Carfree Times: March 2010
Don’t miss the latest issue of Carfree Times, available at J.H. Crawford’s web carfree.com!
Read the whole issue here.
Feature Article
Blog
Design & Innovation
Shoe-Free Transportation
Have a look at this strange construction. Is it a new fashionable toy for the urban citizen, lacking nature, a new method of generating green energy or a demonstration to protest against experiments on animals in cosmetic factories?
Not at all, this is a creation designed in 2006 by a group of students from Dalhousie School [...]
Media Club
For the thrill of it
I sold my car on Friday, November 28, 2008 to the first person who came to see it. That was as far ahead as I planned for my new status of “carlessness”. Irresponsible? Perhaps. But not knowing what was going to happen, wondering how one lives without a car, it was all close to thrilling for me! And [...]
Car Cult Review
Absurd Driving Laws
For your entertainment, a small non-exhaustive list of absurd driving laws:
- In Utah, US, all kinds of birds have the right of way on any highways.
- In China, drivers who stop at pedestrian crossings may receive a fine or a warning under Article 40 of the Beijing Traffic Laws.
- You can’t ride a camel in [...]
Interview
Carfree Creatives
In March 2009 Martin Kaltwasser and Folke Köbberling, two artists from Berlin, Germany, took part in the car cult exhibition in Prague along with Carbusters. Their works, which include Crushed Cayenne, a white wood sculpture Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and bicycle made from recycled car parts, depict the occupation of public space and wastefulness of [...]
Action Report
Mumbai Bicycle Betterment
As one of the world’s densest urban areas, (18 million people), the city of Mumbai, India is choking – from congestion on the roadways and footpaths, and smog that hangs in the hot, humid air. If an open space appears, it is quickly filled with variety of buildings, vehicles, people, and animals. The city presents a [...]
World News
Time to scrap the scrappage schemes?
This has been the year we all became familiar with the term “scrappage scheme”. It refers to governments subsidies (sometimes backed by the auto industry) given to consumers for buying a new car and scrapping their old one. Although some countries introduced these kinds of schemes long before the economic downturn, they spread around the [...]
Member Profile
The Bicycling Empowerment Network
Cape Town, and indeed South Africa, has first and third world communities living alongside one another. As a result of almost 50 years of legislated apartheid – during which time entire communities were removed from healthy, clean and socially integrated areas to racially separated, remote and dusty “townships” – access to opportunities was forcefully removed [...]
Book Review
Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space
Two urban planning professors have written an entire book about sidewalks, 330 pages on this part of the transportation infrastructure built for non-motorists. (Cultural note: Since both authors live and work in the United States, they use the term sidewalk not pavement, footpath or platform.) The book considers sidewalks as [...]
Carfree City
San Luis Potosi: Paving the way for Carfree Conversions in Mexico
San Luis Potosi (SLP) is the capital city of the homonymous state located in the central-northern part of Mexico. The city, founded in 1592, was originally composed of seven districts (barrios in Spanish) each with their own churches and gardens. In the past the city was known as the “Gardens City” because of its many green and beautiful areas.
