Out of Town

Environmentally-conscious citizens of India aren't alone in their concern about the rollout of the Tata Nano, the "world's cheapest car." But in an op-ed piece for Forbes, Projjal Dutta, the director of sustainability initiatives for the MTA, writes that American critics should look to their own example if they expect developing nations to follow a more sustainable path.

The AP reports that Boston is looking to launch a bike-share program -- and not the skimpy, half-hearted variety:

The word "change" gets thrown around a lot these days, yet a lot of people still have trouble picturing what "change" would look like when it comes to transportation.  Change is about more than increasing the number of buses and painting sharrows; it's a vision of reclaiming streets for people instead of cars. 

If you've read this BBC story currently making the rounds, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Vélib, Paris's wildly popular bike-share system, has suddenly been afflicted by an epidemic of theft and vandalism that threatens its very existence. Vélib bikes have been "torched," strung up from lamp-posts, and smuggled across borders, the Beeb reports in alarmist tones. A spokesman for JCDecaux, the outdoor advertising firm that operates Vélib, calls its contract with the city of Paris "unsustainable," and the whole system is referred to in the past tense.

Inauguration parade rehearsal. Photo: Travir/Flickr As many as four million people are expected to descend on the National Mall today for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th President. Contending with that mass of humanity has left officials with no choice but to implement temporary policies to get people in and out of … Continued

"Atip's" Friends and Family Gather Around His Ghost Bike Last July