one.point.zero - Colin O'Brien's weblog
June 17 2011
Paging all the nimby shopkeepers who go mental as soon as a single parking spot gets removed: Bicycle Infrastructure Is Good For Business.
July 12 2010
Highway propaganda vs reality
April 08 2010
The colonising powers of the car“human societies generally now accept that many people will be killed and seriously injured by a technology we think is necessary”
January 21 2010
The open-source hydrogen car set to change the industry.
October 26 2009
Is Happiness Still That New Car Smell?
August 14 2009
Total walking distance: a quarter mile.
June 19 2009
Sounding off: One planet, one million DJs.
May 14 2009
Life without cars in a German suburb“70 percent of Vauban's families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move here”
January 09 2009
The mobib smart card used for public transport in Brussels is not as secure as they make it out to be.
December 16 2008
Ditch the car and lose weight“Countries with the highest levels of active transportation generally had the lowest obesity rates”
August 04 2008
A new BBC series overlays multiple types of data over satellite imagery to show things like traffic patterns and phone chatter spread.
August 03 2008
The market is adapting: increasing oil prices are moving manufacturing back closer to the customers.
June 12 2008
The latest rundown on peak oil from the Independent.
May 07 2008
Death of the SUV. No surprise there.
February 13 2008
The meat trade is already a cruel one but I didn't know they transported animals over long distances in atrocious conditions just so they could be sold with a local label on the package.
February 09 2008
Word of the day: sodcasting. The act of playing music through the speaker on a mobile phone, usually on public transport.
January 09 2008
After self-service bikes, self-service electric cars may hit the streets of Paris.
October 20 2007
Warning: this vehicle may seriously damage your health.
October 14 2007
Bikes still seen as socially inferior by many“The richest fifth of the population cycle on average 2½ times as far in a year as the poorest fifth.”
October 02 2007
Interesting bike rental system for commuters being tested in the Netherlands at the moment: the bike dispenser.
September 14 2007
Dates for your agenda starting October 3rd: a series of midday conferences concerning automobile pressure on the city of Brussels.
July 16 2007
Electric buses were already on trial at the beginning of last century in London.
July 08 2007
Tube ticket redesign
Some great ideas in the tube ticket redesign competition at The Serif. I particularly like the one below.
Brussels' tickets could seriously do with a redesign too.
Brussels' tickets could seriously do with a redesign too.
July 01 2007
Nice rundown on the pros and cons of air travel versus other means of transport.
June 07 2007
Tell the EU to make cars more fuel-efficient.
May 15 2007
Belgian bus builder Van Hool has introduced a hydrogen-powered bus. It's subsidised like crazy though, so it remains to see when we'll spot a fleet of them somewhere.
April 19 2007
Drive one day less and look how much carbon monoxide you'll keep out of the air we breathe
February 10 2007
Start thinking beyond the car“Get this: the cars are not part of the solution (whether they run on fossil fuels, vodka, used frymax oil, or cow shit). They are at the heart of the problem. And trying to salvage the entire Happy Motoring system by shifting it from gasoline to other fuels will only make things much worse.”
December 24 2006
TNT will be using electric trucks for deliveries within London. Electric vehicles are exempt from the congestion charge, which goes to show it can do more than just reduce traffic, it can influence practices.
December 13 2006
The modern automobile uses just one percent of its energy to move its occupants, the rest is used to move the big hunk of metal and glass that it is, power the gadgets, and a big chunk is simply lost as heat.
September 14 2006
Projects for driverless electric taxis and other autonomous public transport in Europe.
August 30 2006
Photos of the extraordinary passengers spotted in the Moscow subway
July 02 2006
The most efficient mode of transport is the bicycle.
June 23 2006
A study has shown drivers of 4x4 vehicles, feeling safer, are more likely to take risks on the road such as using their phones at the wheel or not fastening their seatbelts. My observations while cycling in the city are generally identical; I give those types of vehicle a very wide berth.
June 03 2006
Dr. Millar on replacing oil with other fuels“The answer appears to be a clear no. Not by a long shot.”
May 30 2006
It takes the spirit of cycling to sell cars now?
May 25 2006
It certainly feels like this is what I have behind me on the road sometimes.
May 23 2006
It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. So, who Killed The Electric Car?
May 20 2006
62% of Stockholm residents would like to keep the vehicle congestion charge which is currently running as a test there. When it was first introduced, the great majority was against it.