Bikenomics News Roundup

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Bikenomics is coming out in just a month and a half. And I’ve got a kickstarter project running to fund the book and a tour. But I stopped making edits months ago, and the ideas and conversations in the book have already been continuing in my head. Once you read it, they’ll be continuing in yours—perhaps you’ll have arguments, things to add, new and totally different ideas. I know I do! Note: The Kickstarter project has been fully funded. You can now order the book directly.

Now’s a good time, then, to start carving out space for an evolving conversation. Bikenomics, beyond the book. To that end, here are some recent news and blog links about topics that are integral to the book. Read, enjoy, and feel free to add suggestions in the comments.

– Policy Mic makes “the case for a carfree future”—as good and concise a summary of a huge number of the issues as I’ve seen. It took me a whole book to make these points!

– An anthropologist notices a linguistic quirk that shows how bike-related equity initiatives can have a hard time taking off, or even being talked about to begin with, and asks: “Is the bicycle movement too cynical for social justice?”

– Kolkata, India is providing a case study of what happens when you essentially criminalize bicycling in a major city as a way to deal with traffic congestion (though some say the ban is an act of outright class warfare). Fortunately, the people are rising up.

– A US research group believes that half of all premature deaths can be directly linked to air pollution; half of which they say is caused by cars and trucks.

– Finally, and on a wholly positive note, a video: StreetFilms’ Clarence Eckerson traveled to the world’s most bike-friendly city, Groningen in the Netherlands, where half of all travel is done by bicycle. Take a good, long look, dream big, and never give up.

(Want more like this? I also frequently share news links on Twitter and on the Bikenomics Facebook page.)