Sector
May 11, 2008
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| Motorized vehicle sales in China. Click to enlarge. Source: J. Weinert et. al. (2008) |
The market for electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) in China is booming; by 2006, the annual sales of E2Ws—which were virtually non-existent in the 1990s—almost equaled those of gasoline two-wheelers (G2W) (see chart at right). A new report from a team at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies analyzes the E2W phenomenon.
The authors—Jonathan Weinert, Joan Ogden, Dan Sperling, and Andrew Burke—conclude that the balance of forces driving and resisting E2W growth appears to favor ongoing E2W growth. This growth in turn will likely drive further vehicle electrification through continued innovation in batteries and motors, the switch from lead-acid to Li-ion batteries in E2Ws, and the development of larger E2Ws and EVs.
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Mayor of London Unveils Major Walking and Cycling Programs; City to Spend Almost US$1B on Cycling Over Next Decade
February 11, 2008
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, announced a major package of five programs to create a new network of quick, simple, and safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians that represents the largest investment in walking and cycling in the city’s history. The plan also makes cycling a fully-funded part of the public transport network for the first time.
The city of London is implementing these measures with the aim of having one in ten round trips in London each day made by bike, and saving some 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year as Londoners increasingly walk or cycle for short trips instead of taking their cars.
