You may laugh at him and his video, just like I did. But being a bicyclist, or even a pedestrian, in a car-centric world is dangerous and could easily get you killed. For example. In the UK cyclists made up only 0.5% of the total traffic but accounted for 5% of the entire number of road deaths and 11% of the serious injuries during 2009. The report, done by the road safety charity Brake, also concluded that “while road casualties overall had decreased, cyclist deaths and injuries had not”.

And a recently released report shows that between 2000 and 2009 more than 47000 pedestrians were killed in the USA. The study also shows that more than 668000 other pedestrians were injured because of accidents.

“The Transportation for America report asserts that transportation agencies across the country continue to design infrastructure with only vehicle traffic in mind. “It’s a serious problem that doesn’t get a lot of attention,” said Michelle Ernst, who wrote the report.

Most pedestrian deaths occur on “arterial” roadways, designed for traffic without sidewalks or bike lanes to accommodate walkers or cyclists, the report said.”

But luckily there are cities where they have bicycles and pedestrians in mind when they design their streets and transportation systems.

Mayors from 400 cities around Europe have signed the Covenant of Mayors agreement and promised to go beyond EU’s 20% by 2020 energy and climate goals.

The whole idea with the Covenant of Mayors pact is to “go beyond” EU’s 20% greenhouse gas emission cuts and 20% renewable energy by 2020. The German city Hamburg plans to reduce emissions by 40 percent by 2020. Paris on the other hand says it hopes to reduce emissions by 25 percent over the same period.

EU’s Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the plan, which will affect 80 million Europeans, is equivalent to reforest each year a surface larger than the whole of Hungary, or taking out from the streets more than 35 million cars or closing down 20 coal-fired 50MW power plants. At a conservative estimation the plan will save around €8 billion ($10.4 billion) in energy costs every year.

“Most of the energy produced in Europe is consumed in urban areas. The battle against climate change will have to fought and won in the cities. This is why, the commitment shown by Mayors across Europe by signing the Covenant of Mayors send us a strong message of hope, particularly in the difficult times that we are facing “, said Commissioner Piebalgs.

Cities in non-EU member states have also backed the climate change agreement. These include cities in Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, Turkey, Buenos Aires, Argentina and New Zealand. In USA the New York mayor Michael Bloomberg backed the EU plan and said his city would aim to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

Committee of the Regions President Luc Van den Brande, speaking at the signing ceremony, said that the plan “is not for big cities alone” and that “smaller cities and towns, as well as regions as a whole” should make the environmental pledge:

“The Covenant of Mayors is an excellent initiative which will continue to grow in partnership with the Committee of the Regions. Europe’s ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases will only be met when European local and regional authorities pull together and become involved as partners. The Covenant is not for big cities alone: smaller cities and towns, as well as regions as a whole, should also be encouraged to sign the Covenant and make the environmental pledge. The Committee of the Regions is also exploring the idea of creating a network for cities and regions signed up to the Covenant, helping them to share best practice ideas and experience.”

Photo credit: Mossaiq

Where you live determines many things about who you are. Whether it is your quality of education, cultural awareness or general health, it’s all about location location location. Being green is no exception. Currently I am visiting Madrid, and I keep wondering to myself “how easy it for the citizens to be green?” It is Southern Europe after all so we know they use less gas, electricity and water than we do in the US, which is mainly caused by much higher prices of those commodities here and that the region has serious issues with droughts in the summer. But the whole story is not explained by price. After all, I am a tourist who doesn’t pay any utilities here, but I am still being green(er) than usual because of the Madrid infrastructure.

First off, Madrid actually has a city-wide recycling system unlike Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC (all places I’ve called home at one point or another). There are giant recycling bins dotted throughout the city, clearly labeled so even a foreigner like myself whose Spanish is not the best, can understand. I have seen them in every stage of varying stages of overflowing to nearly empty, but the key thing is that they are being used and used correctly. I’m not sure what the residential recycling system is yet, what kind of things they take or even if there is one, but it’s only my second night here.

Secondly, the infrastructure is there to use water efficiently in both city parks and businesses. At my hostel (Cat’s Hostel) all faucets are on timers (very, very short timers) which practically makes all showers navy showers. But since the user has no control over how the water runs, I can’t stop it when I just wanted to quickly rinse my hands or tooth brush. As far as water management goes, I think that is still a net plus although slightly inconvenient (which raises questions about the efficiency vs. convenient chart).

Thirdly, the city of Madrid gets major points for irrigating its flora properly using drip irrigation and not sprinklers in el Parque de Buen Retiro (its central park). I do not understand why other cities and organizations (like my school Georgetown) do not use this exceedingly simple and efficient form of watering.

Finally, every toilet I have seen here (and that I noticed on my trip to Israel last year) has the two types of flush capability; one for liquid waste and the other for both types. I have yet to figure out how to do it properly though which tells us two things. I am probably a fool for not being able to figure it out (much like Sylvester Stalone in Demolition Man) and that you have to give people more than just the resources to be efficient or green, you have to let them know how to use them properly.

But now the campaign has run into some problems. Apple, the computer company, doesn’t like the GreeNYC logo – which resembles an apple.

Apple has filed a formal opposition (.pdf) arguing that the GreeNYC logo will cause “mass confusion and ruining Apple’s good reputation.”

The logo is being displayed on advertisements, public transportation systems and other similar places and products. For example the logo will be on a limited-edition 100% organic cotton shopping bag.

In 6-9 months a decision is expected to be made by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the patent office in favour of New York or Apple. Wired has more about this story.

Thousands of people flocked to the NY International Auto Show at the Javits Center on Saturday. In the midst of it all, Lady Liberty ended her 100 year “spectacularly combustible love affair” with the automobile. Lady Liberty said, “Frankly, this relationship has just gotten to be much more work than it’s worth. My health, liberty and freedom have suffered greatly, and now I hope that my new relationships will finally give me security and happiness.” Then Reverend Billy officiated her marriage to “Mr. Transit” and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir sang in celebration.

Video after the jump:

You can also watch the video on StreetFilms.org.

The new Ford Transit Connect is smaller and more compact than the older yellow cabs. They are designed with less horizontal space and with more vertical space. But it will actually have more space for passengers and their cargo than the older cabs. It also features dual sliding doors which help cause less pain in an over-crowded city like New York.

The Ford Transit Connect uses a standard 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine which uses 30% less fuel and releases 90% less exhaust fumes than the older cabs. The new cab will get an estimated 19 mpg in the city.

The driver of the cab will get an in-dash computer, running Microsoft Auto software, which is linked to Internet and offers traffic, weather, and navigation information and help.