Jay Walljasper writes that bike-sharing programs are transforming life in European cities from Oslo to Rome, Barcelona to Vienna, and giving visitors a great new way to sightsee.
"In the past year and a half, the City of Lights has become the City of Bikes, with 20,600 public bikes plying the streets as part of the Vélib' (which means, roughly, "free bikes") system that opened in July 2007.
Eric Britton, an American-born transportation consultant living in Paris, has closely studied the system and stresses the Vélib' is not simply another way to bike but a new 21st-century form of transportation offering many of the advantages of both cars and transit. "Think of them as tiny transit vehicles you can pick up where you want, when you want, to go exactly where you want and then leave them there," he says. "They offer the same door-to-door convenience of the car but without all the problems- from parking to traffic jams to pollution to sprawl."
FULL STORY: Europe on Two Wheels

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
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Planning for Universal Design
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